Learning and Evaluation/Archive/Learning modules/3Scales

Jump to page

Part 1: Introduction

Welcome!
Why Survey?
Why Surveys Are Useful
Constructs
Operationalize
Survey instruments
Types of information
Attributes - a special case
Survey Objective and Planning

Part 2: Reliability & Validity

Reliability & Validity
Reliability
Validity
Face Validity
Content Validity
Criterion Validity
Construct Validity

Part 3: Question Construction

Writing Good Questions
Questions from Existing Surveys
Constructing your own Questions
Be Specific
Be Concise
Avoid Double Negatives
Minimize Social Desirability Bias
Avoid Double-barreled questions
Avoid abbreviations, jargon, technical terms, or slang
Avoid leading questions
Avoid loaded questions
Use appropriate wording
Ask useful questions
Rely on second-hand data sparsely
Use caution when asking personal questions

Part 4: Response Options

Question types
Fill-in-the-blank
Dichotomous pairs
Multiple choice
Check all that apply
Ranking
Scales
Choosing response options

Part 5: Questionnaire structure

Important considerations
Questions order
Additional Resources
Feedback

  Wikimedia Training Designing Effective Questions Menu

Scales

Likert Scale
A Likert Scale is very common and generally used to report the intensity of a feeling, belief, opinion or attitude. They typically include a scale from 3 to 7 items. Commonly used terms for the extremes of the scales include strongly agree/strongly disagree, too difficult/too easy, etc.
Example
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement:
The weekly edit-a-thon at the public library should continue:
  • Strongly agree
  • Somewhat agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Somewhat disagree
  • Strongly disagree


Alternatives to the Likert scale:
Guttman scale – a set of questions or statements that if a respondent agrees with a question/statement, they agree to the previous ones.
(1) "I am aware of Wikipedia" __Yes __No
(2) "I use Wikipedia" __Yes __No
(3) "I edit Wikipedia" __Yes __No
(4) "I contribute to different Wikimedia projects" __Yes __No
Semantic differential – measure affect or people’s positive or negative feelings towards an attitude. Typically a pair of adjectives, like good/bad, fast/slow, etc with 5 to 7 indicators drawn between them. For example:
Bad o o o o o o o Good
Low quality o o o o o o o High quality