POSHA–S Translation to European Portuguese

Questionário de Opiniões Públicas Acerca de Atributos Humanos–Gaguez (POSH­A­–S)

[Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering (POSHA–S)]

Translated from English to European Portuguese by Ana Rita S. Valente

The Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering (POSHA–S) is an evidence-based survey instrument designed to measure explicit public attitudes toward stuttering. The instrument has undergone extensive research to assure that it is valid (i.e., measures what it is intended to measure), is reliable (i.e., measures the same constructs in repeated surveys), is translatable to other languages, distinguishes between convenience and probability samples, is readable, and produces meaningful results with modest sample sizes. The POSHA–S has been used in dozens of published studies on stuttering attitudes around the world.

The POSHA–S consists of a written questionnaire asking about beliefs and reactions related to stuttering, notably what respondents think about the cause of stuttering, what they believe they would feel or do if confronted with a person who stutters, who they believe should help those who stutter, how concerned they would be if various people stuttered, and what they believe regarding what stutterers can or should do in their lives. It also compares respondents’ impressions and desire to stutter in relation to other “anchor” attributes ranging from positive (intelligent), to neutral (left-handed), and to negative (mental illness and obesity). An item asks respondents to identify and indicate their relation to individuals with those attributes. A demographic section asks for information about each respondent’s age, gender, educational achievement, race, religion, income relative both the respondent’s family and friends and all the people in that person’s country, past or current vocation, living arrangement, languages known, physical and mental health, speaking or learning ability, and various life priorities (e.g., being safe and secure).

The POSHA–S was designed primarily as a group or research tool to be filled out by respondents who represent various populations (for example, elementary school teachers in southern Minnesota) so that the results can be generalized to those populations. Of course, it can be used to measure the attitudes of individuals.

To obtain standard results, depending on whether users of this POSHA–S translation intend to analyze one or two samples, they should download the POSHA–S Data Entry & Graphs for One Group or Sample or the POSHA–S Data Entry & Graphs for Two Groups or Samples Excel workbooks (for a fee) to enter, analyze, and graph their data. They are also encouraged to purchase the IPATHA Instrument User’s Guide (for a fee) and two free explanation files: Formula Explanations for POSHA Instruments and the ASE and the Excel Workbook Data Entry & Analysis Assistance.