A Comparison of Two Scales Measuring Attitudes towards Statistics

Abstract

The present investigation compared two statistics attitude scales, the Statistics Attitude Survey (SAS) by Roberts and Bilderback (1980) and the Attitudes Toward Statistics (ATS) by Wise (1985). Wise had claimed that the SAS was partially invalid because many of the items appeared to be achievement oriented rather than attitudinal in nature. The SAS and ATS were combined in one scale and administered to 280 introductory statistics students at the beginning of the course. Course grades were obtained at the end of the course. Analyses showed high reliabilities for both SAS and ATS but a correlation of nearly .9 between the two scales. In addition, none of the correlations between the two scales with several criteria, including course grades, were significantly different. It was concluded that the ATS was essentially an alternate form of the previously developed SAS.

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References

Roberts, D. M. and Bilderback, E. W. (1980). Reliability and validity of a statistical attitude survey. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 40, 235-238.

Roberts, D. M. and Saxe, J. E. (1982). Validity of a statistics attitude survey: a follow-up study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 42, 907-912.

Wise, S. L. (1985). The development and validation of a scale measuring attitudes toward statistics. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 45, 401-405.