What effect varying the phrasing of attitude statements would have across sex and grade was determined. Three content parallel forms were developed to assess student attitudes toward integration. Each form contained 15 items and differed only in terms of item phrasing either positive, negative or a combination of both. Six hundred and twenty-two,…

An empirical comparison of the validity of three Likert-type attitude scales measuring fourth to sixth grade students' attitudes toward school integration was conducted. The content-parallel forms differed only in terms of item phrasing and were composed of either all positive, all negative or a mix of items. Different factor solutions underlying…

Three rating scales--with all positive or all negative wording, or a mixture of both--were administered to 522 children in grades four through six. The results indicated that it was difficult for students to indicate agreement by disagreeing with a negative statement. This affected test validity. Author/GDC)