CHAPTER 17 Prepared by: John

ASSESING AFFECTIVE OUTCOMES Kino A. Cardona

Approaches to the assessment of affective outcomes are
limited only by the motivation and creativity of the
developer. Many methods have been developed by
psychologist and sociologist in their researches on human
behaviour but very few have been translated for use by
classroom teachers.

In this chapter, we will explore the different methods of

assessing affective outcomes.
APPROACHES TO THE ASSESSMENT OF
AFFECTIVE OUTCOMES
There are numerous methods that can be applied in
the assessment of attitudes and dynamic traits
(Robinson & Shaver, 1993). Some of these methods
are as follows:
MONEY
The amount of money an individual spends on
certain activities and courses of action is a direct
manifestation of his attitude and interest. In both
elementary and high school, simulation exercises
involving purchases can be very revealing.
FUND OF INFORMATION
The amount or type of information an individual has
about a certain object, person, or issue is, to some
extent, indicative of his attitude.
TIME
The amount of time an individual uses in certain
activities is to some extent, a reflection of his
attitude toward them. Surveying the time soent by
students in different activities can definitely reveal
their interests and values.
VERBAL EXPRESSIONS
A number of assessment methods utilize verbal
expressions of attitude. Likert, Semantic, Differential and
Opinionnaire are illustrative methods for assessing
verbal expressions of attitudes. There are six types of
questionnaires commonly used in the measurement of
attitudes, namely: preference, stereotype, situational,
social distance, opinions and self-rating. Even structured
and unstructured interview can be included in this
category.
SPEED OF DECISION OR REACTION TIME
Normally, and individual makes a quick decision on
areas or issues where he has the strongest
convictions.
WRITTEN EXPRESSIONS OR PERSONAL
DOCUMENTS
Analysis of such documents as biographies, diaries,
records, letter, autobiographies, journals, and
compositions can reveal a lot about an individual’s
attitudes.
SOCIOMETRIC MEASURES
Analysis of choice of friends, social distances,
preferences and general structure of a classroom
can be very informative abut a student’s
predispositions and values.
ACTIVITY LEVEL METHODS
There are a number of measures of an individual’s
general excitement level in response to stimulus.
Notable among these are fluency or amount written,
speed of reading, and work endurance.
OBSERVATIONS
The use of standardized reports systematically
gathered by trained recorders operating within the
limits of an explicitly stated frame of reference has
provided very useful data on attitudes and on the
operation of these attitudes within the individual.
SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE AND BEHAVIOURS
An individual’s behaviour can illustrate his or her
attitudes and their influences.
MEMORY MEASURES
Instructing an individual to learn a given material,
varying the controversial nature of the content,
introducing an unrelated activity to distract the
subject, and then asking him to recall all part of the
original material is one approach to the use of
memory as an instrument of attitude assessment.
SIMULATIONS
Contrived structured or unstructured activities can be
used in stimulating and simulating affective
responses. ½ the use of rele playing, for instance, is
useful both as an assessment as well as an
instructional technique. Gamelike activities provide
good opportunities to observe students under a
variety of conditions, particularly in the realm of
interpersonal relations.
WRITING ITEMS FOR SELF-REPORT AFFECTIVE
MEASURES
General guidelines and criteria are very important
in the development of statements for self-report
affective measures. Edwards as cited by Payne
(2003) came up with a list of informational criteria
for development and editing activities. Among the
statements to avoid are those that:
•Refer to the past or future rather than the present;
•Are factual or capable of being interpreted as factual;
•Maybe interpreted in more than one way;
•Are irrelevant to the psychological object or under consideration;
•Are likely to be endorsed by almost everyone or by almost no one;
•Do not reflect the entire range of affectivity;
•Use language that is complex, ambiguous, or indirect;
•Are too long (more than 20 words);
•Contain more than one complete thought;
•Contain universals such as only, just, merely, none and others of similar nature;
•Are formed with compound or complex sentences
•Use words that may not be understood by thos who are to be given the
comleted scale;
•Use double negatives.
STEPS IN CONSTRUCTING AN ATTITUDE
SCALE
Berdie and his colleaggues (1996) described a
relatively efficient method for constructing an
attitude scale. The steps in the process of test
development, which can serve as a learning
experience for both students and teachers, are as
follows:
1. COLLECT A POOL OF STATEMENTS
For example, each student might be asked to write three
to four statements representing various attitudes towards
cheating. Here are some illustrative statements:
•Cheating is like stealing
•If the test is unreasonable, cheating is okay.
•I will not cheat but let my classmate copy from me.
•Cheating is not bad when you are not caught.
2. SELECT THE BEST STATEMENTS
Using the criteria earlier cited in the previous
section chapter, you can cull the about 30 items from
a pool of 50 to 60 statements. Students be asked to
identify those opinions favouring cheating and those
that are discouraging cheating. An agreement
criterion of 80% is suggested, which can easily be
determined through a show of hands.
3. ADMINISTER THE INVENTORY
The following directions can be used in the process.
Directions: This is not a test there is no right or wron
g answer for each statement. All the sentences in the list
represent opinions that some people hold about cheating on
tests. Indicate wether you agree or disagree with the statements
by putting a plus sign before all those with which you agree
and minus sigh before those with which you disagree. If you
are uncertain, use a question mark. After you have gone
through the entire list, go back and draw a circle around the
plus signs next to the statements with which you agree very
strongly, and a circle around the minus signs if you disagree
very strongly.
4. SCORE THE INVENTORY
Scoring may be done either by the teacher or student. The
first step is to identify those statements that were judged
as favouring classroom teaching. Next, apply the following
scoring values: a plus sign with a circle is given 5 points, a
plus sign alone 4 points, a question mark 3 points, a minus
2 points, and a minus sign with circle 1 point. The maximum
score possible is 150, which indicates a favourable
attitude. The minimum score possible is 30, and the
indifference score is 90.
FORCED-CHOICE SELECTION METHODS
A forced-choice item requires the respondent to
select among choices that differ in content, rather
than the degree of favourableness or intensity. The
examinee is directed to indicate which of several
actions, contents, or objects is most characteristics of
him or her. The format is similar to that of a multiple
choice item or it may be a description of a situation
with associated questions, or a pair of choice
statements.
According to Oppenheim (1999), the primary advantage
of the forced-choice pattern is that it –
Minimizes the subjective element in judgement;
Reduces the respondent’s ability to produce a desired
boutcome and therefore less fakeable;
Produces a better distribution and spread of score with
less piling up and skewness;
Is quich, efficient, objective, and lends itself to machine-
scoring; and
Produces scores easily analysed with the respect to
reliability and validity.
Two sample items utilizing the aforementioned method

You have just taken a multiple choice test in Social Studies. Your
teacher asked you to exchange papers so that you can check each
other’s papers as she reads the asnwers aloud. Your friend slips you a
note which reads. “Please change a few of my answers when they
are wrong. I need to past this exam.”

What do you think you ought to do?

_____ A. Help your friend for him to pass the test.
_____ B. Check his paper in the same way you would check the
paper of any of your classmates.
 You and your classmates play a clarinet duet for the school
program. There was much applause. Feeling rather pleased with her
performance, your classmate says to a group of people you are
standing with. “I guess I played just about perfectly, didn’t i?” You
know that she was squeaked a little on some high notes and that her
timing was faulty in a number of instances.

What do you think you ought to do?

_____ A. Be generous and say to the peron next to you, “ She
certainly was terrific today.”
_____ B. Say, “It was a good performance but not perfect. You'd
better do some practicing on those high notes!”
THE METHOD OF SUMMATED RATINGS OR LIKERT
SCALE
One of the most frequent used response style in attitude measurement is the
Likert Scale, which is usually a five-point scale that links options “strong agree”
and “strongly disagree”. In this kind of rating scale, the students respond to
statements by choosing the options that most closely represent their feelings
about the statements.
The usual response categories are as follows: strongly agree; agree; uncertain
or undecided; disagree; and strongly disagree.
Numerical weights are assigned for each of these response categories as
follows: 5 for strongly agree; 4 for agree; 3 for uncertain or undecided; 2 for
disagree; 1 for strongly disagree.
The composite score is divided Thus, the higher the numerical score the more
positive the attitude.
An example of Likert Scale for determining student’s interest in Mathematics follows.
Attitude Scale in Mathematics
Each of the statements below expresses a feeling toward Mathematics. Rate each
statement on the extend to which you agree. Use the following response code: SA =
Strongly Agree; A = Agree; U = Undecided; D = Disagree; SD = Strongly Disagree.
_____1. I am very much interested in Mathematics.
_____2. Mathematics does far more good than harm.
_____3. Mathematics enables us to live less monotonous lives.
_____4. Sometimes I feel that Mathematics is necessary and sometimes I doubt it.
_____5. I must admit a slight dislike for Mathematics.
_____6. I hate Mathematics because it means that time has to be spent on homework.
_____7. I do enjoy problem-solving on the board.
_____8. I sometimes feel sleepy listening to the explanations given by my
Mathematics teacher.
THE END