Market Researchers with some survey design experience quickly learn that scale choices are a critical part of the process. The choice, wording and formatting of different scales can have a huge impact on a project’s success.

• Are the scales too complicated?
• Are they precise enough to yield actionable information?
• Will they encourage honest, candid responses?

Survey research has many forms of risk. Social desirability issues, acquiescence bias, extreme response bias, and even just boredom, are all issues. Learn to mitigate the risks by being aware of many scale options, wording choices and formatting tips.

In this 4-part program, Instructor Amy Anderson covers various ranking and rating scales, including Likert, semantic differential, constant sum, and more. The class also delves into decisions related to the choice of even versus odd scales, number of points (5? 7? 10? 11?), and related topics. Your instructor will also cover scale selection considerations for both online and telephone data collection. This class meets once a week for 90-minutes, for 4 consecutive weeks.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Understand the criteria for selecting scales
• Choose the best scale type and labeling for different measurement needs
• Avoid common questionnaire design errors
• Identify alternatives for cases where standard scales may be inadequate