Abstract
This paper develops a valid
and reliable Likert scale for measuring students’ attitude towards poetry which
is constructed and implemented through an empirical study that captures the
attitude of 225 high school students towards poetry and their knowledge
concerning poetry-related issues. The research thus proposes a scale to measure
students’ attitude using Likert scaling theory, which can be used in other
empirical surveys that aim at measuring attitudes towards poetry. The
psychometric properties of the proposed rating scale are examined, and the findings
show that the measurement of the attitude towards poetry produced is both valid
and reliable, while statistical analysis reveals that the final scores are
highly associated with a number of socio-demographic indicators. More
specifically, the results reveal that a more positive attitude towards poetry
would appear among students with highly educated parents, where poetry books
are present in the house, when students read poetry in their free time and when
parents have read literature books to the students when they were growing up.
