Likert Scale Questions

There is a simple, common sense answer to the 5 point scale but also a lot of academic research to back it up. The ideal for any question is to create an accurate measure without overly frustrating the respondent. In other words, create meaningful difference in the response without it being too difficult to answer.

First thing is that we only choose between 3,5,7 and 9 scales because we always look for balance to not prejudice the answer (i.e., same number of positive and negative options, with a middle option for those undecided).

Secondly, the more options, the more friction. So a seven point scales make it harder to answer. People get stuck trying to differentiate between two close or similar answers (e.g., Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Somewhat Disagree). People can ponder these differences for too long, get frustrated and 'drop off'. Similarly, a three point scale can be too simple, just disagree, undecided, agree can lose a lot of information in how people feel. Some people genuinely feel strongly and want to express that.

So we arrive at the classic five point scale:

• Strongly Agree

• Agree

• Neither Agree nor Disagree

• Disagree

• Strongly Disagree

This has been the accepted standard for most employee surveys. It balances frustration with complexity vs. the loss of information. For more information, please see Wikipedia.

To use a likert scale question:

• pick 'Select One' as your new question type;
• add in in the 5 Likert style choices;
• mark the choices 'Strongly Agree' and 'Agree' as positive answers;
• add as an attribute: select this when you want to use the results to this question as a way to filter other scores;
• add as an indicator: select this when you want to be able to quantitively score the results to this question (positive responses divided by the total number of responses).