Common Rating Scales to Use when Writing Questions
Posted by Jeffrey Henning on Tue, May 26, 2009
One of the most frequent mistakes I see when reviewing questionnaires are poorly written scales. Novice survey authors often create their own scale rather than using the appropriate common scale. It's hard to write a good scale; instead you are better off rewording your question slightly so that you can use one of the following. | Acceptability | Not at all acceptable, Slightly acceptable, Moderately acceptable, Very acceptable, Completely acceptable | | Agreement | Completely disagree, Disagree, Somewhat disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Somewhat agree, Agree, Completely agree | | Appropriateness | Absolutely inappropriate, Inappropriate, Slightly inappropriate, Neutral, Slightly appropriate, Appropriate, Absolutely appropriate | | Awareness | Not at all aware, Slightly aware, Moderately aware, Very aware, Extremely aware | | Beliefs | Not at all true of what I believe, Slightly true of what I believe, Moderately true of what I believe, Very true of what I believe, Completely true of what I believe | | Concern | Not at all concerned, Slightly concerned, Moderately concerned, Very concerned, Extremely concerned | | Familiarity | Not at all familiar, Slightly familiar, Moderately familiar, Very familiar, Extremely familiar | | Frequency | Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always | | Importance | Not at all important, Slightly important, Moderately important, Very important, Extremely important | | Influence | Not at all influential, Slightly influential, Moderately influential, Very influential, Extremely influential | | Likelihood | Not at all likely, Slightly likely, Moderately likely, Very likely, Completely likely | | Priority | Not a priority, Low priority, Medium priority, High priority, Essential | | Probability | Not at all probable, Slightly probable, Moderately probable, Very probable, Completely probable | | Quality | Very poor, Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent | | Reflect Me | Not at all true of me, Slightly true of me, Moderately true of me, Very true of me, Completely true of me | | Satisfaction (bipolar) | Completely dissatisfied, Mostly dissatisfied, Somewhat dissatisfied, Neither satisfied or dissatisfied, Somewhat satisfied, Mostly satisfied, Completely satisfied | | Satisfaction (unipolar) | Not at all satisfied, Slightly satisfied, Moderately satisfied, Very satisfied, Completely satisfied |
This list follows Krosnick's advice to use 5-point unipolar scales and 7-point bipolar scales.
Let me know any of your favorite scales that I omitted.
Error sending email
Email sent successfully
|