ABSTRACT
Different methods of studying attitudes can be likened to looking through a microscope at different levels of magnification. At the most intense levels of magnification—such as provided by highly controlled experimental studies of the information integration rules underlying attitude formation—one can observe the phenomenon in detail. The price of ability to see detail is, however, the inability to see the phenomenon in a broader systems context. At intermediate levels of magnification—such as those provided by laboratory work on cognitive responses to persuasion (Petty, Ostrom, & Brock, 1981) or on defensive avoidance responses to fear appeals Janis & Mann, 1977)—one gains the ability to monitor complex, naturally occurring psychological processes, but at some cost in experimental control and precision of measurement. Finally, at the least intense levels of magnification—such as provided by archival and interview studies of political belief systems—one can explore context in great detail, but at a very substantial cost in internal validity and ability to observe subsystem detail.
