ABSTRACT
The area of attitude research is so vast partly because the attitude concept is linked to so many other concepts and partly because attitudes pertain to so many different ®elds of application. Researchers who look at advertising effects, health behaviour or political campaigning may all have something to contribute to attitude research (for a more elaborated discussion see Shavitt & WaÈnke, 2001). To cover all aspects and applications of attitudes would have been almost impossible. And although it is common for authors to mention in the ®nal chapter all the areas they have left out or have not addressed in detail, we did not want to do this. After all you have read we ®nd it rather discouraging to tell you that there is so much more you have missed. On the contrary, we have striven to give you a thorough overview of attitude researchÐnot just a ®rst glimpse, but a deeper understanding and insight. As attitude issues are so pervasive in the social sciences and their applied areas, readers are bound to see many of the topics covered here return in their further studies or professional careers. We hope this book prepared the ground and readers will discover it was a useful reading.
