Measurement of Beliefs

In: Human relations: towards the integration of the social sciences, Band 29, Heft 12, S. 1177-1188

Abstract

This study assesses two different approaches to measuring beliefs about work as a human activity. The first approach is a whole systems approach that asks for a response to five different concepts of work expressed in paragraphs on a questionnaire. The second approach involves responses to individual belief statements that are then factor analyzed to form the same five dimensions expressed in the paragraphs. The computation of results shows a significant difference in scores between the two methods of measuring beliefs, thus making the question of which method measures "true" belief a crucial one for future research.