Opinion Survey -- Revision and Validation
Abstract
The Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) gives its students an opinion survey designed to measure tendency toward dogmatic thinking. The survey--based on the research of Milton Rokeach and modified for ICAF use by John Johns--presents a series of statements about important social, political, and economic issues. Respondents are asked to agree or disagree with each statement. However, the survey had not been validated on a sample group outside of National Defense University. The research problem was that the ICAF Opinion Survey needed to be revised and validated on a sample other than ICAF students. Dogmatism is the term used to describe a type of thinking characterized by rigid belief systems. Dogmatics can be liberal or conservative--it isn't what one believes but how one believes. Dogmatics accept or reject people and ideas based on rigid and intolerant points of view. Dogmatic thinking becomes a problem when it limits one's ability to receive, evaluate and act on relevant information on its own merit. I reviewed the ICAF opinion Survey results from 1989-1992. Using that data, I kept the most valid question items and revised statements which seemed ambiguous or dated. I gave this survey to the Washington D.C. based, headquarters personnel of a nationally recognized conservative group and a liberal group. Statistical analysis of the data showed that some of the survey statements failed to correlate with the respondent's overall score. So, I changed or deleted those statements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA276888
Entities
People
- Sharla K. Cook
Organizations
- Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy