Measuring the Unmeasurable? Toward Operationalizing On-line and Memory-Based Political Judgments in Surveys

Abstract

The article presents the development and validation of measuring online and memory-based judgment formation. The on-line model holds that judgments are formed when the information is encountered while the memory-based model affirms that judgments are formed based on the information people can recall from memory at a time a judgment is needed. In a correlation analysis, there is lower response latency, higher judgmental confidence and attitude extremity when the judgment is formed on-line. In construct validation, people who have formed memory-based judgments need more time to report their attitudes.