Consensual Attitudes and Attitude Structure

Analyses of attitude consistency have usually operationallydefined consistency in terms of high statistical associationbetween questionnaire items. For a variety of statistical reasonsresearchers have avoided subject areas where such consistencyis likely or, if these areas are investigated, the results tendto be misleading. These problems are illustrated by an examinationof attitude coherence on racial issues among blacks and whitesin 1968.