Web Survey Bibliography

Title Behavioral Intention Measurement: International Findings
Author Thomas, R. K., Terhanian, G., Bayer, L. R.
Source RC33 6th International Conference on Social Science Methodology: Recent Developments and Applications in Social Research Methodology, 2004
Year 2004
Access date 16.09.2004
Abstract There are a variety of measures of behavioural intention, though little empirical attention has been directed to determine if one form of measurement might be any better than any other. In one of the few experiments on behavioural intention measurement, Thomas and Behnke (2004) found that unipolar intention scales had greater concurrent validity with behavioural measures than bipolar measures and that 5 response categories led to maximal validity (when comparing scales ranging from 2 to 11 categories). The study reported here sought to extend these findings to international measurement. In an online survey, we administered a survey to over 22,000 respondents in 8 different countries and in 5 different language versions. Respondents were asked how often they engaged in each of 10 behaviours in the past 30 days (e.g. exercising vigorously, attending a religious service, eating chocolate) and then were asked to indicate how likely they would be to engage in each behaviour in the next 30 days. The respondents were randomly assigned to a behavioural intention measure that was either unipolar (Not at all likely – Extremely likely) or bipolar (Very unlikely – Very likely). In addition, respondents were assigned a scale that was made up of either 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 response categories. In general, increasing the number of response categories was associated with higher validity for both unipolar and bipolar scales, though no increase in validity was noted with more than 5 response categories for the unipolar scale and more than 6 response categories for the bipolar scale. In addition, we found that across nations and languages, the unipolar scale led to superior criterionrelated validity with 5 response categories.
Year of publication2004
Bibliographic typeConferences, workshops, tutorials, presentations
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