Developing a Standardized Scale to Assess Farmers' Attitudes toward Agricultural Diversification in Northern Bangladesh

Abstract

Farmers' attitudes may have an impact on their decision to diversify their farms by implementing various strategies. So, the present study was conducted to develop a valid and trustworthy instrument in order to determine the farmers' attitudes regarding agricultural diversification in northern Bangladesh. The “Likert’s summated rating approach” was used to develop a standardized attitude scale. A total of 40 statements, both positive and negative, were collected and reviewed based on Thurstone & Chave and Edwards & Kilpatric's fourteen principles, and 32 statements were retained, which were sent to 45 judges to evaluate their relevancy. Considering the relevance test's results, 25 statements were given to 32 farmers in the non-sampling areas for item analysis. Of the 25 statements, 14 statements having ‘t’ values more than 1.75 were selected for the final attitude scale. The reliability was measured by Cronbach’s Alpha, and validity was examined with the help of content validity. The reliability coefficient was found to be 0.985, which confirmed the internal consistency with higher reliability of the developed scale. So, this standardized scale can be utilized by other academics and researchers in related domains to assess farmers' attitudes, which will help policymakers and extension professionals make the best decisions to promote the adoption of agricultural diversification.