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Attitude

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Running head: Attitude Survey
Attitude Survey
Michelle Anderson
University of Phoenix
PSY475
March 12, 2012

Abstract
The purpose of this survey is to ascertain the general beliefs of a mixed populous on the subject of unemployment. The survey is scored in Likert Method, each item gives a small amount of information about the subject’s attitude. These small amounts add up to a whole attitude toward the object.
Attitude Survey
The subject of unemployment has become one of great debate over the last decade. There are many people out of work (Bureau of Labor Statistics), and more businesses closing their doors, permanently, every day. The purpose of this survey is to query the general public about their opinions on unemployment. The survey covers such questions as; is unemployment as bad as the media would have us believe, and is unemployment rates rising or falling.
The most popular scale for attitude survey is the Lickert method (Hogan, 2007 p. 574). The Lickert method is the scale found on the customer survey cards at local fast food restaurants such as Hardees and at some specialty stores like Krispy Kreme. To get a general view of subjects’ attitude toward the over- all object the method uses a “large number of item stems expressing some aspect” (Hogan, 2007, p. 574) of the whole object. The scale is a five point system using completely agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree and completely disagree.
The first step in generating the unemployment survey is to create items (Hogan, 2007, p. 226); the original set of items exceeded fifty. The items are then reviewed for grammar, ethnic or racial bias, and understand- ibility (McLeod, 2008). Items that fail the initial review are deleted or corrected. The survey questions were minimized to less than forty- five items. Further review of the items is known as item try- out. In item try- out there are two phases, informal and formal. During informal try- out five subjects talk through the survey items reading each item and thinking aloud. This spoken thinking allows for confusing and nonsensical items to be recognized and deleted or corrected (Hogan, 2007, p. 226). At this point the survey items were eliminated to a mere twenty. The formal try- out is simply a low scale practice run with the survey and less subjects. A small example of the populous being surveyed is asked to complete the survey and any questionable items are then removed. At this point no items were removed from the survey.
The survey is completed by one hundred subjects from across the US, from different ethnic back grounds, different socioeconomic status and education level. Scoring and analyzing the data gleaned from the survey is straight forward. Each response is assigned a numerical value (McLeod, 2008). Completely agree is worth one point with the point scale escalating to completely disagree being worth five points. When the points are tallied the data can be easily transferred to a bar chart for reference.
Bias known as Social desirability is the biggest risk to validity in the Likert Scale. Subjects may answer in a manner they see fit with social acceptance, instead of honest opinion. In order to reduce the bias caused by social desirability the subjects of this survey remain anonymous and at no time is any identifying information asked for or recorded (McLeod, 2008).

References
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics. Retrieved March 10, 2012 from http://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm.
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Hogan, T.P. (2007). Psychological testing: A practical introduction (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley
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McLeod, S. A. (2008). Simply Psychology.Retrieved March 10, 2012, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/likert-scale.html

Unemployment Survey
Please rate each item as it applies to you, right now. Use the following scale to rate each item.
*Completely Agree- CA *Agree- A *
*Neither Agree nor Disagree- N *
*Disagree- D *Completely Disagree- CD*

1. Unemployment affects me as a consumer.
2. Unemployment affects me as an employee.
3. Unemployment affects my recreational spending.
4. Unemployment affects my family spending.
5. Unemployment is a problem in my state.
6. Unemployment is a problem in my neighborhood.
7. Employment has caused a rise in the crime rate.
8. Unemployment leads to divorce/ broken homes.
9. Unemployment is not a growing problem.
10. I am afraid of losing my job.
11. Unemployment is less of a problem now, than it was four (4) years ago.
12. I or my spouse is unemployed (not by choice, or because of health).
13. There are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs available.
14. Outsourcing is to blame for unemployment.
15. Workers are unemployed because they lack education or training.
16. Unemployment is not as bad the media makes it out to be.
17. I have a back- up plan or savings, in case I become unemployed.
18. My job is safe, I will not become unemployed.
19. Unemployment is the problem of blue collar or trade workers.
20. Professionals and workers with degrees in their field of work will always have employment.

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