Issues in the Measurement of Attribute Determinance: Rating Scale vs. Information Display Board Approaches

Abstract Problems—including individual response style, measurement problems, socially desirable responses, instrument validity and so on—have arisen in the measurement of determinance. This paper provides an overview of the issues involved in measuring determinance and the problems of the two current approaches. An empirical example is used to compare rating scale and information display board measures of determinance. We conclude that either approach can be appropriate, depending on the characteristics of the research project. Under either approach we show that response-style effects must be measured and removed. A detailed discussion on how to manage response-style bias is also developed.