In this quantitative study, a shortened version of the Attitude toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory (ASCI) created by Bauer (2008) was used to identify the chemistry attitudes of two populations of general chemistry students at two universities. The ASCIv2 contained just two factors from the original instrument. These factors measured…

Positive teacher attitudes toward computers are widely recognized as a necessary condition for effective use of information technology in the classroom (Woodrow, 1992). To measure attitudes toward technology, it is important to have valid and reliable instruments. In this study, the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to verify construct…

By centralizing the issue of test fairness in language proficiency assessments, this study responds to a call by researchers for developing greater social responsibility in the language testing agenda. As inquiries into language attitude and psychology indicate, there is an underlying uncertainty pertaining to the validity of test use and score…

Multitrait-Multimethod analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to investigate differences in Likert, Thurstone, and Semantic Differential techniques. Results indicated that these measurement techniques are not completely interchangeable. (JKS)

The development of a 20-item semantic differential assessment instrument for measuring student attitudes toward the subject of chemistry is described (Attitude toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory-ASCI). Instrument subscales and survey items pertain to interest and utility, anxiety, intellectual accessibility, emotional satisfaction, and…

In this study a test of vocational choice was developed and field tested for construct validity. (Authors)

A theoretical and operational rationale is presented for the development of multidimensional measures of self-esteem. Self-esteem is conceptualized as a function of two processes reflected appraisals of significant others in one's social environment in the form of social approval, and the individual's feelings of efficacy and competence derived…

This paper presents a method which can be used to obtain evidence that the concepts rated on semantic differential scales are appropriate for given study. An analysis of six semantic differential concepts, as perceived by 168 graduate education students, is presented; variations of the method are discussed. (Author/GSK)

A Conference Role Semantic Differential was developed and field-tested as a brief, diagnostic measure of conference role performance of administrators. Principal components analysis of 52 staff member's evaluations of three institutional researchers yielded one task and three interpersonal skill factors which demonstrated the construct validity of…

The result of the application of Kelly's (1955) psychology of personal constructs to education is a personal construct model of teaching which reflects itself both in a series of five propositions (based on Kelly's postulates) and a measurement technique, the Tuckman Teacher Feedback Form (TTFF), which is appropriate for determining teacher…

The purpose of this study was to determine if the attitudes of white adults attending training at the National 4-H Foundation were more negative toward blacks than they were toward whites and to determine if the Situational Attitude Scale (SAS) was a valid and reliable tool for measuring the attitudes of white adults toward blacks. The SAS is a…

Three frequently used response formats are compared via analysis of covariance structures. The cumulative results based on four data sets provided evidence inconsistent with previous research suggesting that these formats are interchangeable. The semantic-differential format is most preferred while in most cases the Stapel format is least…

This study developed a semantic differential (SD) instrument to measure self-concept that was not influenced by social desirability. An alpha factor analysis of 53 SD scales produced five interpretable factors for the females and five interpretable factors for the males. A subsequent investigation of the convergent validity of each of the factors…

Discusses the complicating effects of ambivalence on the validity of science attitude measurement scales. Cites studies indicating that the positive and negative effects about a particular psychological object are not necessarily bipolar. Suggests the use of factor analysis to check dimensionality in instruments. (TW)

An experimental study examined the possibility that proximity error could bias results from semantic differential questionnaires. Proximity error occurs when, due to the ordering, or polarity, of the differential scales, one answer on the semantic differential results in another answer to a subsequent question being substantially changed from what…