The Need for a New Approach to Attitude Measurement *

Any science is built upon measurement, and before we can fruitfully embark upon a scientific study of conservatism it is necessary to establish an agreed and satisfactory operational definition of the dimension. Unfortunately, the tests which have been used in the past to measure conservatism and the related concepts discussed in the previous chapter have fallen short of the mark in a number of respects. Most of what follows will be directed at the California F-Scale (Adorno et al., 1950) and the Dogmatism Scale (Rokeach, 1960) since these are still the most frequently cited attitude measures, particularly in the American literature, but the relevance of these criticisms to the majority of other scales will be apparent.