Adoption Quotient: A Measure of Multipractice Adoption Behaviour

Abstract

Studies in the adoption of improved farm practices have used various measures. Adoption has been studied both as singlepractice adoption behaviour (Gross, 1949; Gross & Taves, 1952; Hoffer, 1942; Lindstrom, 1958; Ryan & Gross, 1943, 1950; Wilkening, 19 5 ob, 1953) and as multipractice adoption behaviour (Bauder, 1960; Bose, 1961, 1962; Bose & Dasgupta, 1962; Bose, Dasgupta, & Das, 1963; Copp, 1956; Dasgupta, 1963a, 1963b; Duncan & Kreitlow, 1954; Fliegel, 1956; Freeman, 1961; Hoffer, 1942; Marsh & Coleman, 1954a, 1 954 b, 1954c; Pedersen, 1951; Rahim, 1961; Ramsey, Polson, & Spencer, 1959; Rogers, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962; Rogers & Burdge, 1962; Rogers & Capener, 1960; Rogers, Havena, & Cartano, 1962; Rogers & Leuthold, 1962; Wilkening, 195oa, 1952). In the former case, the ratio of farmers adopting a practice to the farmers not adopting it has been used as a measure; while in the latter case, the ratio of the number of practices adopted to the number of practices advocated has usually been used as a measure of adoption. In a few cases, the The journal of Applied Behavioral Science time of adoption has also been used (Bose, 1962; Bose, Dasgupta, & Das, 1963; Dasgupta, 1963a, 1 9 6 3 b; Rahim, 1961; Rogers, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962; Rogers & Burdge, 1962; Rogers & Capener, 1960; Rogers, Havena, & Cartano, 1962; Rogers & Leuthold, 1962). Adoption is complex behaviour. It involves a number of variables. A simple index based on one variable may not give an accurate measure of adoption. This paper presents a new scale for measuring adoption behaviour, taking into account the different variables involved. The final scale was tried in a village in North India, the results of which have been reported (Chattopadhyay & Pareek, 1964a).