His original report entitled a technique for measurement of attitudes was published in the archives of psychology in 1932. While some of these criticisms are wellfounded, frequently the use of various parametric methods such as analysis of variance, regression, correlation are faulted because. In its final form, the likert scale is a five or seven point scale which is used to allow the individual to express how much they agree or disagree with a particular statement. The likert scale, thus, should be arranged on an ordinal level. A likert scale is a psychometric scale used to represent peoples opinions and attitudes to a topic or subject matter during research. Equidistance of likert type scales and validation of inferential. A psychometric evaluation of 4point and 6point likert. Likert scale data, on the other hand, are analyzed at the interval measurement scale. Equidistance of likerttype scales and validation of inferential. Mciver and carmines 1981 describe the likert scale as follows.
Download pdf show page numbers the likert or summated rating scale is a very popular device for measuring peoples attitudes, beliefs, emotions, feelings, perceptions, personality characteristics, and other psychological constructs. Likert scales, d the debate over the treatment of ordinal data as interval and e a discussion in. Likert scales may be tailored for any given instrument and semantics by performing a pretest using unmarked lines as continuous scales, measuring the distances marked by the respondents, and using cluster analysis to determine the optimal number and placement of scale points for the actual study. Use and misuse of the likert item responses and other. Satisfaction questionnaires post use learn how to prepare them different types of scales questions wording learn about the most common types of questionnaire used in user. This study examined the effect of alternative scale formats on reporting of intensity of attitudes on likert scales of agreement. Likert type scales in relation to reliability and validity lei chang university of central florida reliability and validity of 4point and 6point scales were assessed using a new modelbased approach to fit empirical data. Respondents are given statements and asked to respond by saying whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree.
Analyzing and interpreting data from likerttype scales. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce, post, download, andor distribute, this material in its entirety only for notforprofit educational purposes only, provided that the hartford institute for geriatric nursing, new york university, college of nursing is cited as the source. A set of items, composed of approximately an equal number of favorable and unfavorable. If you are in need of a template of the organisational effectiveness, you can download this template for your reference. The likert scale originated with rensis likert 21, and has a long history of use in kinesiology research, 14, 24. The midpoint on a fivepoint likerttype scale sage journals. Such scales have advantages and disadvantages and in this article i comment on some of these. A typical item in a likert scale is a statement to which respondents rate their level of agreement.
Barbara resnick, in women and health second edition, 20. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce, post, download, andor distribute, this material in its entirety only for notforprofit educational purposes only, provided that the hartford institute for geriatric nursing, new york university, college of nursing is. The likert scale analysis using parametric based structural. Journal of instructional psychology, 36 3, 185 193. It is usually treated as an interval scale, but strictly speaking it is an ordinal scale, where arithmetic operations cannot be conducted. At its most fundamental level, the problem is that the numbers in a likert scale are not numbers as such, but a means of ranking responses. Croasmun lee ostrom abstract likert scales are useful in social science and attitude research projects. The depression and anxiety scales can be used alone for the study of those disorders, or the depression scale can be used along with the hypomania scale to study emotion swings in bipolar patients.
Design of diverging stacked bar charts for likert scales and. Likert scale definition, examples and analysis simply. Abstract the likert scale is commonly used in survey research using primary and secondary data to measure the respondent. Thirtytwo percent used a seven point answer format and another 33 percent. The impact of scale width on responses for multiitem, selfreport. Pdf a method for constructing likert scales researchgate. Reviewers of research reports frequently criticize the choice of statistical methods. A likert template example would range from typical multiplechoice options which may include strongly agree, agree, no opinion, disagree and strongly disagree. The likert scale is widely used in social work research, and is commonly constructed with four to seven points. Almost everyone would recognise this type of survey. The successful aging inventory sai is a 20 item likert scale in which respondents indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with statements such as i feel able to deal with my own aging.
Likert scales user judge a specific statement on a numeric scale usually corresponds with. The general selfefficacy exam is a test used to determine whether factors in educational settings affect participants learning selfefficacy. Likert scale examples for surveys iowa state university. Ordinal methodology in the analysis of likert scales. Subjects choose from a range of possible responses to a specific question or statement. The likert scales invention is attributed to rensis likert 1931, who described this technique for the assessment of attitudes. View the article pdf and any associated supplements and figures for a period of 48 hours. Mar 15, 2007 likert scales are widely used in survey studies for attitude measuring. The likert summated rating scale procedure outlined above is one such measure. Equidistance of likert type scales and validation of inferential methods using experiments and simulations the electronic journal of business research methods volume 11 issue 1 20 pp 1628, available online at. A likert scale enables respondents to choose from a linear set of responses that increase or decrease in intensity or strength.
Rensis likert, a sociologist at the university of michigan, who developed the technique. Many variations on likert scales are still used today, but most likert scale purists would say that the two main characteristics of a likert scale are 1 it expresses a degree of agreement with a statement and 2 it uses an odd number of response options, thus allowing a neutral response. A psychometric evaluation of 4point and 6point likert type scales in relation to reliability and validity show all authors. Journal of adult education volume 40, number 1, 2011 using likert type scales in the social sciences james t. The analyses of likert type and likert scale data require unique data analysis procedures, and as a result, misuses andor mistakes often occur. The original instrument had 10 efficacy items and used a 4point likert scale.
Simultaneously, it is also subjected to a lot of debates. A standard onestage format and an alternate twostage format were. Equidistance of likerttype scales and validation of. A standard onestage format and an alternate twostage format were tested in three separate studies on samples of university students in three countries. In educational research, likert scale is commonly used to measure different kinds of.
Analyzing likert data the journal of extension joe. A likert scale assumes that the strengthintensity of an attitude is linear, i. Likert items and scales rob johns university of strathclyde 1. Review of scholarly works specifically journal articles and other related documents were the base of this academic discourse. Journal of targeting, measurement and analysis for. The impact of scale width on responses for multiitem, selfreport measures. Abstract it was hypothesized that the exclusion of a neutral point will not significantly affect an individuals composite score on a likert type scale. We recommend diverging stacked bar charts as the primary graphical display technique for likert and related scales. It is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in survey research, such that the term or more accurately the likerttype scale is often used interchangeably with rating scale, although there are. Likert scales, levels of measurement and the laws of. Equidistance of likerttype scales and validation of inferential methods using experiments and simulations the electronic journal of business research methods volume 11 issue 1 20 pp 1628, available online at. Download sample survey questions likert scale for free.
Student evaluation of university teaching activity is now compulsory in italy and a research group of the italianministry of instruction, university, and research proposed a questionnaire with items based on the fourpoint likert scale and a traditional itembyitem analysis for the evaluation of classrooms, work load, course organization, lectures, and teaching aids. Pdf likert scale is applied as one of the most fundamental and frequently. Some researchers consider likert scale as an interval scale, while the others mention. On the one hand, the studies show that small numbers of response categories, di. Likert scale is applied as one of the most fundamental and frequently used psychometric tools in educational and social sciences research. Abstract many articles published in the international journal of clinical and health psychology describe the results obtained in studies that have used likert type scales. Download 51 likert scale template 2019 free collection. Reporting and interpreting scores derived from likerttype scales j.
Likert scales are widely used in social and educational research. Rating scales, such as likert scales, are very common in marketing research, customer satisfaction studies, psychometrics, opinion surveys, population studies, and numerous other fields. Absract the ease of likert scale on its contruction as a measurement scale of individual traits must be cautioned to prevent some errors in the data analysis. Jan 01, 2011 a widely used questionnaire format developed by r. Likert scale, rating system, used in questionnaires, that is designed to measure peoples attitudes, opinions, or perceptions. Different measurement models were fit by confirmatory factor analyses of a multitraitmultimethod covariance matrix. Application of fuzzy logic to improve the likert scale to. Reporting and interpreting scores derived from likert type scales j.
Likerttype or frequency scales use fixed choice response formats and are designed to measure attitudes or opinions 2. Explored and explained ankur joshi1, saket kale2, satish chandel3 and d. A substantial number of studies has focused on the robustness of factor analysis models with respect to nonnormality induced by ordered categorical outcomes. The likert scale revisited gerald albaum, 1997 sage journals.
Abstract the likert scale is commonly used in survey research using. Likert scale definition, examples and analysis simply psychology. Robert warmbrod1 abstract fortynine percent of the 706 articles published in the journal of agricultural education from 1995 to 2012 reported quantitative research with at least one variable measured by a likerttype scale. Subjects choose from a range of possible responses to a specific question or statement, such as strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree.
Scales and multiitem indicators pdf share survey of health. Current journal of applied science and technology 74. Heiberger2 1 nbr, 11 christine court, wayne, nj 074706523 2 temple university, 332 speakman hall 006 12, philadelphia, pa 19122 6083 abstract rating scales such as likert scales and semantic differential scales are very common in. The sus is a 10 item, 5point likert scale anchored with 1 strongly disagree and 5 strongly. International journal of contemporary applied sciences vol.
The likert scale originated with rensis likert, and has a long history of use in kinesiology research, 14, 24. The third questionnaire was on the origin of the concepts and principles that determine the choices of the contents of a pe class. Pdf analyzing and interpreting data from likerttype scales. Previous studies on the points of the likertscale format have not addressed the. Likert scale items are created by calculating a composite score sum or mean from four or more type likert type items. A psychometric evaluation of 4point and 6point likerttype. Three good reasons not to use five and seven point likert items sara dolnicar university of wollongong, s. Likert scales seek information for understanding a subjects attitude by combining the individuals responses to a series of opinion questions designed to address relevant aspects of the attitude in question. It contained six items, with a threelevel, likert type response. This template has concrete questions and seven different degree choice which is pretty detailed for the survey about the working attitude. This article provides information for extension professionals on the correct analysis of likert data.
In particular, the questionnaires propagated by the servqual approach are based on likert scales. Likert scales are widely used in survey studies for attitude measuring. The likert scale analysis using parametric based structural equation modeling sem zainudin awang 1, asyraf afthanorhan2, mustafa mamat3 1,2,3 faculty of economics and management sciences,universiti sultan zainal abidin kampus gong badak, 20 kuala terengganu, malaysia. Of these 36 articles, 29 66% used researcher developed. Aug 31, 20 to get the total score for each scale just add the scores of the individual items together. British journal ofmathematical and statistical psychology, 38, 171189. It is inappropriate to analyze the data using addition, subtraction, division, or multiplication. A comparison of some methodologies for the factor analysis of nonnormal likert variables. A 20item, sevenpoint likert scale, selfreport measure of adaptive thinking in stressful situations. Reporting and interpreting scores derived from likerttype. Widely used in psychological and other social science research today, likert scales enable researchers to collect data that provides nuance and insight into participants. Although these five category response alternatives are common, three, four, six.
Factoranalyzing likertscale data under the assumption of. Robert warmbrod1 abstract fortynine percent of the 706 articles published in the journal of agricultural education from 1995 to 2012 reported quantitative research with at least one variable measured by a likert type scale. When using likert scales, the researcher must consider issues such as categories of response values in the scale, size of the scale, direction of the scale, the ordinal nature of likert derived data, and appropriate statistical analysis of such data. With reference to the likert scale, cohen, manion, and morrison 2000 stated that the interval range of different levels are not equal in value. Study results suggested that there were incompatible views about the using of the likert type data among the community of practice. A psychometric response scale primarily used in questionnaires to obtain participants preferences or degree of agreement with a statement or set of statements. Three good reasons not to use five and seven point likert. Pdf download for the midpoint on a fivepoint likerttype scale, open epub. Morgan university of szeged, hungary colorado state university, usa abstract likert type scales are commonly used in social sciences. Likert scales are useful in social science and attitude research projects. I believe that ecological questions are the most important issues facing human beings today. Reporting and interpreting scores derived from likerttype scales.
Using likerttype scales in the social sciences eric. Likert type scale, respondents indicate how frequently they exhibit. Likert scales are rating scales used in questionnaires that measure peoples attitudes, opinions, or perceptions. Thus, understanding the interpretation and analysis of data derived from likert scales is imperative for those working in medical education and education research.
Volume 41 of the journal contained 44 articles of which 36 82% were quantitative. If the numbers are replaced with the letters a to e, for example, the idea of averaging them becomes patently absurd. Though the problem of attitude suggests an ordinal interpretation of likert scales, attitude survey data are often evaluated with techniques designed for cardinal measurements. The likert scale s invention is attributed to rensis likert 1931, who described this technique for the assessment of attitudes. Likert, and likert type, responses are popular psychometric item scoring schemes for attempting to quantify peoples opinions on different issues. If you consider the above discussion in your mind, you can get an idea that likert scale offers quantitative results for qualitative data and makes it easier for surveyors to investigate the results unbiasedly. Likert scales may be tailored for any given instrument and semantics by. Is there an optimal number of alternatives for likert scale items. A scale to measure locus of control of behaviour craig. The ubiquitous likert item the question above, taken from the 2007 british social attitudes survey, is an example of a likert item.
Three criteria one might use to determine the number of likert scale rating steps to employ are. Calculating, interpreting, and reporting cronbachs alpha. This article discusses the differences between likert type and likert scale data and provides recommendations for descriptive statistics to be used. The original idea for the likert scale is found in rensis likerts 1932 article in archive of psychology titled a technique for the measurement of attitudes. Pal1 1department of community medicine, gandhi medical college, bhopal, 462001, india. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 566, 893. A method for constructing likert scales by jamal munshi ssrn.
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