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Likert Scales

Students Name

Professors Name

Course Title

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Reply to the First response.

Hello, I agree that the number of points on the scale is directly proportional to the

accuracy levels. A Likert scale is a standard feedback collection tool that researchers use when

collecting respondents' opinions, attitudes, and satisfaction levels. The psychometric scale is

more accurate when there are more points. For example, when determining how the market

accepts a brand, a three-point scale may read agree, disagree, and neutral. However, increasing

the number of points to five offers more options such as strongly agree, strongly disagree, agree,

strongly agree, and neutral, which helps to determine how the respondents perceive a brand and

consequently use the feedback to improve the brand for better reception (Claveria, 2018). I

further agree with your opinion that the number of points must be selected based on the type of

survey. A salesperson who requires accurate feedback to increase sales requires more points for

accurate results and fewer points when a simple yes/no answer is required.

Reply to the Second Response

Hello, thank you for the in-depth discussion on the Likert scale and how the points

determine the accuracy of the outcome. I agree with you that when the points are fewer,

respondents may run out of options and choose an option that they do not like. When conducting

an opinion poll about elections in the USA, a respondent should be given three points to choose

democrats, republican, or neutral. When the points are only two, a neutral person may be forced

to select any remaining options at random. However, since they are not interested, the opinion

poll will not reflect the voting pattern, and its accuracy will be jeopardized. Therefore, you are

absolutely right when you say the number of points denotes the accuracy of the response

(Louangrath & Sutanapong, 2018). It is prudent to note that the more the points on the Likert

scale translate to accurate results in the long run. Odd numbers in the Likert scale offer a chance
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to the respondents to have varied options to choose from and a chance for a neutral position. Odd

numbers are used when a neutral position is required.

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References

Claveria, O. (2018). A new metric of consensus for Likert scales. arXiv preprint

arXiv:1809.10493. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1809.10493

Louangrath, P. I., & Sutanapong, C. (2018). Validity and reliability of survey

scales. International Journal of Research & Methodology in Social Science, 4(3), 99-114.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dante-Salatino/publication/330621549_Neuron_as_

an_Electric_PAU/links/5c4afdec458515a4c73eee5e/Neuron-as-an-Electric-

PAU.pdf#page=103