Scale analysis and the measurement of social attitudes

This paper discusses and compares the methods of attitude scale construction of Thurstone (method of equal-appearing intervals), Likert (method of summated ratings), and Guttman (method of scale analysis), with special emphasis on the latter as one of the most recent and significant contributions to the field. Despite a certain lack of methodological precision, scale analysis provides a means of evaluating the uni-dimensionality of a set of items. If the criteria for uni-dimensionality are met, the interpretation of rank-order scores is made unambiguous, and efficiency of prediction from the set of items is maximized. The Guttman technique, however, provides no satisfactory means of selecting the original set of items for scale analysis. Preliminary studies indicated that both the Likert and the Thurstone methods tend to select scalable sets of items and that their functions in this respect are complementary. A method of combining the Likert and Thurstone methods in order to yield a highly scalable set of items is outlined. Sets of 14 items selected by the method have, in the two cases where the technique has been tried, yielded very satisfactory scalability.     

THE MEASUREMENT OF WORK: HIERACHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE MULTIMETHOD JOB DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE

To study the changing nature of work, researchers need measures of work that are valid and comprehensive. One potentially useful measure of work is the Multimethod Job Design Questionnaire (MJDQ; Campion, 1988), which was developed to assess 4 general approaches to work design (i.e., motivational, mechanistic, biological, perceptual-motor). Although the MJDQ holds promise as a general measure of work, little information is available regarding its psychometric properties. This study examines the MJDQ, using alternative hierarchical factor structures to represent work at varying levels of abstraction. Little support was found for the 4-factor structure corresponding to the work design approaches underling the MJDQ or for various hierarchical factor structures that simultaneously depicted general and specific aspects of work. However, a 10-factor first-order model received good support and may provide a useful basis for scoring and interpreting the MJDQ in future research.     

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS: A META-ANALYSIS OF THEIR EFFECTS ON SATISFACTION AND OTHER ATTITUDES

This meta-analysis examined the effects from 126 studies that employed organizational development (OD) interventions to modify satisfaction and/or other attitudes. Raju and Burkes's (1983) Taylor series approximation 1 (TSA 1) validity generalization procedure was used to conduct the meta-analysis. Multi-faceted interventions have been more effective in modifying satisfaction and attitudes than were OD interventions that used a single human-processes or technostructural technique. For specific interventions, team building and lab training were the most effective means of changing satisfaction and other attitudes. Also, OD seems to affect attitudes more than satisfaction. Caution is encouraged in generalizing these findings, given (1) the non-random selection of techniques, (2) the frequent moderating effects of both the participant's organizational level and the methodological rigor of the studies, and (3) this study's frequent failure to account for a substantial amount of the variability of the effect sizes.     

Counselor Effectiveness and Family-of-Origin Experiences: A Significant Relationship?

In this article, the authors investigate the relationship between family-of-origin experiences and counseling effectiveness of counselors in training.     

Is Seasonal Stress a Career Choice of Professional Accountants?

Workload compression during the first quarter of each year (January-March) is hypothesized to involve additional job demands on auditors and tax professionals causing job strain (occupational stress). Using canonical correlation analysis to analyze the survey data, this study found that the strongest stressor-strain relationship was for the group surveyed in January, indicating that workload compression contributes to seasonal occupational stress. Seasonal stress will remain a very strong barrier to qualified individuals in making an accounting career their vocational choice and will put additional demands on Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counseling for accounting practitioners.     

A student-operated crisis center

In this article we describe an attempt to meet a university community's needs for emergency mental health services through the establishment of a student-operated telephone emergency service. The service provides an interesting model for use of nonprofessionals in mental health services, in which the professional functions primarily as a trainer and consultant rather than offering direct services. We describe the structure of the center and then discuss further innovations and projects.     

The Effects and Effectiveness of Marital Therapy A Review of Outcome Research

The literature on outcome research in marital therapy is reviewed. Issues considered include the nature of outcome criteria, the need to establish a base line against which to measure improvement, and therapeutic effectiveness as a function of treatment type and time-in-therapy. The overall improvement rate across a heterogeneous collection of patients, therapists, and treatment modalities was 66 per cent, suggesting, conservatively, at least a moderately positive therapeutic effect in light of the judgment that “spontaneous” rates appear to be much lower in marital than in individual therapy. Evidence of deterioration in marital therapy also was discovered. No support was found for the contention that co-therapy is more effective than treatment of the couple by a single therapist. The needs of future research in the outcome of marital therapy are discussed and possible fruitful directions for such investigations suggested.