Questionnaire Scales:
Part II
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Dr. Michael R. Hyman, NMSU
Formatting Issues for Non-comparative Scales
Issue
1. Verbal category
descriptions
2. Number of
categories
3. Balanced or
unbalanced
4. Odd or even
categories
5. Forced or nonforced choice
Recommendation
Use precise descriptions for each
category
At least 4, but typically 5 to 9
categories
Balanced unless known that
respondents’ attitudes are
unbalanced (e.g., all favorable)
Odd if respondents could be
neutral or indifferent
Non-forced unless likely all
respondents will know about issue
2
Examples of Different Formats
3
Development
of a Multi-item
Scale
4
Purchase
Intent
Scale
5
Response
Alternatives to a
Purchase Intent
Question
6
Graphic Rating Scales
Presents respondents with a
graphic continuum
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Comparative Scales
14
Ranking
Scales
15
Rank
Order
Data
16
Tabulated Rank Order Data
17
Paired Comparison Scales
• Respondents presented with two objects at a
time and asked to pick the one they prefer
• Ranking objects with respect to one attribute
easy with only a few objects, but as number
of objects increases, number of comparisons
increases geometrically—(n*(n -1)/2)
– If number of comparisons too great,
respondents may fatigue and no longer
carefully discriminate
18
19
20
Constant Sum Scales
21
22
Constant Sum Scale
23
24
25
Q Sort
26
27
28
Other Comparative Scales
29
Dollar Metric Scale
30
31
32
33
34
Recap
• Non-comparative vs. comparative scales
• Likert-type scale is preferred noncomparative scale
• Comparative scales should be designed
with psychometrics in mind
– Rank order scales OK for a few items
– Paired comparison scales OK for
ranking 10 or so items
– Q-sort best for ranking many items
35