Measuring attitudes Indirect measures Physiological measures Projective tests Advantages & disadvantages Comparisons with direct measures psychlotron.org.uk

Indirect measures of attitudes Respondents are not asked what their attitudes are Other measurements are made and attitudes are inferred from them psychlotron.org.uk

Physiological measures Present PPs with attitude-related stimuli whilst monitoring physiological processes e.g. Heart rate Breathing Galvanic skin response (sweating) Muscle tension Attitude may be inferred from changes in these psychlotron.org.uk

Physiological measures Difficult (tho’ not impossible) to deliberately fake Easy to misinterpret since different emotional responses may all provoke same physical changes psychlotron.org.uk

Projective tests Respondent is exposed to a series of ambiguous stimuli Record responses, analyse to infer attitudes Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Rorschach inkblots psychlotron.org.uk

Thematic Apperception Test psychlotron.org.uk

Roschach inkblots psychlotron.org.uk

Projective tests Since the stimuli have no intrinsic meaning, anything ‘seen’ by the respondent must come from them psychlotron.org.uk

Which measure to use? With a large sample? When respondents may lie? For a detailed case study? For statistical analysis? When respondents may be unaware of their own attitudes? psychlotron.org.uk

Indirect measures Useful if… PPs are not fully aware of their attitudes PPs liable to deliberately mislead Lots of detail wanted (case studies) However… Researcher may be biased in how data are interpreted Difficult to analyse, compare & group responses psychlotron.org.uk

Direct measures Useful if… You or your respondents don’t have much time You want data that are straightforward to analyse However… Reductive – a complex attitude may not fully be captured by a handful of numbers Easy for respondents to bias their responses psychlotron.org.uk