Have you ever made a statement in response to a query asking how much you agree or disagree with something? Do you know about the Likert Scale?
A Likert scale is a type of question that is commonly used. They are frequently used to assess attitudes and opinions in a more nuanced manner than a straightforward “yes/no” question. When utilizing them, the researcher must take into account factors like Likert scale examples, response categories (scale values), scale size, scale direction, the ordinal nature of data obtained, and adequate statistical analysis of such data.
Let’s examine the Likert scale questions, look at several instances, choose when to utilize this tool, and discover how to use it in surveys.
What is a Likert Scale?
Let’s start with defining the Likert Scale. You can use this scale, a rating system, to determine your consumers’ attitudes or thoughts. This bipolar scale offers responders 5 or 7 possibilities that range from one extreme to another. You must first comprehend what a survey scale is in order to comprehend the Likert rating scale.
A survey scale is a collection of possible responses, both verbal and numerical, that express a variety of viewpoints. It is always a component of a closed-ended inquiry or one that offers respondents a list of pre-populated response options. What then is a survey question using a Likert scale? It is a question that ranges from one extreme attitude to another using a 5 or 7-point scale that is sometimes referred to as a satisfaction scale. The scale for the Likert survey question typically has a moderate or neutral option.
Likert-type questions will give you more specific feedback on whether your product was just “good enough” or (ideally) “excellent” compared to binary questions, which only offer two response alternatives. Additionally, they can be used to gauge whether recent company outings left employees feeling “very satisfied,” “somewhat dissatisfied,” or “not at all satisfied.”
What is the Size of the Likert Scales?
Likert scale’s dimensions might vary but most researchers typically use a five-point scale. It has been argued that people prefer to avoid choosing the extreme categories on large rating scales, presumably because they don’t want to appear to have strong opinions. A wider scale (for example, seven categories) could provide respondents additional options. Additionally, it could be challenging for participants to distinguish between categories that differ very slightly. However, grading systems with only three options (such as poor, satisfactory, and good) might not allow for enough distinction. A statement must have an overall “for” or “against” response from respondents when there are an even number of categories, such as four or six on a Likert scale.
Reversion of Likert scales
The directionality of the Likert scales’ response categories—which can either be positive or negative—is one of their distinguishing characteristics. All respondents should be aware that “strongly agree” is a more favorable attitude than “agree” even though interpretation may vary. The use of reverse scoring on specific items is a crucial factor to take into account when designing surveys. For example, Television advertisements can stop people from smoking in the presence of children” can appear on a questionnaire regarding the advantages of public health education initiatives.
A person would be assumed to have a very favorable opinion of the advantages of this approach to health teaching if they strongly agreed with all of these claims. However, it’s possible that the participant was only checking the same response category for each question rather than actively participating. A few unfavorable comments may be included to make sure that respondents are reading and assessing items properly. The researcher may be more confident in the results if a respondent reacts favorably to positive remarks and unfavorably to negative statements.
What Are the Major Characteristics of the Likert Scale?
In 1932, this scale was created as a 5-point scale, which is still widely used today. The most detailed scales, which require respondents to express their level of agreement, approbation, or belief, range from a variety of general issues. The Likert scale examples have several noteworthy qualities, including:
- Related answers: Regardless of whether the connection between the item and the sentence is obvious, the items should be simple to relate to the sentence’s replies.
- Scale type: There must always be two extreme positions on the items, as well as a middle position that acts as a graduation point between the extremes.
- Lack of a neutral option: In order to eliminate the “neutral” possibility on a “forced choice” survey scale, scales are occasionally reduced to an even number of categories (often four).
- Using wide scales: Experts suggest that Likert scale frequency is generally preferable to utilize on a scale that is as broad as possible. If necessary, one can always condense the responses into manageable groupings for examination.
- Intrinsic variable: According to the main Likert record, there may be an underlying variable whose value indicates the responses or attitudes of the respondents; at best, this underlying variable is the interval level.
- Number of answers: It is important to note that even though a Likert rating scale with 5 items is the most typical, using more items increases the precision of the outcomes.
- Increasing reliability: By adding “very” to the top and bottom of the five-point scales, researchers frequently expand the ends of the scale to produce a seven-point scale. The reliability of the seven-point scale is at its highest degree.
What Are the Types of Likert Scales?
Researchers now frequently use the Likert rating scale to gather feedback on employee or customer satisfaction. This scale can be divided basically into two categories:
Odd Likert Scale
5-point Likert scale: Researchers utilize this unusual Likert scale question with five response alternatives to collect data on a subject by providing a neutral response option for respondents to choose if they do not choose to respond from the extreme choices in their research design.
7-Point Likert scale: A 5-point Likert scale question gains two more answer alternatives at the extreme ends when converted to a 7-point scale.
9-Point Likert scale: Even though a 9-point Likert scale is not very common, you can utilize one by giving the 7-point scale inquiry two more possibilities for answers.
New Likert Scale
4-Point Likert Scale: Without a neutral option, this kind of Likert scale enables researchers to offer four extreme possibilities. Here, a 4-point Likert Scale is used to illustrate the various levels of importance.
8-Point Likelihood: The sole difference between this scale and the previously described 4-point Likert scale is that this scale provides eight options for gathering feedback about the likelihood of a recommendation.
What Are the Benefits of the Likert Scale?
1. Increased response rate
The answers don’t need much thought or time from the respondents. This scale gives users a wide variety of options to pick from that accurately reflect their feelings.
Respondents on this Scale can choose between two easy options: yes or no. At the moment of analysis, it is simple to measure the level of opinion or even a neutral reaction. If respondents are unsure of their feelings, they can express a neutral opinion by choosing the neutral option. You are saving the customer’s time to complete the survey and your time to conduct the analysis by providing them with several options. You can also check out top customer feedback tools.
2. Easy to understand
Respondents simply score their preferences using the Likert scale frequency you set, making a rating scale simple to understand. For instance, they just choose their response based on whether they strongly agree or strongly disagree. The asymmetric agree-disagree scale is another name for this. Since responses to a rating scale can be tallied quantitatively and filtered depending on responses, a Likert scale is also simple to analyze.
3. Improve data quality
One wonderful benefit of using this scale is that it can assist you in avoiding some of the frequent mistakes made when designing surveys, such as asking respondents to consider questions that are too broad. They might become frustrated by this and begin responding too rapidly, which would lower the caliber of your data.
As a form of survey shortcut, hasty survey designers would occasionally use the more general types of questions, such as “yes/no,” “select all,” open-ended, ranking, or matrix questions. The Likert rating scale should generally be trusted in the majority of these cases because it has a reputation for helping respondents stay focused and content thanks to its straightforward language.
4. Work better for one-topic questions
It’s crucial to center each set of questions in your survey on a single subject. Ultimately, this will enable you to obtain more precise results. Why? Because you want to evaluate a score that compiles the outcomes from a few questions when it comes time for you to present the data.
You will obtain a more accurate assessment of the attitudes toward the specific good, service, or event you are researching by grouping questions on one topic together and summing up their responses to create a score—in this case, a “Quality of Food” score.
5. Customer satisfaction
An ordinal scale, which enables consumers to rank their opinions, is typically used in customer satisfaction surveys. Customers are asked to rate a statement on a 5-point Likert scale from high to low, with a neutral choice in the middle, in terms of how much they agree or disagree with it.
Responses on the measuring scale are quite adaptable and can be used to gauge a range of emotions, including agreement, contentment, frequency, and desirability. A frequency answer (i.e., Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Frequently) would be helpful if you were curious about how frequently clients utilize your online assistance portal.
6. Employee engagement
Responses on a rating scale can also be a helpful tool for following up with employees. Companies can monitor employee engagement and sentiment by applying the same 5-point Likert scale to employee issues. For instance, businesses can learn how knowledgeable staff members are about available resources, how well-versed they are in IT regulations, or how frequently they use or benefit from new solutions. This measuring scale replies also assist businesses in determining a central tendency or the degree of agreement that the typical employee has with a particular issue.
7. Professional event feedback
A 5-point Likert scale can be used by marketers or event specialists to gather insightful feedback on the efficacy of their events. A post-event survey can ask questions about several aspects of the event, such as the likelihood that a participant will attend again or the significance of the site, or it can assess the overall event experience using a range of responses.
Conclusion- Should you use the Likert scale in a survey?
The Likert-scale survey is a thorough method for gathering feedback and data, making it incredibly simple to comprehend and participate in. This crucial inquiry is meant to gauge the respondents’ attitudes or opinions on a particular subject in order to greatly aid the investigation’s following phase.
That’s all you must know!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. What is a Likert scale?
It is a type of rating system that evaluates how strongly people agree or disagree with a statement or inquiry. It can be used to determine the standard, caliber, likelihood, importance, and understanding of specific services.
2. What is the 5-Point Likert scale? Please share an example.
Respondents can swiftly respond to inquiries and express their degree of agreement in five points using a 5-point Likert scale. The following points – (1) Disagree; (2) Strongly Disagree; (3) Neither Agree nor Disagree; (4) Strongly Agree; (5) Agree.
3. What is the 7-Point Likert scale?
A renowned grading system that has been in use since 1932 is the 7-point Likert scale. It provides you with two intermediate options in addition to the values on the 5-point Likert scale. The most accurate among them all appears to be a 7-point Likert scale.
4. How Likert scale frequency is used?
Using the survey scale is the most precise technique to determine the attitudes of users and the level of agreement with a survey question. Businesses can use this information to gauge how much people agree or disagree with their claims. A rating scale is also simple to launch and use, much like a social network. If responders do not wish to express vehement disagreement or agreement, it permits them to remain neutral.
5. What is the drawback of the Likert scale?
The rating Scale has one restriction. You will only collect numeric information rather than qualitative information without any open-ended questions. For instance, you get to know if your clients are satisfied or dissatisfied with your service. But still, the question of why he is not happy remains unanswered.
