developing affective constructs

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Developing Affective Constructs

Dr. Carlo MagnoCounseling and Educational Psychology Department

De La Salle University-Manila

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Affective characteristics• Anderson (1981) explained affective characteristics as

“qualities which presents people’s typical ways of feeling, or expressing their emotions” (p. 3).

• Sta. Maria and Magno (2007) found that affective characteristics run on two dimensions: Intensity and direction.

• Intensity refers to the strength of the characteristic expressed.

• Direction of affect refers to the cause of the affect from object external factors to person factors.

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Dimensions of Affect

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Classifications of Affective Scales

• Attitude. Learned predispositions to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object (Meece et al. 1982).

• Attitude Towards Church Scale” by Thurstone and Chave (1929):

1. I think the teaching of the church is altogether too superficial to have much social and significance.

2. I feel the church services give me inspiration and help me to live up to my best during the following week.

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Classifications of Affective Scales• Beliefs. Judgments and evaluations that we make about

ourselves, about others, and about the world around us (Dilts, 1999).

• Examples of belief statements:• “A quiet classroom is conducive to learning”• “Studying longer will improve a student’s score on the

test” • “Grades encourage students to work harder”• Interests. "a liking/disliking state of mind

accompanying the doing of an activity" (Strong, 1955, p. 138).

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Classifications of Affective Scales

• Values. “the principles and fundamental convictions which act as general guides to behavior, the standards by which particular actions are judged to be good or desirable (Halstead & Taylor, 2000, p. 169).

• Dispositions are guided by beliefs and attitudes related to values such as caring, fairness, honesty, responsibility, and social justice. Examples of dispositions include fairness, being democratic, empathy, enthusiasm, thoughtfulness, and respectfulness.

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Steps in Constructing Non-Cognitive Measures

• Decide what information should be sought– (1) No scales are available to measure such construct – (2) All scales are foreign and it is not suitable for the

stakeholders or sample that will take the measure– (3) Existing measures are not appropriate for the purpose of

assessment – (4) The test developer intends to explore the underlying

factors of a construct and eventually confirm it• Search for Content Domain:

– Search for relevant literature reviews– Look for the appropriate definition– Explain the theory– Specify the underlying variables (deconstruction)

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Factor

Subscale 1

Subscale 2

Subscale 3

Subscale 4

Subscale 5

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Factor1

item 1

Item 2

item 3

item 4

item 5

Factor2

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• Write the first draft of items:• Items are created for each subscale as guided by the conceptual

definition. • The number of items as planned in the Table of Specifications

is also considered. • As much as possible, a large number of items are written to

represent well the behavior being measured.• How to write Items:

– Items are based on the definition of the subscales– Provide the manifestation of the construct– Descriptions from references– Conduct an open ended surveys, interview, FGD’s

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Good questionnaire items should:1. Include a vocabulary that is simple, direct, and familiar to all

respondents2. Be clear and specific3. Not involve leading, loaded or double barreled questions4. Be as short as possible5. Include all conditional information prior to the key ideas6. Be edited for readability7. Generalizable for a large sample.8. Avoid time-bound situations.

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• Example of bad items:• I am satisfied with my wages and hours at the place where I

work. (Double Barreled)• I not in favor congress passing a law not allowing any employer

to force any employee to retire• at any age. (Double Negative)• Most people favor death penalty. What do you think? (Leading

Question)

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• Select a scaling technique:• After writing the items, the test developer decides on the appropriate

response format to be used in the scale. • The most common response formats used:

– Lickert scale (measure of position in an opinion)– Verbal frequency scale (measure of a habit)– Ordinal scale (ordering of responses)– Linear numeric scale (judging a single dimension in an array)

• Develop directions for responding:• Directions or instructions for the target respondents be created as early as

when the items are created.• Clear and concise. • Respondents should be informed how to answer. • When you intend to have a separate answer sheet, make sure to inform the

respondents about it in the instructions. • Instructions should also include ways of changing answers, how to answer

(encircle, check, or shade). • Inform the respondents in the instructions specifically what they need to do.

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• Conduct a judgmental review of items• Have experts review your items.

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• Reexamine and revise the questionnaire• Prepare a draft and gather preliminary pilot data:• Requires a layout of the test for the respondents. • Make the scale as easy as possible to use. • Each item can be identified with a number or a letter to

facilitate scoring of responses later. • The items should be structured for readability and recording

responses. • Whenever possible items with the same response formats are

placed together. • In designing self-administered scales, it is suggested to make it

visually appealing to increase response rate. • Self-explanatory and the respondents can complete it in a short

time. • Ordering of items: The first few questions set the tone for the

rest of the items and determine how willingly and conscientiously respondents will work on subsequent questions.

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• Analyze Pilot data:• The responses in the scale should be recorded using a

spreadsheet. • The numerical responses are then analyzed. • The analysis consists of determining whether the test is reliable

or valid.• Revise the Instrument:• The instrument is then revised because items with low factor

loadings are removed • Items when removed will increase Cronbach’s alpha.

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• Gather final pilot data• A large sample is again selected which is three times the

number of items.• Conduct Additional Validity and Reliability Analysis• The validity and reliability is again analyzed using the new pilot

data.• Edit the questionnaire and specify the procedures for its use• Items with low factor loadings are again removed resulting to

less items. • A new form of the test with reduced items will be formed.• Prepare the Test Manual• The test manual indicates the purpose of the test, instructions in

administering, procedure for scoring, interpreting the scores including the norms.

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Examples of Response Formats

• Multiple response item:

• Single-response item

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• Lickert Scale

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• Verbal frequency scale

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• Ordinal scale

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• Forced Ranking Scale

• Paired Comparison Scale

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• Comparative Scale

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• Linear Numeric Scale

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• Semantic differential scale

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• Adjective checklist

• Semantic distance scale

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• Fixed sum scale

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• Multiple rating list

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• Multiple rating matrix

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• Diagram scale

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• Graphic scale

developing affective constructs

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