VI. ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT AS A METHOD IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY.

The article discusses social psychology research and methodology. The main uses of attitude measurement to date have been of a practical and applied variety. From the use of straw ballots to detect the varying currents of public opinion to controlled studies of movie-made children, the trend of attitude research is unmistakable. This practical emphasis is only natural in social psychology which is so intimately bound up with the problems of everyday existence. Moreover, it is highly desirable for psychologists not to try to stand above the battle of life. Nevertheless, there is no reason why attitude measurement should not be applied more extensively to problems in social psychology proper. If the absorption in immediate and practical issues continues to the neglect of fundamental problems, then attitude measurement will go the way of mental testing and become the exclusive property of educational, vocational, and other applied psychologies. It is the thesis of this paper that attitude measurement has a place in social psychology as well as in the applied fields.