SPECIALISED SCALING RATES

A rating scale is an aid to discplined dialogue.It's precisely defined format that focuses
the conversation between the respondent and the questionnaire on the relevant areas.

A rating scale is also a tool used for assessing the performance of tasks,skill
levels,procedures,processes,qualities,quantities or end products such as
reports,drawings and computer programs.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RATING SCALES

 Have criteria for success based on expected outcomes

 Have clearly defined, detailed statements
 Have statements that are chunked into logical sections or flow sequentially
 Include clear wording with numbers when a number scale is used
 Have specific,clearly distinguishable terms
 Short enough to be practical
 Sometimes have a column or space for providing additional feedback

TYPES OF RATING SCALES IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

1. The ordinal rating scale

It presents the response input options to the participant as an ordered set of categories
but with the distinction that "distance between the categories is unknown".This just
means that the response options can be ordered and ranked( i.e strongly agree is
greater than somewhat agree), but there is no known quantifiable distance between the
intervals.

A common example of an ordinal rating scale is what's known as the likert scale which
is named after its inventor, psychologist Rensis Likert. This type of scale is usually
presented with a statement or set of statements and the participant is asked to rate how
much they agree or disagree.

Things worth pointing out when using an ordinal scale:

 The focus is on the labels for example; strongly agree,somewhat agree etc when
it comes to assigning value to the object or attribute.The labels indicate the
magnitude of difference between the response categories,so it's important to use
clearly differentiated wording.
 Take a moment to cover the design of a likert scale as it's quite unique in it's own
right.While using Likert scales,the participant is asked to rate their level of
agreement with a statement about said object and/or attribute rather than rating it
directly.

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When to use it

Useful when it comes to latitudinal studies where the researcher is interested in

understanding an audiences' perception or opinion of something at a specific point in
time.

Ordinal scale data can also be easier to work with as you get compositional data which
is typically spread across just 4 or 5 categories (i.e strongly agree, somewhat agree etc)

2. The interval rating scale

An interval scale is similar to ordinal in that the response options can be ordered and
ranked. But the key difference here is that the response options are numeric hence the
distance between the intervals is quantifiable i.e 4 is one unit greater than 3).An
important distinction with interval scales compared to ordinal is that the focus shifts from
the labels to the numbers as it's the numeric values that indicate the magnitude of
difference. Interval scales also tend to utilize larger ranges such as a 10 or 11 point

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scale. For example On a scale of 1-10, 1 being very poor and 10 very good.

It is advisable to never label each interval on an interval level rating scale for a few
reasons:

i) It could distract and confuse the respondent as they'll have to try and interpret value in
the context of both the labels and numeric scale.

ii) With as many as 11 points on an interval scale you'll probably have interval taring
scales.

When to use it

Interval rating scales are often used to give the researcher more precision in their
measurement. This is because the respondent has more room for interpreting 'value',
which in turn gives the reseacher a lot more data. The benefit here is that you have
more flexibility for analyzing things like standard deviation and how much variabity there
is in your dataset.

There are generally more possibilities with how you apply interval scale data, for
example you can anlayze your results by calculating the mean, median or mode.

Interval scales can be better suited to latitudinal studies where you want to be able to
track a persistent variable over time.

Other types of rating scales

a) Graphic rating scale

This type of scale allows you to mark a point on a line or continuum to indicate your
rating.

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 b) Numeric rating scale

A type of rating scale which can be constructed without defining or giving a description
of the meaning for every rating point.

c) Descriptive rating scale

It's a scale in which each rating level is defined often in detail and is not necessarily
assigned a point value

How to develop a rating scale

 Review the learning outcome and associated criteria for success.

 Determine the scale to use (words or words with numbers) to represent the levels
of success.
 Write a description for the meaning of each point on the scale as needed.
 List the categories of performance to be assessed as needed.
 Clearly describe each skill.
 Arrange the skills in a logical order if you can.
 Highlight the critical steps, checkpoints or indicators of success.
 Write clear instructions for the observer.

Advantages of rating scales

 Easy to administer and to score

 Technically rating scale is a standard device for recording qualitative and
quantitative judgments about observed performance
 They measure specified outcomes or objectives of education deemed to be
signified
 They evaluate products such as responses of a demonstration, a speech, and
work performed.

Disadvantages of rating scales

 Limited reliability
 May be substantial variations among informants
 Do not assess sources of behavior problems
 Ease to use-Unqualified users may use and interpret these scales.
 Not suitable for sophisticated treatment planning

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