LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS OF ... - Drake University

Rokeach initially stated that values represent choices people must make
in life and that choices are better captured in ranking procedures
(Rokeach, 1973). While values rating is easier and faster to administer
than values ranking and yields data that is easier to analyze statistically, it
is less preferred by researchers. Personal values are considered to be
inherently positive constructs with respondents offering little differentiation
among values, thereby 'end-piling' the ratings toward the positive end
(McCarty & Shrum, 2000). Values' ranking is most effective where the
respondents first pick the most and least important values, then rank them
(from most to least). This provides more information and less end-piling
than in a simple rating procedure (Rokeach, 1973).
The fact that the RVS only elicits an ordinal level of measure, and
that it is an ipsative measure (i.e., a measure against itself), restricts the
type of permissible analysis. lpsative measures violate the assumption of
complete independence of score. Also, given the scaling properties, it is
not possible to use ordinal measures to discuss the intensity at which
people hold certain values. As a result, it is not possible to extract a
representative subset of values (Feather & Peay, 1975; Johnston, 1995;
Miethe, 2001 ). However, the RVS exhibited less measurement error than
a 100-point rating, magnitude estimation, and handgrip scaling procedure.
Thus, "rank order scaling is shown to be the best technique for measuring
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