MGS 9920 PROB & STAT THEORY I

Dr. Samaddar

What issues affect Likert-scale questionnaire formats? (due to measureme t s!a"es#

($% Dr. &ames Dea Bro' at ( )*ers)t% o+ Ha'a)) at Ma oa#

,(ESTIO-. Re!e t"% I !ame a!ross a sur*e% '/)!/ attem0ted to e*a"uate stude t ) terest a$out a ra 1e !"assroom to0)!s. Stude ts 'ere as2ed to ra 2 t/e)r ) terest ) *ar)ous 0ote t)a" to0)!s a!!ord) 1 to t/)s s!a"e 3
10 6 4 1 if if if if they they they they felt felt felt felt a a a a topic topic topic topic was was was was very interesting above average interest below average interest not worth studying in class

Please note that only four responses were permitted: 10, 6, 4, and 1 !s this an accepta"le sur#ey desi$n% &hould the scale reflect the num"er of permissi"le responses, rather than an ar"itrary fi$ure of 10% A-S4ER. 'o "e$in with, ! find it difficult to answer your question "ecause ! do not know the conte(t in which the scale was used )onetheless, ! will try to respond, "ased on what ! do know, "ecause it affords me an opportunity to write a little "it a"out the pro"lems of desi$nin$ such scales ! hope you will find that information useful 'he $eneral type of questionnaire item you refer to in your question is called a Likert-scale item *named after +ensis Likert, and pronounced with a short i as in it, Likert-scale items are most often used to in#esti$ate how respondents rate a series of statements "y ha#in$ them circle or otherwise mark num"ered cate$ories *for instance, 1 - . 4 /, Likert-scale items are useful for $atherin$ respondents0 feelin$s, opinions, attitudes, etc on any lan$ua$e-related topics 'ypically, the num"ered cate$ories are on continuums like the followin$: #ery serious to not at all serious, #ery important to #ery unimportant, stron$ly like to stron$ly dislike, or stron$ly a$ree to stron$ly disa$ree 'wo pro"lems commonly arise when tryin$ to use Likert-scale items: *a, you may encounter some students who prefer to 1sit the fence1 "y always markin$ the most neutral possi"le answer, and *", you may find it difficult to decide what kind of scale the data comin$ from such an item represents ! will address "oth of those issues "y way of pro#idin$ "ack$round for a direct answer to your question

MGS 9920 PROB & STAT THEORY I

Dr. Samaddar

Stude ts 4/o 5S)t t/e 6e !e5 'he first pro"lem is dealin$ with those students who tend to 1sit the fence1 on Likert-scale items 2i#en the possi"ility of a neutral option *like the . for don0t know in a fi#e-point stron$ly a$ree to stron$ly disa$ree,, such students will tend to take that neutral option !f you need to force respondents to e(press a definite opinion one way or the other, you may want to use an e#en num"er of options *say four options like, 1 - . 4, from which they must choose either in the positi#e or ne$ati#e direction When usin$ such four-option Likert-scale items at the 3ni#ersity of 4awaii, ! ha#e found that most students will pick - or ., "ut they are at least e(pressin$ some opinion, one way or the other 4owe#er, e#en so, ! ha#e found a few students so prone to selectin$ the neutral answer that they circle the space "etween the - and the . ! ha#e therefore had to code some of the answers as - / )onetheless, usin$ an e#en num"er of options forced the ma5ority of students to $o one way or the other 3nfortunately, "y doin$ that ! may ha#e "een forcin$ students to ha#e an opinion who really did not 'hat of course is another facet of this pro"lem that you must consider when you are decidin$ whether to use an e#en or odd num"er of options, that is, some students really do feel neutral, or ha#e no opinion a"out a particular issue, and you may want to know that !n such a case, you will want to $i#e the respondents an odd num"er of options with a neutral position in the middle, or offer 1 - . 4 as choices alon$ with another option that is no opinion 'he call is yours, and what you decide will depend on the kinds of information you want to $et from your questionnaire De!)d) 1 t/e T%0e o+ S!a"e 'he second pro"lem is that you may find it difficult to decide what kind of scale the data comin$ from such a Likert-scale item represents 'hree scales of measurement are often descri"ed in "ooks on statistical analyses of sur#eys: cate$orical, rank-ordered, and continuous 7ate1or)!a" s!a"es *also called nominal scales, quantify "y tallyin$ up the num"er in each of two or more cate$ories 6or e(ample, a $roup mi$ht "e made up of -1 females and only 10 males 'hat information taken to$ether is a nominal scale with two cate$ories *female and male, 7ther #aria"les with more than two

MGS 9920 PROB & STAT THEORY I

Dr. Samaddar

cate$ories, like nationality, first lan$ua$e "ack$round, educational "ack$round, etc , are all potential cate$orical scales if the num"er of people in each cate$ory is "ein$ tallied Ra 23ordered s!a"es *also called ordinal scales, quantify "y $i#in$ each data point a rank 6or e(ample, the students in a class mi$ht "e ranked from 1st to .0th in terms of their test scores 'hat, or any other such rankin$, would "e a rank-ordered scale 'hus, any #aria"le for which ordinal num"ers are "ein$ used *1st, -nd, .rd, 4th, etc , is a rank- ordered scale 7o t) uous s!a"es *also sometimes separated into inter#al and ratio scales, quantify at equal inter#als alon$ some yardstick 'hus inches, feet, and yards are equal inter#als alon$ a real yardstick and represent a continuous scale &imilarly, we treat !8 scores, '796L scores, and e#en classroom test scores as points alon$ a continuum of possi"le scores 4ence, they are continuous, too 7ne other characteristic of continuous scores is that calculatin$ means and standard de#iations makes sense *which is not true of cate$orical or rank-ordered scales, *6or much more on scales, see :rown, in press, chapter 1; :rown, 1<==, pp -0-=; 1<<6, pp <.-<=; 1<<<, pp 10<-11/; or 4atch > La?araton, 1<<1, 3nfortunately, many a no#ice teacher-researcher has trou"le decidin$ whether Likert scales are cate$orical, rank-ordered, or continuous &ometimes, Likert scales are treated as cate$orical scales 6or e(ample, a researcher mi$ht report that fi#e people chose 1, si(teen selected -, twenty-si( preferred ., fourteen decided on 4, and three picked / 7ther times, Likert scales are referred to as a rank-order 6or instance, a$ain usin$ the e(ample in the pre#ious sentence, fi#e people would "e reported as rankin$ the statement 1st, si(teen rankin$ it -nd, twenty-si( rankin$ it .rd, fourteen rankin$ it 4th, and three rankin$ it /th &till other times, Likert scales are analy?ed as continuous, with each set of 1 - . 4 / treated as equal points alon$ a continuum !n such cases, a mean and standard de#iation is often reported for each of the Likert-scale questions 3sin$ the same e(ample that runs throu$hout this para$raph, the mean would "e - <1 and the standard de#iation would "e <= A D)re!t A s'er to Your ,uest)o 'he 1, 4, 6, 10 scale you referred to in your question at the top of this article is a stran$e scale indeed 'he scale cannot "e considered continuous "ecause the

MGS 9920 PROB & STAT THEORY I

Dr. Samaddar

points on the scale are not equally spaced @s you can see if you e(amine where they sit alon$ the continuum from one to ten: 1 - . 4 / 6 A = < 10 Blearly, there are two num"ers "etween the 1 and 4, one num"er "etween the 4 and 6, and three num"ers "etween the 6 and 10 'hus the num"ers are not equally spaced alon$ a continuum and therefore do not form a continuous scale &imilarly, these four num"ers are not rank-ordered "ecause they are not ordinal in nature *that is, sayin$ 1st, 4th, 6th, and 10th would make a"solutely no sense, @t "est this scale mi$ht "e analy?ed as cate$orical, "ut con#incin$ readers *e $ , 'he 1Bonfused 'eacher1 who inspired this column, that the cate$ories make sense mi$ht "e difficult *"ecause they are not e#enly spaced alon$ a continuum, 'hus, whoe#er the researcher was who used the 1 4 6 10 Likert-like scale took a scale which is already difficult to analy?e and made it more difficult to deal with !n short, the scale pro"a"ly would ha#e "een "etter as a more traditional 1 - . 4 /, or 1 - . 4, or either of those options with an additional no opinion option @ny of those alternati#e scales could ha#e "een analy?ed as a cate$orical, rankordered, andCor continuous scale :ut, the scale the 1 4 6 10 researcher chose to use is neither fish nor fowl, and must ha#e "een #ery difficult indeed to analy?e and interpret 6or more on Likert scales see :rown *in press,, or the followin$ we"sites: D9(pired LinkEtrochim human cornell eduCk"Cscallik htm or D9(pired LinkEhttp:CClomond ic"l hw ac ukCltdiCcook"ookCinfoFlikertFscaleC 6or an e(ample of Likert-scale questionnaires used in a Gapanese-lan$ua$e needs analysis at the 3ni#ersity of 4awai0i at Hanoa *and how results can "e reported from them,, see !wai, Iondo, Lim, +ay, &himi?u, > :rown, 1<<< at the followin$ we"site: www lll hawaii eduCnflrcC)etWorksC)W1.CC Re+ere !es :rown, G J *1<==, Understanding research in second language learning: A teacher's guide to statistics and research design. London: Bam"rid$e 3ni#ersity Press :rown, G J *1<<6, Testing in language programs. 3pper &addle +i#er, )G: Prentice 4all :rown, G J *translated into Gapanese "y H Wada, *1<<<, Gendo kyoiku to

MGS 9920 PROB & STAT THEORY I

Dr. Samaddar

tesutingu. DLan$ua$e teachin$ and testin$E 'okyo: 'aishukan &hoten :rown, G J *-000, Using surveys in language programs. Bam"rid$e: Bam"rid$e 3ni#ersity Press 4atch, 9 , > La?araton, @ *1<<1, The research manual: Design and statistics for applied linguistics. +owley, H@: )ew"ury 4ouse !wai, ' , Iondo, I , Lim, J & G , +ay, 2 , &himi?u, 4 , > :rown, G J *1<<<, Japanese Language eeds Assessment !""#$!""". *)6L+B )etWork K1., D4'HL documentE 4onolulu: 3ni#ersity of 4awaii, &econd Lan$ua$e 'eachin$ > Burriculum Benter +etrie#ed @pril .0, 1<<< @#aila"le at www lll hawaii eduCnflrcC)etWorksC)W1.CD9(pired LinkE