Re: Designing a survey

[Eric Hansen <ehansen -at- COMWARE -dot- COM>]

Tony's point about even versus odd number scales is not quite accurate.
Whether or not your survey should have and even or odd number of choices
depends on the survey and the kinds of information you are seeking.

An odd numbered scale does allow people to take the middle ground, but
sometimes that is appropriate.  An even numbered scale forces people to
make a choice, and sometimes that is appropriate.   Which kind of scale
is appropriate in what situations is a judgment call.  I suggest, if at
all possible, that you and the client together decide.

BTW, this type of scale is called Likert scale.  I assume it's named
after someone, but I do not know that for sure.

Eric Hansen
Instructional Designer
Comware Incorporated

                -----Original Message-----
                From:   Anthony Mohr [mailto:amohr -at- CASTEK -dot- COM]
                Sent:   Thursday, October 08, 1998 9:16 AM
                Subject:        Re: Designing a survey

                Suzette Seveny wrote: "I have a couple of surveys I use
on a regular basis;
                one for documentation and
                one for training.  I always use a scale of one to five
with an explanation
                as
                follows:

                1 - Very dissatisfied
                2 - Somewhat dissatisfied
                3 - Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
                4 - Somewhat satisfied
                5 - Very satisfied"

                I read somewhere that when you design a survey with a
scale, the scale
                should always be made up of an even number of options.
If the scale has an
                uneven number of options, then people who are unsure
about their response
                tend to choose the option in the middle.  However, if
the scale is made up
                of an even number of options, people responding to the
survey are forced to
                choose an option that most closely aligns with their
opinion.

                Tony Mohr
                Technical Writer
                Castek Software Factory
                Toronto, ON


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=