SODHI’S ATTITUDE SCALE (SAS-st)

DR. T. S. SODHI

AIM: To assess an individual’s level of attitude for various areas using Sodhi’s Attitude
Scale (SAS).
BASIC CONCEPT:
The word attitude has been derived from Latin word “aptus” which means ability. Attitude is
a state of the mind, a set of views, or thoughts, regarding some topic, which have an
evaluative feature (positive, negative, or neutral quality). Attitude is an established way of
thinking or feeling reflected in the person’s behaviour towards others. It is a tendency to
respond positively or negatively towards a certain idea, object, person, or situation. It
influences a person’s choice of actions. It is what a person believes in or what a person feels.

Factors influencing Attitude:

 Family and School Environment: Particularly in the early years of life, parents and
other family members play a significant role in shaping attitude formation. Later, the
school environment becomes an important background for attitude formation.
 Personal Experiences: Many attitudes are formed, not in the family environment or
through reference groups, but through direct personal experiences which bring about a
drastic change in our attitude towards people and our own life.
 Media: Technological advances in recent times have made audio-visual media and
the Internet very powerful sources of information that lead to attitude formation and
change.
 Religious/Community Group: Such groups indicate to an individual the norms
regarding acceptable behaviour and ways of thinking. Thus, they reflect learning of
attitudes through group or cultural norms. Attitudes towards various topics such as
political, religious, and social groups, occupations, national and other issues are often
developed through such groups.

ABC Model of Attitude:

According to this model, every attitude has three components. The thought component is
referred to as the cognitive aspect, the emotional component is known as the affective aspect,
and the tendency to act is called the behavioural (or conative) aspect. Taken together, these
three aspects have been referred to as the A-B-C components (Affective-Behavioural-
Cognitive components) of attitude. They are part of cognition, along with an emotional
component, and cannot be observed from outside.

Purpose of this Scale:

Attitudes are important phenomena in the field of education. It is one of the fundamental
responsibilities of the educationist to develop positive among educands towards socially
desirable goals. In order top assess the degree of change that is occurring in the attitude of
students, it is essential that some standardised tools be prepared. Without such instruments it
will not be possible to carry out any worthwhile research in attitudinal changes. Such tools
will be of great use not only to educationists but also to the social agents, psychologist, or
administrators.

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE TEST

The Sodhi’s Attitude Scale (SAS) was developed by Dr. T. S. Sodhi. It is a standardized
procedure for objectively measuring what a person’s attitude on five different areas:
1. Attitude towards Teachers and Parents consisting of 12 items.
2. Attitude towards Discipline consisting of 10 items.
3. Attitude towards Life and Humanity consisting of 19 items.
4. Attitude towards Country consisting of 10 items.
5. Attitude towards Religion consisting of 20 items.

PRELIMINARIES
Name:
Age:
Place:
Qualifications:
Date:

MATERIAL REQUIRED
 The Sodhi’s Attitude Scale (SAS) Questionnaire Booklet.
 The Sodhi’s Attitude Scale (SAS) Manual.
 The Sodhi’s Attitude Scale (SAS) Answer sheet.
 Pencil
 Pen
 Eraser

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY:

For finding out the reliability and validity of the measures taken by the instruments a random
selection of scores about one-tenth students in the total sample i.e., 300 students to be exact,
was taken.
These 300 students were administered the scales after a month again and the correlation
between the scores in the first and second test in the different areas of the scale gave the test-
retest coefficients of reliability for each of the five areas ranging from 0.72 to 0.86.
For validity of each scale three external criteria were taken one by one:
a. Opinions of Teachers,
b. Opinions of Parents,
c. Opinion of an Intimate Friend
These opinions got recorded on a seven-point rating scale, the numerical value of the points
ranging from 0 to 6. The scale scores were correlated with three different rating scores
separately and thus three validity coefficients were computed by the Pearson’s Product-
Moment method for each scale area.
NORMS:
Percentile rank norms for the region extending over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and
Himachal Pradesh area have been prepared. Besides norms for the total group, separate
norms for “Boys” and “Girls” for “Rural” and “Urban” students of this region have been
prepared. The test was administered on the total number of 3000 students of 60 schools of the
area. The answer scripts were scored and percentile rank norms for the total population were
calculated.

SCORING
The answer sheets have been designed for hand scoring. Scoring key provides the score value
of ‘yes’ responses. For each area only the value of ‘yes’ has been given as + or -, against each
item. If the value shown for item is positive and (i) the student has marked ‘Yes’ in his
response, give him +1; (ii) if he has marked no then give him -1, (iii) if he has marked sign of
‘?’ give him 0. Conversely if the value shown for an item on the scoring key is negative and
the (i) student has responded 'Yes' give him - 1. (if) if he has marked 'No' give him + 1. (li) in
case he has encircled sign of '?' give him (0) in this case too. When you have scored
one scale add the scores of items algebraically and that will be the score of the
individual. Thus, each individual will get five separate scores on the five scales. These
should be recorded on back page of the answer sheet printed thereon.

PRE-ADMINISTRATION
It is self-administering record and may be administered individually as well as in groups. The
instructions with examples are given in the beginning of SAS booklet. Before calling the
subject for the test, all the arrangements were done properly. SAS Answer sheet, SAS
booklet, Pencil, Eraser and rough sheet were kept on the table.

INSTRUCTIONS
The following instructions were given to the subject:
"Open the cover page. On the page 3 the general instructions about the scales and
how to fill in the answers are given. In every item of the scale one statement is given and you
can have three kinds of feelings about each item. You may either agree with the statement or
disagree with it or you may be indifferent to the opinion given in it i.e., neither in favour nor
against it or uncertain i.e., not sure of your opinion. In case you agree with the statement, then
on the answer sheet you are to go to the area of the attitude given on it and in front of the
item number on it out of the three responses given i.e., Yes, ?, No, you should encircle
‘Yes’. In case you do not agree with the opinion then you should encircle ‘No’. If you are
indifferent or uncertain you should encircle sign of ‘?’ You are to encircle only one out of
the three alternatives given in front of each item. No item is to be left undone. You may
take your own time. Generally, students are able to complete all the scales within 45
minutes".

PROCEDURE
All the materials required were kept ready. Before the subject was actually called, SAS
booklet and response sheet along with pencil and an eraser were kept on the table. Rapport
was established with the subject. Then the instructions were given. After the instructions,
SAS booklet and response sheet was given to the subject. Lastly, after the completion of the
test, introspective report was taken from the subject.

INTROSPECTIVE REPORT
The subject gave the following introspective report:
“The test was nice and interesting. But the number of items were big so I got tired at the end.
In the mechanical ability subtest, I got really tired because I did not know any of the answers.
The VA test was interesting. And because of the time limit, I could not complete the last
subtest. On the whole, I enjoyed the test.”

BEHAVIOURAL REPORT
“It was observed that from the beginning only the subject was very confident. She was
excited for doing the test. She was also enjoying doing the test. Only afterwards she got tired
i.e., towards the end. As obvious, her speed decreased but she still managed to complete
many of the items in time. But at the end, it can be said that she did the test in quite
impressive way as she took almost appropriate time for the eight subtests.”

PRECAUTIONS
The following precautions were kept in mind while conducting the test:
 Appropriate conditions were maintained as far as possible.
 Care was taken that there was a sharpened pencil.
 Atmosphere was made comfortable and quiet.
 It was made sure that the subject understood all the instructions
 Care was taken that the subject had no idea about the test booklet before the test
actually started.
 It was made sure that the subject was feeling comfortable.
 All the materials required were kept ready on the table before the subject was called
for the test.
 Different time limit constraints were imposed on the subject for each subtest.

RESULTS
The table is drawn on the drawing sheet.

AREA RAW PERCENTILE GRADE LEVEL

SCORES RANK OF
ATTITUDE

Attitude towards Teachers

and Parents
Attitude towards Discipline
Attitude towards Life and
Humanity
Attitude towards Country
Attitude towards Religion
INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION
The aim of the test is to assess the individual’s level of attitude for various areas using
Sodhi’s Attitude Scale (SAS) by using Dr. T. S. Sodhi.
It is a standardized procedure for objectively measuring a person’s attitude on five different
areas:
1. Attitude towards Teachers and Parents consisting of 12 items.
2. Attitude towards Discipline consisting of 10 items.
3. Attitude towards Life and Humanity consisting of 19 items.
4. Attitude towards Country consisting of 10 items.
5. Attitude towards Religion consisting of 20 items.

In the first area of Attitude towards Teachers and Parents, the subject got raw score of __
and a percentile rank of __. This shows that the subject’s score falls under grade __. This
indicates that the subject’s level of attitude on this area is ______.

In the second area of Attitude towards Discipline, the subject got raw score of __ and a
percentile rank of __. This shows that the subject’s score falls under grade __. This indicates
that the subject’s level of attitude on this area is ______.

In the third area of Attitude towards Life and Humanity, the subject got raw score of __
and a percentile rank of __. This shows that the subject’s score falls under grade __. This
indicates that the subject’s level of attitude on this area is ______.

In the fourth area of Attitude towards Country, the subject got raw score of __ and a
percentile rank of __. This shows that the subject’s score falls under grade __. This indicates
that the subject’s level of attitude on this area is ______.

In the fifth area of Attitude towards Religion, the subject got raw score of __ and a
percentile rank of __. This shows that the subject’s score falls under grade __. This indicates
that the subject’s level of attitude on this area is ______.

CONCLUSION
At the end it can be said that the subject has got favourable level of attitude in __ and
unfavourable level of attitude in __.

REFERENCES
 NCERT Psychology Textbook
 SAS Manual by DR. T. S. Sodhi.