Validating Two Approaches to Measuring Anti-Intellectual Attitude Endorsement in Public-Opinion Surveys

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 3 provides a detailed, nontechnical effort to validate each of the two approaches the book takes to measuring anti-intellectual attitude endorsement in public-opinion surveys. One (more general) measure asks survey respondents to render judgments about experts and intellectuals, while another (narrower) measure probes Americans’ trust in scientific experts. The chapter puts forward a data-driven exploration of the different considerations Americans bring to mind when asked to evaluate the different types of experts referenced in each measurement approach (a content-validation exercise), whether or not people tend to earn similar scores across measures (convergent validation), and the extent to which each measure is associated with contemporary manifestations of anti-intellectualism in American public life (predictive validation). The chapter shows that although these two measures are substantively distinct they nevertheless share much in common and are both valid indicators of anti-intellectual attitude endorsement.