Thurstone and Likert are associated with measurement of

2013

Thurstone and Likert are associated with measurement of

  1. A.

    Intelligence

  2. B.

    Attitude

  3. C.

    Values

  4. D.

    Personality

Attempted by 5 students.

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Correct answer: B

Attitude measurement in psychology and educational testing uses standardized psychometric scaling techniques that convert a person's subjective disposition — favourable or unfavourable — toward an object, issue, or person into a numerical score. The two classical techniques for this are the equal-appearing-interval scale and the summated-rating scale.

L. L. Thurstone introduced the method of equal-appearing intervals in "Attitudes Can Be Measured" (1928), where judges pre-rate a pool of statements on an 11-point favourability continuum and respondents are scored by the average scale value of the statements they endorse. Rensis Likert introduced the summated-rating method in "A Technique for the Measurement of Attitudes" (1932), where respondents mark their level of agreement (e.g., Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree) with a set of statements, and the item scores are summed. Both techniques were designed for exactly the same purpose: quantifying attitude.

  • Intelligence is measured through cognitive-ability instruments such as the Stanford–Binet or Wechsler scales — a separate testing tradition from Thurstone's and Likert's scaling work.

  • Values are measured through dedicated instruments such as the Allport–Vernon–Lindzey Study of Values, not through the attitude-scaling methods Thurstone and Likert devised.

  • Personality is assessed through inventories such as the MMPI or the 16PF, which are unrelated to the equal-appearing-interval or summated-rating techniques.

Since both scholars' contributions are specifically attitude-scaling methods, the option that matches their shared association is attitude.

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