Hi folks
When using say a 5-point scale, are there any strict rules for this:
Suppose I use 1 for Strongly agree and 5 for Strongly disagree

or has it got to be 1 for Strongly disagree and 5 for Strongly agree ?

Thanks in advance
Satchi

Hi Satchi,

I have used the scale starting with strongly disagree(1) to strongly agree (5). Not sure whether there are any strict rules regarding this.

I think in general it is best to use a questionnaire that already has been validated. To get published, I think this is important. If you have to develop the questionnaire yourself, I would use a validated questionnaire, which fits best with your research, as an example for structure. There are books which contain validated questionnaires regarding all kind of issues. Good luck:-)

The only things I know about these, because I'm not using this method, is that I have read/been told that you shouldn't have an odd number on these scales, otherwise people tend to go for the middle option. and don't think there are any rules about which end should be the strong agree/stong disagree, except that you should vary this for your questions, again to avoid people just going down the row without reading the question.

thanks rick and joyce

These are Likert scales - I'm using a few. If you google on 'Likert' you'll find a ton of stuff. It doesn't matter which way you score as long as you follow that through conceptually - and usually you will find that one direction is more intuitive than the other. I'm using previously validated scales - if you are devising your own be sure to go through the necessary validation stages. Validating a new scale is a whole project in itself which is why most PhD students use scales that have already been validated.

Although odd numbers are common - many prefer even numbers as Joyce suggests - that's called 'forced choice' so that you cannot be neutral. All the Likert scales I use are forced choice.

thanks Smilodon!