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Likert Scale
Likert Scale
Devendra
Research Scholar
Department of Studies in Library and Information Science, University of
Mysore, Mysore -570 006.
Dr. Rensis Likert
(1903 - 1981)
The original idea for the likert scale is found in Rensis Likert’s 1932 article in Archive of
psychology titled “ A technique for the measurement of Attitudes”. This idea was
expanded by Likert’s 1934 Journal of social psychology article titled “ A simple and
Reliable method of scoring the Thurstone Attitude Scales”.
What is Likert scale?
• It is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research
that employs questionnaires.
• It is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in
survey research.
• Likert scales are a non-comparative scaling technique and
are one-dimensional in nature.
• When responding to a Likert questionnaire item respondents
specify their level of agreement or disagreement on a
symmetric agree-disagree scale for a series of statements.
• Thus, the range captures the intensity of their feelings for a
given item, while the results of analysis of multiple items
reveals a pattern that has scaled properties of the kind Likert
identities
Five – point Likert item
Likert Scale
Difference
Likert item
•Likert item is considered symmetric or
balanced because there are equal amounts
of positive and negative positions.
1. Strongly
disagree
2. Disagree
3. Neither agree
nor disagree
4. Agree
5. Strongly agree
Example:
Q.18.Please measure the following affirmative perceptions about your library OPAC and Web OPAC use .
Codes: 1-strongly disagree, 2- disagree, 3- neutral, 4-agree, 5- strongly agree
S/N Affirmative perception statements Codes
(i) OPAC / Web OPAC was Easier to use than I expected 1 2 3 4 5
(v) Library searching will be easier and faster with the Web 1 2 3 4 5
OPAC
(x) OPAC/ Web OPAC reducing the result when too much is 1 2 3 4 5
retrieved is easy
The format of a typical Seven-level Likert item
Analysis Methods
Depending on how the Likert scale questions are treated a number
of different analysis methods can be applied