Page 93 - PhD GT

4.2 Further investigation of the Leeds Dependence Questionnaire (LDQ) in the present study: Readability of the scale
The LDQ was subjected to a test of readability and to two small scale studies, i) to examine the adequacy of the response choices (Study 1) and ii) to examine the ability of the scale to measure dependence in abstinence (Study 2).
The ten items in the LDQ were subjected to a test of readability (Microsoft Word User’s Manual based upon Flesch 1986). Indices in this test examine the number of words per sentence and the number of syllables per word and compare these with norms for standard writing. It also reports on the presence of passive sentences, advised against by writing experts (Microsoft Word User’s Guide p. 290). Results of the test are presented in Table 4.2. The mean Reading Ease score for the scale was 83 which falls within the category ‘easy’; categories range from ‘very easy’ to ‘very difficult’, and no item score fell below the range 60-70 which is the range for ‘standard writing’. No items contained negative sentences.
4.3 Study 1: Response choices in the LDQ
As part of the preliminary work for the main thesis, I conducted a small investigation into the question of whether the response choices provided in the LDQ were the optimal number and type. Contrasting findings in the literature on response choices suggested that the response choices used in the LDQ, namely Never, Sometimes, Often and Nearly Always were evenly distributed and where this was not the case, that there was a greater distance between the responses Often and Sometimes than between the responses Sometimes and Never. It was hypothesised that if this were generally the case, the scale would not be equally sensitive to differences or to changes in dependence at the lower end and at the higher end of the dependence spectrum. In a study of response choices, Spector (1976) suggested that, rather than test response choices in the abstract it was more effective to test them with reference to the study population and the subject matter being explored.
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