Hopelessness Scales. Primary data from the standardization sample.

Research Questions/Hypotheses:

Research Design:

Normalized Test Procedure; single measurement

Measurement Instruments/Apparatus:

The scale design is based on concepts of classical test theory. The construction was based on the original English version of the H-scale that was translated into German. After examination of the data to ensure the meaningfulness and intelligibility of the items, an initial sample item analysis was performed. The item scores of the original (standard) version using a sample of 134 hospitalized patients, 42 healthy subjects, and 45 male prisoners were reported by Krampen (1979, task difficulty: .15 < pi < .80; discrimination: .27 

Table 1: item scores of the various trials (Krampen, 1994; p. 30 onward)                                                                                                                                                                                   ————————————————–
Test version — min.-pi-max. — min.-rit-max.
————————————————–
H-S-Scale—–.16—–.82———.21—–.52
H-SA-Scale—-.16—–.82———.22—–.43
H-SB-Scale—-.19—–.82———.18—–.48
H-R-Scale—–.16—–.82———.26—–.65
H-RA-Scale—-.16—–.82———.27—–.59
H-RB-Scale—-.19—–.82———.22—–.61
————————————————–
Supplementary notes
N = 2,051

Data Collection Method:

Data collection in the presence of an experimenter

• Individual Administration
• Paper and Pencil

Population:

German adult subjects

Survey Time Period:

1990-10-26 to 1990-12-13

Sample:

A representative sample of German adults aged 18 and older (1990), German Market Research Institute (ADM)-sampling grid combined with 420 sample points, stratified random sampling method, random route, and random choice of target persons in the household. Weighting involved an approximation of the official population statistics (as of 31.12.1987) and an iterative weighting (by region, community size, gender, and age).

Gender Distribution: 

46,1% female subjects (n=975)    

53,9% male subjects (n=1106)                 

Age Distribution: 18-90 years

Spatial Coverage (Country/Region/City): Germany

Subject Recruitment:

The data stems from a representative survey that was conducted in the autumn of 1990 by a society for marketing, communications, and social research in Hamburg (Gesellschaft für Marketing-, Kommunikations-und Sozialforschung mbH, Hamburg GFM-GETAS) in collaboration with the Center for Survey Research and Methodology, Mannheim (Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen e.V., Mannheim, ZUMA). Data was written down during the verbal interviews. The main survey was preceded by a pretest. See also sampling procedure.

Sample Size:

2051 individuals

Return/Drop Out: