Rating Scales, Check list and Inventories

Rating Scales:
A rating scale is a closed-end survey question that is used to evaluate how survey responders feel about a
particular product or statement. Responders are typically asked to choose from a range of options — which
are scaled between two values— like Excellent to Terrible. The rating scale is a variant of the well-known
multiple choice question.

It is one of the most established question types for online and offline surveys where survey respondents are
expected to rate an attribute or feature. Rating scale is a variant of the popular multiple-choice question
which is widely used to gather information that provides relative information about a specific topic.

Researchers use a rating scale in research when they intend to associate a qualitative measure with the
various aspects of a product or feature. Generally, this scale is used to evaluate the performance of a product
or service, employee skills, customer service performances, processes followed for a particular goal etc.

Types of Rating Scale:

There are few types of rating scales which are as follows:

Ordinal Scale

An ordinal scale is a variable measurement scale that presents the answers in an ordered manner. The scale is
presented in natural order, but the intervals between the scales are not fixed. Parameters such as attitude or
feedback can be presented using an ordinal scale.

Interval Scale:

An interval scale has similarities to an ordinal scale. The question’s answers also follow an innate order, but
they contain an equal and meaningful value between the intervals. Absolute or true zero value is not present
in an interval scale. Temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit is the most popular example of an interval scale.
Numerical Rating Scale

A numerical rating scale uses numbers instead of words. This is one of the simplest and most common types of
rating scale and will be familiar through its use as a numeric pain rating scale, which measures 0-10 — with 0
as no pain and 10 as the worst pain imaginable.

Descriptive Rating Scale

The descriptive rating scale does not require numbers, instead offering responders the choice of descriptive
statements. For example, the question “How happy were you with our service?” could be answered by
Unhappy, Neutral, or Happy.

Likert Scale

The Likert scale is another type of survey scale. Frequently referred to as the satisfaction scale due to its
suitability in measuring satisfaction, these scales ask a question like “how happy were you with our service?”
and offer a scale from “very happy” to “very unhappy” with a scale of three, five or seven points used.