Reported is a study undertaken to examine an attitude paradigm that might be valid to use in initiating research on the modification of the attitudes of preservice elementary teachers toward science and the teaching of science. The subjects were 286 third year preservice elementary teachers enrolled in the fall term of 1972, at four teacher preparation institutions: a land grant university (N=152); an urban, commuter university (N=68); a teachers college (N=50); and a private, church-related college (N=16). The Instrument of Instructor Credibility, a Likert-type response instrument, was used to determine the preservice teachers' beliefs about the professional credibility of their science methods instructor. A frequency count and percentage on each of the 14 statements of the instrument were computed for each of the 5 response categories. Responses and their possible implications indicate that a credible science methods instructor should have (1) taught elementary science, (2) drawn from a store of practical experiences, (3) modeled many modes of teaching, (4) competence in science content, and (5) a close liaison with public school teachers. (Author/PEB)