Construction of an attitude scale for the farmer producer organization beneficiaries of Jammu and Kashmir

Introduction

Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have emerged in India as a critical institutional mechanism to empower small and marginal farmers by aggregating their strengths in input procurement, marketing, and accessing institutional services (Mishra & Shyam, 2021) [7] . The main objective of FPO is to ensure better income for the producers through an organization of their own (Patel et al., 2022) [8] . In the challenging terrain and socio-economic environment of Jammu and Kashmir, FPOs have the potential to alleviate market access constraints, reduce transaction costs, and enhance the incomes of member farmers. Farmers' attitudes towards FPOs-how they perceive benefits, constraints, governance, and institutional functioning-are crucial as they influence participation and sustainability (Kumar & Rai, 2016) [6] . Past studies in various Indian states have developed attitude scales for farmer-related programmes using Likert's summated rating method, demonstrating that attitudes can be reliably and validly measured (Agrawal & Chandargi, 2008; Singh & Bhowmick, 2015) [1,13] . Yet, there is a lack of standardized instruments specific to FPO beneficiaries in Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, this study aims to construct a psychometrically sound attitude scale tailored for FPO beneficiaries in Jammu and Kashmir. Such a scale can help extension educators, policy-makers, and FPO promoters to assess baseline attitudes, monitor changes, and tailor interventions accordingly.

Objective

To develop a scale to measure the attitude of farmer producer organization beneficiaries of Jammu and Kashmir.

Methodology

An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for something. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing or event, that is often referred to as the attitude object. The method of summated rating suggested by Likert (1932) was followed in the development of a scale to measure the attitude of farmers farmer producer organization beneficiaries of Jammu and Kashmir. The attitude in this study was operationalized as the predisposition of the farmers towards farmer producer organization.

Steps in construction of Likert attitude scale to measure the attitude of farmer producer organization beneficiaries of Jammu and Kashmir 1. Collection of statements from different sources

To develop a scale on the attitude of farmer producer organization beneficiaries of Jammu and Kashmir, a pool of statements was generated through literature review, expert consultations, and farmer discussions. Detailed in-depth review of FPO formation guidelines, research papers, www.extensionjournal.com journals and internet sources were used.

Editing of statements by following Edward's 14 principles

The statements were edited according to the Edward's 14 principles. A total of 50 statements were finalized for the study.

Relevancy test of the selected statements

The selected statements were sent to experts via email to check each and every statement with respect to its relevancy on dichotomous response i.e. 'Essential' or 'Not Essential' using Lawshe's Content Validity Ratio (CVR). The CVR is an item statistic useful in rejection or retention of individual items/statements and is internationally recognized as the method for establishing content validity (Wilson, Pan, & Schumsky, 2012). When all the experts say that the tested knowledge or skill is ''essential,'' or when none say that it is ''essential,'' we are confident to include or delete the item/statement. The more experts (beyond 50%), perceiving an item as ''essential'', the greater the extent or degree of its content validity. The CVR is calculated using the following formula:

where, 'ne' is the number of experts identifying an item as "essential" and 'N' is the total number of experts (N/2 is half the total number of experts). After checking the relevancy using content validity ratio, out of 50 statements, 31 statements were retained.

Interview schedule preparation

Statements retained after the calculating the content validity ratio, were framed on a five-point continuum-Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree and Strongly Disagree based on Likert's (1932) technique. Both positive and negative items were included to avoid response bias.

Data collection

The data was collected from 32 farmers in a personal interview belonging to both Jammu and Kashmir division. Respondents were requested to give their response on fivepoint continuum from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree' with a score of 5,4,3,2,1 respectively for positive response and reverse for the negative statements.

Item analysis

Statement analysis formed a vital step in the construction of a valid and reliable attitude scale. The data was collected personally from 32 farmers representing both Jammu and Kashmir divisions through face-to-face interviews to ensure authenticity and contextual accuracy of responses. Each respondent was requested to record their opinion on a fivepoint continuum, namely strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, and strongly disagree. For the positive statements (favourable to the subject under study), numerical scores of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 were assigned respectively, whereas for negative statements (unfavourable to the subject), the scoring pattern was reversed. The total score of each respondent was obtained by summing up the scores assigned to all items. The respondents were then arranged in descending order based on their total scores. Subsequently, the top 20 per cent of respondents with the highest scores and the bottom 20 per cent with the lowest scores were identified as the "high" and "low" groups, respectively, for the purpose of item discrimination. The discriminating power of each statement was determined by computing the critical ratio or t-value, which indicates the extent to which a given statement differentiates between the high and low scoring groups. The t-values were calculated using the formula suggested by Edwards (1957) [3] where, H =The mean score on a given statement for the high group L=The mean score on a given statement for the low group n= number of respondents in each group The collaborative environment of an FPO is beneficial for sharing knowledge and best practices. 1.00 29 I think that FPOs provide a platform for voicing concerns in shaping agricultural policies. 4.40 Joining an FPO would ease the marketing and distribution challenges I face as an independent farmer.

12.50 31 I feel that FPOs may not successfully market all types of agricultural products.

3.40

Out of 31 statements, 25 statements having 't-value' greater than 1.75 were selected for the final scale.

Reliability testing of the developed scale

Reliability refers to the precision or accuracy of the measurement or score. Reliability was tested through Cronbach's alpha. Cronbach's alpha for the finalized scale was 0.89, indicating high internal consistency.

Validity of the scale

Validity refers to the degree to which a measuring instrument accurately captures the concept it is intended to assess. The validity of the developed scale was established through content validity. To assess content validity, the extent to which the scale items adequately represented the domain of the construct was examined. All potential items encompassing the complete range of content relevant to the study were identified through extensive discussions with experts, subject matter specialists, and a thorough review of the available literature. This comprehensive approach ensured that the scale possessed adequate content coverage and relevance. Therefore, the scale developed for measuring attitude of Farmer Producer Organizations beneficiaries towards Farmer Producer Organizations in Jammu and Kashmir was deemed to have satisfactory content validity and was considered suitable for final administration. I believe that FPOs enhance the business-minded decision-making capacity of farmers. 7 I believe that FPOs promote equal treatment to members. 8 I believe that joining an FPO will increase my farming income. 9

Results and Discussion

Joining an FPO will allow me to get higher prices for my produce. Accordingly, the maximum possible score on this scale is 125, while the minimum possible score is 25.

Conclusion

The constructed attitude scale serves as a cost-effective and easily administrable tool for collecting baseline information regarding farmers' perceptions of FPOs. Through item analysis, statistically sound statements were identified, ensuring effective discrimination between respondents with favourable and unfavourable attitudes. Consequently, the finalized items are found to be highly reliable and valid for measuring the attitude of farmer members towards FPOs, using the Likert-type scaling technique. The developed scale thus provides a scientifically robust instrument that may be utilized beyond the study area, with suitable contextual adaptations. Moreover, it holds significant potential as a guiding framework for policymakers, planners, and academic institutions in formulating and implementing programs aimed at enhancing farmers' participation and engagement in FPOs.

Recommendations/Policy

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementsThe authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and valuable responses of the Farmer Producer Organization beneficiaries of Jammu and Kashmir who participated in the study. The authors also express sincere thanks to the subject matter specialists and experts for their guidance and critical inputs during the construction and validation of the attitude scale.

References

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