Attitude is one of the constructs which is very difficult to measure directly. Several psychometric methods of measurement of attitudes have been developed over a period with various advantages and limitations. In the quest to make Ladakh, an organic Union Territory, several efforts are already in progress. Since the region has a unique socio-cultural and economic conditions along with challenges put forth by the cold-arid high-altitude environment, any development intervention in a desired direction would be accomplished only if it is compatible with the prevailing attitude of the farmers of Ladakh for whom the interventions are designed. The current study features the use of Thurstone’s Equal Appearing Interval method to construct a scale to measure the attitude of the farmers towards Organic farming in Ladakh. The initial set of 62 statements were collected and sorted according to the 14-point criteria given by Edwards. Later, 30 judges judged each item on a 9-point continuum. Cronbach alpha coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient were used to check the consistency in the judgment and ten judges with inconsistent responses with others, were eliminated. The statements for the final scale were selected by calculating the scale value (median) and inter-quartile range and 16 items were included in the final scale. The reliability was measured with the Cronbach alpha and inter-rater method (0.936). The scale was also found to be high in its content and construct validity (0.967). The scale will help the scholars, researchers, and policymakers to understand the attitude of the farmers towards Organic farming in trans-Himalayan high altitude Ladakh region of India and further design strategies to change that attitude in the desirable direction.

Keyword: Attitude scale; Attitude; Organic farming, Thurstone’s scale; Equal appearing interval.