A learning pattern forsurvey
Using ordered response scales
problemSurvey questions often ask for ordered responses, but it can be hard to think of them on the spot
solutionUse these example responses scales for your surveys
created on20:23, 3 June 2016 (UTC)
status:DRAFT
Survey questions often ask for ordered responses. These are questions that have responses like: strongly agree/strongly disagree, or Very important/Not important. These can be hard to think up when you are doing a survey.
Researchers have done a lot of research on this topic and there are responses that are often accepted as established. View the list below to find responses that work for you! Note: If the words do not translate well from English into another language, use number scales instead of words. See this learning pattern. --learning pattern needed-- for more information.
Dichotomous (Forced –choice or anchor points)
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NOTE: Dichotomous pairs are not recommended for most survey questions. These options should only be used for filtering people to the right questions (e.g. did you attend the event? Yes/No), or for voting. You should often include "not sure/don't know" or "not applicable" as an option as well for these lists."
Fair
|
Unfair
|
Agree
|
Disagree
|
True
|
False
|
Yes
|
No
|
Pass
|
Fail
|
Minimally
|
Maximally
|
Not at all
|
Completely
|
Three-point scales
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Agree
|
Neither agree nor disagree
|
Neutral Disagree
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More than I would like
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About right
|
Less than I would like
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Too harsh
|
About right
|
Too lenient
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Too heavy
|
About right
|
Too light
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Too much
|
About right
|
Too little
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Not at all
|
Moderately
|
Extremely
|
Too Strict
|
About right
|
Too lax
|
None
|
Some
|
A lot
|
Increased
|
No Change
|
Decreased
|
Improved
|
Stayed the same
|
Digressed
|
Not at all
|
Occasionally
|
Frequently
|
Four-point Scales (Forced -choice)
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Poor
|
Fair
|
Good
|
Excellent
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Most of the time
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Some of the time
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Hardly ever
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Very seldom/Never
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Strongly agree
|
Agree
|
Disagree
|
Strongly disagree
|
Exceeded
|
Met
|
Nearly met
|
Missed
|
Below standard
|
Approaching standard
|
At standard
|
Above standard
|
Definitely will not
|
Probably will not
|
Probably will
|
Definitely will
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Not important
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Somewhat important
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Very important
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Essential
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None
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Little
|
Some
|
Substantial
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Not at all
|
Not very well
|
Fairly well
|
Very well
|
A lot
|
Quite a bit
|
A little
|
None
|
Five-point Scales
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Excellent
|
Above average
|
Average
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Below average
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Very poor
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Much better
|
Somewhat better
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Stayed the same
|
Somewhat worse
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Much worse
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Much stronger
|
Somewhat stronger
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No change
|
Somewhat weaker
|
Much weaker
|
Strongly agree
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(Somewhat) Agree
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Neither agree nor disagree/Neutral
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(Somewhat) Disagree
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Strongly disagree
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Very high
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Above average
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Average
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Below average
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Very low
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Way too little
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Too little
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About right
|
Too much
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Way too much
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Far too little
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Too little
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About right
|
Too much
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Far too much
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Much higher
|
Somewhat Higher
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About the same
|
Somewhat lower
|
Much lower
|
Not at all
|
Slightly
|
Moderately
|
Mostly
|
Completely
|
One of the best
|
About average
|
Average
|
Below average
|
One of the worst
|
Completely satisfied
|
Very satisfied
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Fairly well satisfied
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Somewhat dissatisfied
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Very dissatisfied
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Very satisfied
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Satisfied
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Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
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Dissatisfied
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Very dissatisfied
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Almost always
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Often
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Sometimes
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Seldom
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Never
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Always
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Very often
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Fairly many times
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Occasionally
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Never
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All of the time
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Most of the time
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Sometimes
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Rarely
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Never
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All
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A lot/ An extreme amount
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Quite a bit
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A little/ Some
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None
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Very good
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Good
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Fair
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Poor
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Very poor
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Very often
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Regularly
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Sometimes
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Once or twice
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Never
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Very important
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Quite important
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Fairly important
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Slightly important
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Not at all important
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Not like
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Somewhat
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Moderately
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Very much
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Totally
|
Definitely True
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True
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Do not know
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False
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Definitely false
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Severe
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Moderate
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Mild
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Very mild
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None
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Six-point Scales (Forced -choice)
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Always
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Very often
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Fairly often
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Sometimes
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Almost never
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Never
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Always
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Most of the time
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Often
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Occasionally
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Rarely
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Never
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Completely satisfied
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Very satisfied
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Somewhat satisfied
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Somewhat dissatisfied
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Very dissatisfied
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Completely dissatisfied
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Seven-point Scales
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Very dissatisfied
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Moderately dissatisfied
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Slightly dissatisfied
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Neutral
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Slightly satisfied
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Moderately satisfied
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Very Satisfied
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Far below
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Moderately below
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Slightly below
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Met expectation
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Slightly above
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Moderately above
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Far above
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Very poor
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Poor
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Fair
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Good
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Very good
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Excellent
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Exceptional
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Words to watch out for
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The following words can bias scale if not careful to balance depending on number of responses:
- Slightly vs. Somewhat
- Very/Extremely
- Completely/Totally
- Excellent vs. Exceptional
Scales for international use
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Translating these scales into another language can be very challenging. There are always slight differences in the meanings of words based on the language and culture. If a survey is being translated or used in multiple countries, it is best to use a number scale and show the extremes only. For example:
- 0 - Very poor
- 1
- 2 - Average
- 3
- 4 - Excellent