LESSON #4 What’s the Purpose of Different Types of Assessment?

Objectives:
At the end of this module, the learner should be able to:
 Explain the goal of assessment
 Categorize different types of assessment methods
 Distinguished the methods and procedures in creating effective assessment
 Create my own assessment tools

Different types of assessments help you understand student

progress in various ways and adapt your teaching
strategies accordingly.
In your classroom, assessments generally have one of three
purposes:
1. Assessment of learning
2. Assessment for learning
3. Assessment as  learning

 ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING
Assessments are a way to find out what students have learned and if they’re aligning to curriculum or grade-
level standards. 
Assessments of learning are usually grade-based, and can include:
 Exams
 Portfolios
 Final projects
 Standardized tests

They have a concrete grade attached to them that communicates student achievement to teachers, parents,
students, school-level administrators and district leaders. 
Common types of assessment of learning include: 
 Summative assessments
 Norm-referenced assessments
 Criterion-referenced assessments

 ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

Assessments for learning provide you with a clear snapshot of student learning and understanding as you
teach -- allowing you to adjust everything from your classroom management strategies to your lesson plans as
you go. 
Assessments for learning should always be ongoing and actionable. When you’re creating assessments, keep
these key questions in mind:
 What do students still need to know?
 What did students take away from the lesson?
 Did students find this lesson too easy? Too difficult?
 Did my teaching strategies reach students effectively?
 What are students most commonly misunderstanding?
 What did I most want students to learn from this lesson? Did I succeed?
There are lots of ways you can deliver assessments for learning, even in a busy classroom. We’ll cover some
of them soon!
For now, just remember these assessments aren’t only for students -- they’re to provide you with actionable
feedback to improve your instruction.
Common types of assessment for learning include formative assessments and diagnostic assessments. 

 ASSESSMENT AS LEARNING
Assessment as learning actively involves students in the learning process. It teaches critical thinking skills,
problem-solving and encourages students to set achievable goals for themselves and objectively measure their
progress. 
They can help engage students in the learning process, too! One study found:
“Students develop an interest in mathematical tasks that they understand, see as relevant to their own
concerns, and can manage. Recent studies of students’ emotional responses to mathematics suggest that
both their positive and their negative responses diminish as tasks become familiar and increase when tasks are
novel” (21)
Douglas B. McLeod
Some examples of assessment as learning include ipsative assessments, self-assessments and peer
assessments.

6 TYPES OF ASSESSMENT TO USE IN YOUR CLASSROOM

There’s a time and place for every type of assessment. Keep reading to find creative ways of delivering
assessments and understanding your students’ learning process!

1. DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT

Let’s say you’re starting a lesson on two-digit multiplication.

To make sure the unit goes smoothly, you want to know if
your students have mastered fact families, place value and
one-digit multiplication before you move on to more
complicated questions.
When you structure diagnostic assessments around your
lesson, you’ll get the information you need to understand
student knowledge and engage your whole classroom.

Some examples to try include:

 Mind maps
 Flow charts
 KWL charts
 Short quizzes
 Journal entries
 Student interviews
 Student reflections
 Graphic organizers
 Classroom discussions
Diagnostic assessments can also help
benchmark student progress. Consider giving the
same assessment at the end of the unit so
students can see how far they’ve come!

To set up a diagnostic assessment, use your

assessments tool to create a Plan that guides
students through a skill and automatically drops
them down to pre-requisites when necessary.
Want to give your students a sneak peek at the
upcoming lesson? Learn how Prodigy helps you
pre-teach important lessons.

2. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Just because students made it to the end-of-unit test, doesn’t mean they’ve mastered the skill. Formative
assessments help teachers understand student learning while they teach, and adjust their teaching strategies
accordingly. 
Meaningful learning involves processing new facts, adjusting assumptions and drawing nuanced conclusions.
Or, as researchers Thomas Romberg and Thomas Carpenter describe it:
“Current research indicates that acquired knowledge is not simply a collection of concepts and procedural skills
filed in long-term memory. Rather, the knowledge is structured by individuals in meaningful ways, which grow
and change over time.”
Formative assessments help you track how student knowledge is growing and changing in your classroom in
real-time. While it requires a bit of a time investment — especially at first — the gains are more than worth it. 
Some examples of formative assessments include:
 Portfolios
 Group projects
 Progress reports
 Class discussions
 Entry and exit tickets
 Short, regular quizzes
 Virtual classroom tools like Socrative or Kahoot!
When running formative assessments in your classroom, it’s best to keep them short, easy to grade and
consistent. Introducing students to formative assessments in a low-stakes way can help you benchmark their
progress and reduce math anxiety when a big test day rolls around. 
 3. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Summative assessments measure student progress as an
assessment of learning and provide data for you, school
leaders and district leaders.
They're cost-efficient and valuable when it comes to
communicating student progress, but they don’t always
give clear feedback on the learning process and can foster
a “teach to the test” mindset if you’re not careful. 
Plus, they’re stressful for teachers. One Harvard
survey found 60% of teachers said “preparing students to
pass mandated standardized tests” “dictates most of” or
“substantially affects” their teaching.
Sound familiar?
But just because it’s a summative assessment, doesn’t mean it can’t be engaging for students and useful for
your teaching. Try creating assessments that deviate from the standard multiple-choice test, like:
 Recording a podcast
 Writing a script for a short play
 Producing an independent study project
No matter what type of summative assessment you give your students, keep some best practices in mind:
 Keep it real-world relevant where you can
 Make questions clear and instructions easy to follow
 Give a rubric so students know what’s expected of them
 Create your final test after, not before, teaching the lesson
 Try blind grading: don’t look at the name on the assignment before you mark it
Use these summative assessment examples to make them effective and fun for your students!

Use Assignments to differentiate math practice for each student or send an end-of-unit test to the whole class.
Or use our Test Prep  tool to understand student progress and help them prepare for standardized tests in an
easy, fun way!

4. IPSATIVE ASSESSMENTS
How many of your students get a bad grade on a test and get so discouraged they stop trying? 
Ipsative assessments are one of the types of assessment as  learning that compares previous results with a
second try, motivating students to set goals and improve their skills. 
When a student hands in a piece of creative writing, it’s just the first draft. They practice athletic skills and
musical talents to improve, but don’t always get the same chance when it comes to other subjects like math. 
A two-stage assessment framework helps students learn from their mistakes and motivates them to do better.
Plus, it removes the instant gratification of goals and teaches students learning is a process. 
You can incorporate ipsative assessments into your classroom with:
 Portfolios
 A two-stage testing process
 Project-based learning activities

One study on ipsative learning techniques found that when it was used with higher education distance learners,
it helped motivate students and encouraged them to act on feedback to improve their grades. What could it
look like in your classroom?
 5. NORM-REFERENCED ASSESSMENTS
Norm-referenced assessments are tests designed to
compare an individual to a group of their peers,
usually based on national standards and occasionally
adjusted for age, ethnicity or other demographics.

Unlike ipsative assessments, where the student is

only competing against themselves, norm-referenced
assessments draw from a wide range of data points
to make conclusions about student achievement.

Types of norm-referenced assessments include:

 IQ tests
 Physical assessments
 Standardized college admissions tests like the SAT and GRE

Proponents of norm-referenced assessments point out that they accentuate differences among test-takers and
make it easy to analyze large-scale trends. Critics argue they don’t encourage complex thinking and can
inadvertently discriminate against low-income students and minorities. 
Norm-referenced assessments are most useful when measuring student achievement to determine:
 Language ability
 Grade readiness
 Physical development
 College admission decisions
 Need for additional learning support

While they’re not usually the type of assessment you deliver in your classroom, chances are you have access
to data from past tests that can give you valuable insights into student performance.

6. CRITERION-REFERENCED ASSESSMENTS
Criterion-referenced assessments compare the score of an individual student to a learning standard and
performance level, independent of other students around them. 
In the classroom, this means measuring student performance against grade-level standards and can include
end-of-unit or final tests to assess student understanding. 
Outside of the classroom, criterion-referenced assessments appear in professional licensing exams, high
school exit exams and citizenship tests, where the student must answer a certain percentage of questions
correctly to pass. 
Criterion-referenced assessments are most often compared with norm-referenced assessments. While they’re
both valuable types of assessments of learning, criterion-referenced assessments don’t measure students
against their peers. Instead, each student is graded on their own strengths and weaknesses.
 LESSON #5 What’s the Purpose of Different Types of Assessment?
Objectives:
At the end of this module, the learner should be able to:
 Create effective assessment methods and tools

HOW TO CREATE EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENTS

You don’t want to use a norm-referenced assessment to figure out where learning gaps in your classroom are,
and ipsative assessments aren’t the best for giving your principal a high-level overview of student achievement
in your classroom. 
When it comes to your teaching, here are some best practices to help you identify which type of assessment
will work and how to structure it, so you and your students get the information you need.

MAKE A RUBRIC
Students do their best work when they know what’s expected of them and how they’ll be marked. Whether
you’re assigning a cooperative learning project or an independent study unit, a rubric details the exact
requirements students must meet to get a specific grade.
Ideally, your rubric should have a detailed breakdown of all the project’s individual parts, what’s required of
each group member and an explanation of what would be poor, passable, good or excellent work. 
A well-crafted rubric lets multiple teachers grade the same assignment and arrive at the same mark. It’s an
important part of assessments for learning and assessments of learning, and teaches students to take
responsibility for the quality of their work. 

While student grades provide a useful picture of achievement and help you communicate progress to school
leaders and parents, the ultimate goal of assessments is to improve student learning. 
Ask yourself questions like:
 What’s my plan for the results?
 Who’s going to use the results, besides me?
 What do I want to learn from this assessment?
 What’s the best way to present the assessment to my students, given what I know about their progress and
learning styles?
This helps you effectively prepare students and create an assessment that moves learning forward.

Don't stick with the same types of assessment — mix it up!

End-of-unit assessments are a tried and tested (pun

intended) staple in any classroom. But why stop there?
Let’s say you’re teaching a unit on multiplying fractions. To
help you plan your lessons, deliver a diagnostic assessment
to find out what students remember from last year. Once
you’re sure they understand all the prerequisites, you can
start teaching your lessons more effectively. 
After each math class, deliver short exit tickets to find out
what students understand and where they still have
questions. If you see students struggling, you can re-teach or deliver intervention in small groups during station
rotations. 
Once you’re sure every student has mastered the skill, deliver an end-of-unit test. If one or two students do
poorly, you can offer one-on-one support and give them a chance to improve their grades. 
Now your students are masters at multiplying fractions! And when standardized testing season rolls around,
you know which of your students are most likely to struggle — and where. 
Build your review based on the data you’ve collected through diagnostic, formative, summative and ipsative
assessments so they perform well on their standardized tests.

Final thoughts about different types of assessment

Remember: the learning process doesn’t end once students put down their pencils at the end of the test.
It’s an ongoing process, with plenty of opportunities for students to build a growth mindset and develop new
skills. 

Holistic vs. analytic approaches in Assessment

Given an object of cognition of some complexity, the human mind has two ways of accessing it.

 The analytic approach consists in considering each part of the object and the contribution that it
makes to the assemblage by its nature and function, and thus to arrive at a mental representation
of the whole by applying rules of composition to its parts.
 The holistic approach is to directly grasp the whole without consideration of the parts. This can be
done if the object itself is already familiar or if, by its contours or its contextual setting and function,
it bears an essential analogy to some familiar object.

The two approaches complement each other in various ways.

1. If confronted with a familiar object, we tend to take the holistic approach; if

confronted with an unfamiliar object, we take the analytic approach.
2. For a given
analysis of what used to be familiar or by disregarding compositional parts in favour of the
function of the whole.

3. A given complex object may only be analysed in certain parts or aspects, while the internal structure of
other parts remains out of consideration.
To illustrate:
E1. a X chooses the correct approach to Y.
.
b X takes the correct approach to Y.
.

In E1.a the combination of the relational noun approach with its prepositional dependent, and the
combination of the transitive verb choose with its direct object, are interpreted by general rules of semanto-
syntax.
In E1.b the combination X [takes (Z) approach] to Y constitutes a proper part of the sentence. Its contour
and function are analogous to the simpler construction X approaches Y (in a Z way).

E1 thus illustrates the above generalizations:

1. The relatively unfamiliar collocation choose.... approach is construed

analytically, while the familiar collocation take ... approach is construed
holistically.

2. The collocation choose ... approach could instead be accessed holistically, whereby the specific
contribution of choose would essentially be foregone, and the whole would be largely synonymous
with take ... approach; and again, the collocation take ... approach could instead be accessed
analytically, whereby take would regain a more literal sense (contrasting, e.g., with abandon), and the
resulting constructional meaning would be slightly different.

3. The holistic approach treats take ... approach as a proper part of the construction, which it is not in the
analytic approach. However, this does not mean that the construction of E1.b is an unanalyzed whole,
since we can still integrate the contributions of each of the elements in the slots X, Y and Z with the
help of general compositional rules.

The faculty of taking either of the two approaches is wired into the human brain: in right-handers, the
left hemisphere is specialized on the analytic approach, while the right hemisphere is specialized on
the holistic approach. This neurological foundation guarantees that the two approaches are ubiquitous
in human life. They are also constitutive of language.

When a child learns his mother language, he at first does not know the rules. He therefore lacks the
presuppositions of taking an analytic approach even to such expressions that a fully competent
speaker may analyze. In the initial phase, he therefore takes as unanalyzable wholes all the things that
he learns. In the course of further learning, the child does abstract the common schemata from all the
expressions which he first stored as unanalyzed wholes (cf. Tomasello 2003). Further incoming
expressions of the same kind may then be accessed analytically. The units already learnt may, from
there on, be accessed either holistically or analytically.

Reference:
https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/types-of-assessment/
https://www.christianlehmann.eu/ling/ling_theo/holistic_vs_analytic_approach.html
HOW TO CREATE A RUBRIC:
Perhaps you have never even thought about the care it takes to create a rubric. Perhaps you have never
even heard  of a rubric and its usage in education, in which case, you should take a peek at this
article: "What is a rubric?" Basically, this tool that teachers and professors use to help them communicate
expectations, provide focused feedback, and grade products, can be invaluable when the correct answer is
not as cut and dried as Choice A on a multiple choice test. But creating a great rubric is more than just
slapping some expectations on a paper, assigning some percentage points, and calling it a day. A good
rubric needs to be designed with care and precision in order to truly help teachers distribute and receive the
expected work. 
STEPS TO CREATE A RUBRIC

The following six steps will help you when you decide to use a rubric for assessing an essay, a project,
group work, or any other task that does not have a clear right or wrong answer. 

Step 1: Define Your Goal

Before you can create a rubric, you need to decide the type of rubric you'd like to use, and that will largely
be determined by your goals for the assessment.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. How detailed do I want my feedback to be? 

2. How will I break down my expectations for this project?
3. Are all of the tasks equally important?
4. How do I want to assess performance?
5. What standards must the students hit in order to achieve acceptable or exceptional performance?
6. Do I want to give one final grade on the project or a cluster of smaller grades based on several
criteria?
7. Am I grading based on the work or on participation? Am I grading on both?

Once you've figured out how detailed you'd like the rubric to be and the goals you are trying to reach, you
can choose a type of rubric.

Step 2: Choose a Rubric Type

Although there are many variations of rubrics, it can be helpful to at least have a standard set to help you
decide where to start. Here are two that are widely used in teaching as defined by DePaul University's
Graduate Educational department:

1. Analytic Rubric: This is the standard grid rubric that many teachers routinely use to assess
students' work. This is the optimal rubric for providing clear, detailed feedback. With an analytic
rubric, criteria for the students' work is listed in the left column and performance levels are listed
across the top. The squares inside the grid will typically contain the specs for each level.

A rubric for an essay, for example, might contain criteria like "Organization, Support, and Focus,"
and may contain performance levels like "(4) Exceptional, (3) Satisfactory, (2) Developing, and (1)
Unsatisfactory." The performance levels are typically given percentage points or letter grades and
 a final grade is typically calculated at the end. The scoring rubrics for the ACT and SAT are
designed this way, although when students take them, they will receive a holistic score. 

2. Holistic Rubric: This is the type of rubric that is much easier to create, but much more difficult to
use accurately. Typically, a teacher provides a series of letter grades or a range of numbers (1-4 or
1-6, for example) and then assigns expectations for each of those scores. When grading, the
teacher matches the student work in its entirety to a single description on the scale. This is useful
for grading multiple essays, but it does not leave room for detailed feedback on student work. 

Step 3: Determine Your Criteria

This is where the learning objectives for your unit or course come into play. Here, you'll need to brainstorm
a list of knowledge and skills you would like to assess for the project. Group them according to similarities
and get rid of anything that is not absolutely critical. A rubric with too much criteria is difficult to use! Try to
stick with 4-7 specific subjects for which you'll be able to create unambiguous, measurable expectations in
the performance levels. You'll want to be able to spot the criteria quickly while grading and be able to
explain them quickly when instructing your students. In an analytic rubric, the criteria are typically listed
along the left column. 

Step 4: Create Your Performance Levels

Once you have determined the broad levels you would like students to demonstrate mastery of, you will
need to figure out what type of scores you will assign based on each level of mastery. Most ratings scales
include between three and five levels. Some teachers use a combination of numbers and descriptive labels
like "(4) Exceptional, (3) Satisfactory, etc." while other teachers simply assign numbers, percentages, letter
grades or any combination of the three for each level. You can arrange them from highest to lowest or
lowest to highest as long as your levels are organized and easy to understand. 

Step 5: Write Descriptors for Each Level of Your Rubric

This is probably your most difficult step in creating a rubric. Here, you will need to write short statements of
your expectations underneath each performance level for every single criteria. The descriptions should be
specific and measurable. The language should be parallel to help with student comprehension and the
degree to which the standards are met should be explained.

Again, to use an analytic essay rubric as an example, if your criteria was "Organization" and you used
the (4) Exceptional, (3) Satisfactory, (2) Developing, and (1) Unsatisfactory scale, you would need to write
the specific content a student would need to produce to meet each level. It could look something like this:
 4 3 2 1
Exceptional Satisfactory Developing Unsatisfactory
Organization Organization is Organization is coherent and Organization is coherent Organization is confused
coherent, unified in support of the in and fragmented. It does
unified and paper’s purpose and usually support of the essay’s not support the essay’s
effective in demonstrates effective and purpose, but is purpose and
support of the appropriate transitions ineffective at times and demonstrates a
paper’s purpose between ideas and may demonstrate abrupt lack of structure or
and paragraphs. or weak transitions coherence that negatively
consistently between ideas or affects readability.
demonstrates paragraphs.
effective and
appropriate
transitions
between ideas
and paragraphs.

A holistic rubric would not break down the essay's grading criteria with such precision. The top two tiers of a
holistic essay rubric would look more like this:

Step 6: Revise Your Rubric

After creating the descriptive language for all of the levels (making sure it is parallel, specific and
measurable), you need to go back through and limit your rubric to a single page. Too many parameters will
be difficult to assess at once, and may be an ineffective way to assess students' mastery of a specific
standard. Consider the effectiveness of the rubric, asking for student understanding and co-teacher
feedback before moving forward. Do not be afraid to revise as necessary. It may even be helpful to grade a
sample project in order to gauge the effectiveness of your rubric. You can always adjust the rubric if need
be before handing it out, but once it's distributed, it will be difficult to retract. 
Grading Rubrics: Sample Scales
Different assignment types may require different grading scales and different numbers of levels. As you
develop your rubric, decide how many different levels it should have. For example, you may choose a
rubric with three or four levels for an essay assignment, while a one-level rubric (or credit/no credit) may be
useful for smaller assignments and save you time when grading. You may also consider whether to list the
highest possible level of achievement first or last. Be mindful with your word choice when labelling your
rating scales, especially if the grading rubric will be shared with the student. As Stevens & Levi note,
“labelling the levels on the scale can be a delicate matter. We need to be clear about expectations and
about failures as well as successes, yet we also try to avoid overly negative or competitive labels. 
Three Levels
Weak, Satisfactory, Strong
Beginning, Intermediate, High
Weak, Average, Excellent
Developing, Competent, Exemplary
Low Mastery, Average Mastery, High Mastery
Four Levels
Unacceptable, Marginal, Proficient, Distinguished
Beginning, Developing, Accomplished, Exemplary
Needs Improvement, Satisfactory, Good, Accomplished
Emerging, Progressing, Partial Mastery, Mastery
Not Yet Competent, Partly Competent, Competent, Sophisticated
Inadequate, Needs Improvement, Meets Expectations, Exceeds Expectations
Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent
Five Levels
Poor, Minimal, Sufficient, Above Average, Excellent
Novice, Intermediate, Proficient, Distinguished, Master
Unacceptable, Poor, Satisfactory, Good, Excellent
Six Levels
Unacceptable, Emerging, Minimally Acceptable, Acceptable, Accomplished, Exemplary

Sources:
Stevens, Dannelle D. and Antonia Levi (2005). Introduction to Rubrics : An Assessment Tool to Save
Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback, and Promote Student Learning.  Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
Stanny, Claudia J. and Linda B. Nilson. (2014).  Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating
Students, and Saving Faculty Time. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

https://www.brown.edu/sheridan/teaching-learning-resources/teaching-resources/course-design/classroom-
assessment/grading-criteria/rubrics-scales
https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-create-a-rubric-4061367
 #5 My Own Holistic and Analytic Rubric
Answer the question below, then have a picture on it and send your output via
messenger or email: (zirkhonz@gmail.com)

I. Think of specific task to be assess. (ex. baking cake) or specific output to rated (ex. Cake)
II. Then you have to create holistic rubric with the following criteria…

a. At least 5 level of descriptors

b. Make your holistic rubric in a tabular form

III. And an analytic rubrics with the following criteria…

a. At least 4 level of descriptors
b. At least 4 criteria to be rated
c. Then write a short statements of your expectations underneath each performance level for
every single criteria
LESSON #6 Other Assessment Tools being used in Authentic Assessment
Objectives:
At the end of this module, the learner should be able to:
 Use the appropriate assessment for an specific assessment type

Checklists, rating scales and rubrics are tools that state specific criteria and allow teachers and students to
gather information and to make judgments about what students know and can do in relation to the
outcomes. They offer systematic ways of collecting data about specific behaviours, knowledge and skills.
The quality of information acquired through the use of checklists, rating scales and rubrics is highly
dependent on the quality of the descriptors chosen for assessment. Their benefit is also dependent on
students’ direct involvement in the assessment and understanding of the feedback provided.
The purpose of checklists, rating scales and rubrics is to:
 provide tools for systematic recording of observations
 provide tools for self-assessment
 provide samples of criteria for students prior to collecting and evaluating data on their work
record the development of specific skills, strategies, attitudes and behaviours necessary for
demonstrating learning
 Clarify students' instructional needs by presenting a record of current accomplishments.

Tips for Developing Checklists, Rating Scales and Rubrics

1. Use checklists, rating scales and rubrics in relation to outcomes and standards.
2. Use simple formats that can be understood by students and that will communicate information
about student learning to parents.
3. Ensure that the characteristics and descriptors listed are clear, specific and observable.
4. Encourage students to assist with constructing appropriate criteria. For example, what are the
descriptors that demonstrate levels of performance in problem solving?
5. Ensure that checklists, rating scales and rubrics are dated to track progress over time.
6. Leave space to record anecdotal notes or comments.
7. Use generic templates that become familiar to students and to which various descriptors can be
added quickly, depending on the outcome(s) being assessed.
8. Provide guidance to students to use and create their own checklists, rating scales and rubrics for
self-assessment purposes and as guidelines for goal setting.
I. Checklists usually offer a yes/no format in relation to student demonstration of specific criteria.
This is similar to a light switch; the light is either on or off. They may be used to record
observations of an individual, a group or a whole class.
 Example of Checklist
II. Rating Scales allow teachers to indicate the degree or frequency of the behaviours, skills and
strategies displayed by the learner. To continue the light switch analogy, a rating scale is like a
dimmer switch that provides for a range of performance levels. Rating scales state the criteria and
provide three or four response selections to describe the quality or frequency of student work.
Teachers can use rating scales to record observations and students can use them as self-assessment
tools. Teaching students to use descriptive words, such as always, usually, sometimes and never helps
them pinpoint specific strengths and needs. Rating scales also give students information for setting goals
and improving performance. In a rating scale, the descriptive word is more important than the related
number. The more precise and descriptive the words for each scale point, the more reliable the tool.
Effective rating scales use descriptors with clearly understood measures, such as frequency. Scales that
rely on subjective descriptors of quality, such as fair, good or excellent, are less effective because the
single adjective does not contain enough information on what criteria are indicated at each of these points
on the scale.
 Example Rating Scale

III. Using Anecdotal Records in Classroom

Anecdotal notes are concise, objective narratives about an incident or person. In classrooms, teachers can
write anecdotal notes recording their observations of students – behaviors, skills, attitudes, performance,
and classroom incidents. Teachers can write, compile and use their anecdotal notes on students as a
documentation system.

Writing Anecdotal Notes:

Anecdotal notes must contain factual information about a significant event, behavior or learning outcome.
Here are some tips which can help teachers to write good anecdotal notes:
Pre-Observation plan: Teachers must decide in advance which specific behaviors and learning outcomes
they intend to observe and record. This helps teachers prepare and avoid confusion while recording.
Teachers can also decide when to observe to gain balanced profiles of their students.

Content of anecdotal notes:

 Must be dated and include the name of student being observed.
 Should specify student strengths and positive traits.
 Can follow the ABC format for recording – Antecedent (why or how), Behavior, Consequence of
behavior and Context of incident.
 Can include teachers’ comments, plan for action and recommendation for further observations.
 Can summarize identified learning patterns.
Time for writing: While in class, teachers can quickly write down any observations on sticky notes (dated
and named) and stick them in the specific student’s records. After class or when time permits, teachers can
refer their sticky notes and write properly formatted notes for the record.

Setting and Maintaining Anecdotal Records

Teachers can use a three-ring binder for storing their anecdotal notes on students. At the beginning of the
binder teachers can keep:
 An index page with the names of all students and spaces for recording observation dates.
 A second page that includes the list of common behaviors and learning outcomes to be observed. A
similar sheet is may be used for each student with additional columns to record the observation date for
each point.
These sheets enable teachers to keep track of students who were observed, the frequency of observations
and to ensure that students were uniformly observed for pre-recorded behaviors and outcomes.
Separate pages can be maintained for individual students. Teachers can maintain a standard recording
template which can include:
 Date of observation.
 A three-columned table to record events and behaviors (ABC format).
 Additional space or separate page for adding comments, recommendations and action plan.
Using this template, teachers can track students’ progress efficiently.

How are Anecdotal records useful?

Anecdotal records are useful as they:
 Are quick and easy to write.
 Require no additional training for teachers on how to document record sheets.
The notes help teachers:
 Record qualitative information about students.
 Identify students’ needs, behaviour and learning patterns.
 Track progress and changes in students’ behaviour and performance when generated over a period of
time.
 Plan for activities and strategies to use in classroom.
 Determine the efficiency of pedagogies in learning.
 Demonstrate students’ progress to parents at parent-teacher conferences.
Teachers can share their notes with students in one-on-one sessions:
 To give them feedback on behaviours and academic performance.
 To identify their areas of weakness and plan for interventions, thereby enabling students to improve
themselves.
This also helps to build and strengthen healthy student-teacher relationships.
The few disadvantages of anecdotal records are that they:
 Are not standardized.
 Accuracy of records depends on teacher’s memory and may be biased.
Nonetheless, anecdotal records are an informal documentation system, which, if implemented in
classrooms, simplifies documentation of student performance and facilitates easy sharing of records
between teachers, students and parents.

ABOUT ANECDOTAL RECORDS

 What:
          An anecdotal record is a short, objective, descriptive summary of one event or incident writing down
after the event has taken place. You often use anecdotes and telling your friends a story about something
that happened over the weekend or something cute or funny your child did. A classroom anecdotal record
differs a little bit in that the purpose is to learn something specific about the child. This is a very relaxed
method of recording observations. The observer does not need any special forms to fill out, no particular
setting, and no time limitations. Anecdotal records are simply brief stories about something that happened.
 Why:
          Over time, a collection of anecdotal records provides a great deal of information about a child. Like
an investigator, the teacher can collect ongoing evidence of a child’s development in a particular area. For
instance, the teacher may jot down anecdotes about how a child explores through her senses, creates with
materials, displays leadership, etc….. The teacher can then use these records to plan environments or
curriculum or note the curriculum that emerges through the children.
 Who:
          Anecdotal records focus on one child at a time and since they are written down later, the observer
can be a participant in the children’s activity.
 Tips:
 Anecdotes are important to include in a child’s portfolio!
 Observe with an understanding of the developmental characteristics of the age-group you are working
with.
 Record significant happenings.
 Jot down brief notes while the activity is happening and fill in details as soon after the even as
possible.
 Date each anecdote and include the child’s age in year and months.
 Write in past tense.
 Be clear, objective, and concise.
 Put the developmental objective ( i.e. physical, creative, leadership, sensory, etc.) in parentheses at
the end of the anecdote.
 Organize your anecdotes into files for each child.
Sample Anecdotal Record:
 
12-14 AJ (2.2). While playing with a book that had buttons attached to it by strings and corresponding
circles for the buttons to fit into, AJ placed four buttons in circles and counted in French, “Un, deux, troi,
quatre”. (Cognitive- Math/ Language)
 
12/14 AJ (2.2). When AJ’s friend arrived at the house AJ shouted, “Yay, Maddy!” Then grabbed Maddy’s
hand and pulled her, running into the play room. (Social)
 
12/14 AJ (2.2). When asked not to touch the model train, AJ laid on her tummy and scooted as close to the
tracks as she could without touching. There she stayed for approximately 10 minutes watching the train go
around (Following Directions
 
IV. ATTITUDE SCALES - RATING SCALES TO MEASURE DATA
Scaling Techniques for Measuring Data Gathered from Respondents
The term scaling is applied to the attempts to measure the attitude objectively. Attitude is a resultant of
number of external and internal factors. Depending upon the attitude to be measured, appropriate scales
are designed. Scaling is a technique used for measuring qualitative responses of respondents such as
those related to their feelings, perception, likes, dislikes, interests and preferences.

TYPES OF SCALES
Most frequently used Scales
1. Nominal Scale
2. Ordinal Scale
3. Interval Scale
4. Ratio Scale
Self Rating Scales
1. Graphic Rating Scale
2. Itemized Rating Scales
a. Likert Scale
b. Semantic Differential Scale
c. Stapel’s Scale
d. Multi Dimensional Scaling
e. Thurston Scales
f. Guttmann Scales/Scalogram Analysis
g. The Q Sort technique
Four types of scales are generally used for Marketing Research.
1. NOMINAL SCALE
This is a very simple scale. It consists of assignment of facts/choices to various alternative
categories which are usually exhaustive as well mutually exclusive. These scales are just
numerical and are the least restrictive of all the scales. Instances of Nominal Scale are - credit card
numbers, bank account numbers, employee id numbers etc. It is simple and widely used when
relationship between two variables is to be studied. In a Nominal Scale numbers are no more than
labels and are used specifically to identify different categories of responses. Following example
illustrates -
What is your gender?
[  ] Male
[  ] Female
Another example is - a survey of retail stores done on two dimensions - way of maintaining stocks
and daily turnover.
 How do you stock items at present?
[  ] By product category
[  ] At a centralized store
[  ] Department wise
[  ] Single warehouse
Daily turnover of consumer is?
[  ] Between 100 – 200
[  ] Between 200 – 300
[  ] Above 300
A two way classification can be made as follows
Daily/Stock
Product Department Centralized Single
Turnover
Category wise Store Warehouse
Method
100 – 200        
200 – 300        
Above 300        
Mode is frequently used for response category.
2. ORDINAL SCALE
Ordinal scales are the simplest attitude measuring scale used in Marketing Research. It is more
powerful than a nominal scale in that the numbers possess the property of rank order. The ranking
of certain product attributes/benefits as deemed important by the respondents is obtained through
the scale.
Example 1: Rank the following attributes (1 - 5), on their importance in a microwave oven.
1. Company Name
2. Functions
3. Price
4. Comfort
5. Design
The most important attribute is ranked 1 by the respondents and the least important is ranked 5.
Instead of numbers, letters or symbols too can be used to rate in a ordinal scale. Such scale
makes no attempt to measure the degree of favorability of different rankings.
Example 2 - If there are 4 different types of fertilizers and if they are ordered on the basis of quality
as Grade A, Grade B, Grade C, Grade D is again an Ordinal Scale.
Example 3 - If there are 5 different brands of Talcom Powder and if a respondent ranks them
based on say, “Freshness” into Rank 1 having maximum Freshness Rank 2 the second maximum
Freshness, and so on, an Ordinal Scale results.
Median and mode are meaningful for ordinal scale.
3. Interval Scale
Herein the distance between the various categories unlike in Nominal, or numbers unlike in
Ordinal, are equal in case of Interval Scales. The Interval Scales are also termed as Rating Scales.
 An Interval Scale has an arbitrary Zero point with further numbers placed at equal intervals. A very
good example of Interval Scale is a Thermometer.
Illustration 1 - How do you rate your present refrigerator for the following qualities.
Less Well
Company Name 1 2 3 4 5
Known Known
Functions Few 1 2 3 4 5 Many
Price Low 1 2 3 4 5 High
Design Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Good
Very
Overall Very
Dis- 1 2 3 4 5
Satisfaction Satisfied
Satisfied
Such a scale permits the researcher to say that position 5 on the scale is above position 4 and also
the distance from 5 to 4 is same as distance from 4 to 3. Such a scale however does not permit
conclusion that position 4 is twice as strong as position 2 because no zero position has been
established. The data obtained from the Interval Scale can be used to calculate the Mean scores of
each attributes over all respondents. The Standard Deviation (a measure of dispersion) can also
be calculated.
4. Ratio Scale
Ratio Scales are not widely used in Marketing Research unless a base item is made available for
comparison. In the above example of Interval scale, a score of 4 in one quality does not
necessarily mean that the respondent is twice more satisfied than the respondent who marks 2 on
the scale. A Ratio scale has a natural zero point and further numbers are placed at equally
appearing intervals. For example scales for measuring physical quantities like - length, weight, etc.
The ratio scales are very common in physical scenarios. Quantified responses forming a ratio scale
analytically are the most versatile. Rati scale possess all he characteristics of an internal scale, and
the ratios of the numbers on these scales have meaningful interpretations. Data on certain
demographic or descriptive attributes, if they are obtained through open-ended questions, will have
ratio-scale properties. Consider the following questions:
Q 1) what is your annual income before taxes? ______ $
Q 2) How far is the Theater from your home? ______ miles
Answers to these questions have a natural, unambiguous starting point, namely zero. Since
starting point is not chosen arbitrarily, computing and interpreting ratio makes sense. For example
we can say that a respondent with an annual income of $ 40,000 earns twice as much as one with
an annual income of $ 20,000.

SELF RATING SCALES

1. Graphic Rating Scale
The respondents rate the objects by placing a mark at the appropriate position on a line that runs
from one extreme of the criterion variable to another. Example

0 1 5 7
 (poor quality) (bad quality) (neither good nor bad) (good quality)
BRAND 1
This is also known as continuous rating scale. The customer can occupy any position. Here one
attribute is taken ex-quality of any brand of icecream.

poor good
BRAND 2

This line can be vertical or horizontal and scale points may be provided. No other indication is there
on the continuous scale. A range is provided. To quantify the responses to question that “indicate
your overall opinion about ice-ream Brand 2 by placing a tick mark at appropriate position on the
line”, we measure the physical distance between the left extreme position and the response
position on the line.; the greater the distance, the more favourable is the response or attitude
towards the brand.
Its limitation is that coding and analysis will require substantial amount of time, since we first have
to measure the physical distances on the scale for each respondent.

2. Itemized Rating Scales

These scales are different from continuous rating scales. They have a number of brief descriptions
associated with each category. They are widely used in Marketing Research. They essentially take
the form of the multiple category questions. The most common are - Likert, Sementic, Staple and
Multiple Dimension. Others are - Thurston and Guttman.

a. LIKERT SCALE
It was developed Rensis Likert. Here the respondents are asked to indicate a degree of
agreement and disagreement with each of a series of statement. Each scale item has 5
response categories ranging from strongly agree and strongly disagree.

5 4 3 2 1
Strongly agree Agree Indifferent Disagree Strongly disagree

Each statement is assigned a numerical score ranging from 1 to 5. It can also be scaled as
-2 to +2.
-2 -1 0 1 2

For example quality of Mother Diary ice-cream is poor then Not Good is a negative
statement and Strongly Agree with this means the quality is not good.
Each degree of agreement is given a numerical score and the respondents total score is
computed by summing these scores. This total score of respondent reveals the particular
opinion of a person.
Likert Scale is of ordinal type, they enable one to rank attitudes, but not to measure the
difference between attitudes. They take about the same amount of efforts to create as
 Thurston scale and are considered more discriminating and reliable because of the larger
range of responses typically given in Likert scale.
A typical Likert scale has 20 - 30 statements. While designing a good Likert Scale, first a
large pool of statements relevant to the measurement of attitude has to be generated and
then from the pool statements, the statements which are vague and non-discriminating
have to be eliminated.
Thus, likert scale is a five point scale ranging from ’strongly agreement’ to ’strongly
disagreement’. No judging gap is involved in this method.

b. SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL SCALE

This is a seven point scale and the end points of the scale are associated with bipolar
labels.

1 7
Unpleasant 2 3 4 5 6 Pleasant
Submissive Dominant

Suppose we want to know personality of a particular person. We have options-

1. Unpleasant/Submissive
2. Pleasant/Dominant
Bi-polar means two opposite streams. Individual can score between 1 to 7 or -3 to 3. On
the basis of these responses profiles are made. We can analyse for two or three products
and by joining these profiles we get profile analysis. It could take any shape depending on
the number of variables.
Profile Analysis

---------------/---------------
----------/--------------------
--------/----------------------
Mean and median are used for comparison. This scale helps to determine overall
similarities and differences among objects.
When Semantic Differential Scale is used to develop an image profile, it provides a good
basis for comparing images of two or more items. The big advantage of this scale is its
simplicity, while producing results compared with those of the more complex scaling
methods. The method is easy and fast to administer, but it is also sensitive to small
differences in attitude, highly versatile, reliable and generally valid.

c. STAPEL’S SCALE
It was developed by Jan Stapel. This scale has some distinctive features:-
i. Each item has only one word/phrase indicating the dimension it represents.
ii. Each item has ten response categories.
iii. Each item has an even number of categories.
iv. The response categories have numerical labels but no verbal labels.
 For example, in the following items, suppose for quality of ice cream, we ask respondents
to rank from +5 to -5. Select a plus number for words which best describe the ice cream
accurately. Select a minus number for words you think do not describe the ice cream
quality accurately. Thus, we can select any number from +5,for words we think are very
accurate, to -5,for words we think are very inaccurate. This scale is usually presented
vertically.

d. MULTI DIMENSIONAL SCALING

It consists of a group of analytical techniques which are used to study consumer attitudes
related to perceptions and preferences. It is used to study-
I. The major attributes of a given class of products perceived by the consumers in
considering the product and by which they compare the different ranks.
II. To study which brand competes most directly with each other.
III. To find out whether the consumers would like a new brand with a combination of
characteristics not found in the market.
IV. What would be the consumer’s ideal combination of product attributes.
V. What sales and advertising messages are compatible with consumers brand
perceptions.
It is a computer based technique. The respondents are asked to place the various brands
into different groups like similar, very similar, not similar, and so on. A goodness of fit is
traded off on a large number of attributes. Then a lack of fit index is calculated by
computer program. The purpose is to find a reasonably small number of dimensions which
will eliminate most of the stress. After the configuration for the consumer’s preference has
been developed, the next step is to determine the preference with regards to the product
under study. These techniques attempt to identify the product attributes that are important
to consumers and to measure their relative importance.
 This scaling involves a unrealistic assumption that a consumer who compares different
brands would perceive the differences on the basis of only one attribute. For example,
what are the attributes for joining M.Com course. The responses may be -to do PG, to go
into teaching line, to get knowledge, appearing in the NET. There are a number of
attributes, you cannot base decision on one attribute only. Therefore, when the consumers
are choosing between brands, they base their decision on various attributes. In practice,
the perceptions of the consumers involve different attributes and any one consumer
perceives each brand as a composite of a number of different attributes. This is a
shortcoming of this scale.
Whenever we choose from a number of alternatives, go for multi- dimensional scaling.
There are many possible uses of such scaling like in market segmentation, product life
cycle, vendor evaluations and advertising media selection.
The limitation of this scale is that it is difficult to clearly define the concept of similarities
and preferences. Further the distances between the items are seen as different

e. THURSTON SCALES
These are also
known as equal
appearing interval
scales. They are
used to measure
the attitude
towards a given
concept or
construct. For this
purpose a large
number of
statements are
collected that
relate to the
concept or construct being measured. The judges rate these statements along an 11
category scale in which each category expresses a different degree of favourableness
towards the concept. The items are then ranked according to the mean or median ratings
assigned by the judges and are used to construct questionnaire of twenty to thirty items
that are chosen more or less evenly across the range of ratings.
The statements are worded in such a way so that a person can agree or disagree with
them. The scale is then administered to assemble of respondents whose scores are
determined by computing the mean or median value of the items agreed with. A person
who disagrees with all the items has a score of zero. So, the advantage of this scale is that
it is an interval measurement scale. But it is the time consuming method and labour
intensive. They are commonly used in psychology and education research.

f. Guttman Scales/Scalogram Analysis

It is based on the idea that items can be arranged along a continuum in such a way that a
person who agrees with an item or finds an item acceptable will also agree with or find
 acceptable all other items expressing a less extreme position. For example - Children
should not be allowed to watch indecent programmes or government should ban these
programmes or they are not allowed to air on the television. They all are related to one
aspect.
In this scale each score represents a unique set of responses and therefore the total score
of every individual is obtained. This scale takes a lot of time and effort in development.
They are very commonly used in political science, anthropology, public opinion, research
and psychology.

g. The Q Sort technique

It is used to discriminate among large number of objects quickly. It uses a rank order
procedure and the objects are sorted into piles based on similarity with respect to some
criteria. The number of objects to be sorted should be between 60-140 approximately. For
example, here we are taking nine brands. On the basis of taste we classify the brands into
tasty, moderate and non tasty.
We can classify on the basis of price also-Low, medium, high. Then we can attain the
perception of people that whether they prefer low priced brand, high or moderate. We can
classify sixty brands or pile it into three piles. So the number of objects is to be placed in
three piles-low, medium or high.
Thus, the Q-sort technique is an attempt to classify subjects in terms of their similarity to
attribute under study.

Attitudes, Behaviours, and Rating Scales

Researchers are interested in people's attitudes. An attitudes is a psychological construct. It is a person's
predisposition to respond favourably or unfavourably to activities, people, events, and objects. Attitudes are
often considered precursors to behaviour.
Attitudes have three components:
1)   Affective, which deals with a person's feelings and emotions
2)   Cognitive, which deals with a person's awareness and knowledge
3)   Behavioural, which deals with a person's actions

Researchers have developed a variety of attitude rating scales to measure the intensity of an attitude's
affective, cognitive, and behavioral components. These scales may require a respondent to rank, rate, sort,
and choose when we assess an attitude.
Scaling refers to the process of assigning numbers or symbols to measure the intensity of abstract
attitudes. Scales can be uni-dimensional or multi-dimensional. Uni-dimensional scales measure a single
aspect or dimension of an attitude. Multi-dimensional scales measures more than one dimension of an
attitude.

Ranking: Ranking is a measurement that asks respondents to rank a small number of items on some
characteristic. Respondents might be asked to rank their favourite hot breakfast beverage: Hot Chocolate,
Tea, Coffee, or Herbal Tea. Ranking delivers an ordinal score.

Rating: Rating asks respondents the extent to which an item of interest possesses a characteristic. Scales
that requires respondents to rank an item result in a quantitative score.

Sorting: Sorting is a measurement task that asks respondents to sort several items into categories.

Choice: Choice is a measurement task that requires respondents to select among two or more alternatives.

Category Scales: Category scales are the simplest type of rating scale. They contain only two choices:
yes/no or agree/disagree.
Example:
I approve of the Affordable Care Act or Obama Care.

We can expand the number of response categories to give respondents greater flexibility in rating the item
of interest.
Example:
How often to you this positively about the Affordable Care Act or Obama Care?
Category scales can deal with a wide variety of issues: Quality, Importance, Interest, Satisfaction,
Frequency, Truth, and Uniqueness.

Graphic Rating Scales: Graphic ratings scales include a graphic continuum anchored between two
extremes. When used for online surveys, graphic rating scales may have a "slider," which respondents can
move up or down the scale. Sliders allow respondents to make finely tuned responses using a continuous
scale.

Source: http://www.iperceptions.com/en/blog/2013/august/3-easy-steps-to-build-a-great-survey
Graphic rating scales are easy to create. Researchers must be careful about using overly extreme anchors,
which tend to push responses toward the center of the scale. Graphic rating scales are frequently used
when conducting research among children. Graphic rating scales are considered non-comparative scales
because respondents make their judgments without making comparisons to other objects, concepts,
people, or brands.

Eating a Happy Meal at McDonald's make me feel:

Itemized Rating Scales: Itemized rating scales require respondents to select from a limited number of
ordered alternatives. These scales are easy to construct, but they do not allow the respondent to make the
fine distinctions of a graphic rating scale using a slider.
Example:
How likely are you to use an open-source textbook in the courses you teach?

Graphic rating scales and itemized rating scales ask respondents about a single concept in isolation. Such
scales are often called monadic rating scales.
Rank-Order Scales: Unlike graphic rating scales and itemized rating scales, rank-order scales are
comparative scales. Responses rank the objects, concepts, people, or brands by comparing them to similar
alternatives.
Example:
Rank the following smart phones with one being the brand that best meets the characteristic and six
being the brand that is the worst on the characteristic.
 

Rank-order scales have the following disadvantages: First, if the alternative choice is missing, the
respondent's answer could be misleading. In the question above, the Blackberry 10 is not listed. If that is
the respondent's choice, the answer to this question might not reflect his or her real attitude. Second, the
answers provided are on an ordinal scale. We will not have the "distance" between the ranks. Third, the
question does not offer information as to why the respondent choose the order he or she selected.

Paired Comparisons: Paired comparisons is a measurement scale that asks respondents to select one of
two alternatives.
Example:
Listed below are some of the characteristics of a McDonald's Big Mac and a Burger King Whopper.
Select the answer that best matches your opinion.
Which of the two brands tastes better?

Which of the two brands is healthier?

Which of the two brands is a better value for the money?

Paired comparisons overcome some of the problems of rank-order scales. First, it is easier for respondents
to select one item from a choice of two than to rank a larger set of objects, concepts, people, or brands.
The question of order bias—bias caused by how the objects, concepts, people, or brands are ordered—is
removed. But, the number of pairs to be compared should be kept to a minimum to avoid tiring
respondents.

Constant Sum Scales: Constant sum scales require respondents to divide a set number of points, usually
100, to rate two or more attributes. The problem with constant sum scales is that respondents find it difficult
to allocate points especially if there are a lot of attributes to be measured.
Example:
Below are five attributes of the iPhone 6 Plus, Please allocate 100 points to these attributes so that they
reflect the importance of each attribute. Please make certain that the total number of points adds up to
100.

Semantic Differential Scales: Semantic differential scales measure respondents' attitudes about the
strengths and weaknesses of a concept or construct. With this scale, researchers select a pair of
dichotomous adjectives to describe the concept under investigation. Typically researchers use a scale from
1 through 7. The mean of each pair is calculated and then plotted on the table.
Example:
Below is a list of characteristics of Kmart stores. For each pair of adjectives, place an "X" at the point
that you believe best reflects your experience at Kmart.

Semantic Differential Scale Summary Chart

The semantic differential scale is widely used in marketing research because studies have repeatedly
shown that this scale is an efficient way to examine the differences in image attributes among a variety of
brands or companies. But, semantic differential scales are not without shortcomings. First there are no
general scales. Researchers must develop valid and reliable adjective scales for each research project.
Researchers should also watch for a "halo" effect, which will bias a respondent's answers. The halo effect
is when a respondent's overall impression overwhelms his or her views on a single adjective pair. To
counteract the halo effect, researchers never place all of the positive adjectives on the same side of the
scale.

Stapel Scale: The Stapel Scale is a uni-polar scale that requires respondents to rate a concept on a scale
of negative 5 to positive 5 on how closely an adjective at the center of the scale represents the concept.
The chief advantage of the Stapel Scale is that the researcher does not have to spend the time and energy
to creating bipolar pairs.
Example:
Select the appropriate plus number for the phrase that best represents attributes of the iPhone 6. If the
phrase does not represent the iPhone 6, select the appropriate negative number that reflects your
attitude.

Likert Scale: The Likert scale allows respondents to state how strongly they agree or disagree with an
attitude. The scale is named after Rensis Likert, who developed this scale in 1932 for his doctoral
dissertation. Likert is pronounced "Lick-ert," not "Like-urt."
Although the Likert scale is typically a five-point scale that ranges from "strongly disagree" to neutral to
"strongly agree." It is not uncommon to see a six-point or seven-point variant. A six-point Likert scale has
three levels of disagreement and three levels of agreement with no neutral point. The seven-point Likert
scale adds a neutral point. 
Example:
McDonald's Happy Meals are good value for the money.

My children like eating McDonald's Happy Meals.

Researchers disagree on whether the Likert Scale is an ordinal or interval scale. Those who argue that it is
an ordinal scale say the intervals between the five-points of the scale are unknowable. Those who argue
that it is an interval scale score "Strongly Disagree" as a 1, "Disagree" as a 2, "Neutral" as a 3, "Agree" as a
4, and "Strongly Agree" as a 5.
Closely related to the Likert Scale is a Purchase Intent scale. The disagreement and agreement statements
are replaced with answers that reflect a respondent's intent to purchase a product.
Example:
After owning a Chevrolet Impala for three years, how likely are you to purchase a new Chevrolet
Impala?

A five-point purchase intent scale is widely used in new product development and advertising testing.

Things to consider when selecting scales:

First consider the objectives of the research and whether the selected scales will help achieve the research
objectives. Typically researchers conduct qualitative research before designing the scales. Qualitative
research is used to help the researcher gain a deeper understanding of the constructs under investigation.
Using qualitative research helps the researcher select the scales and craft how the scales will be written.
Once the scales are written, the researcher will pre-test the survey to make certain it works as expected.
An important question to consider in developing of scales is how the survey will be administered: By an
interviewer, self-administered by the respondent on the Internet, self-administered by the respondent using
a survey delivered through the mail.

Creating a scale typically involves eight steps. [1]

Step 1: Clarify what is to be measured.
Step 2: Select scale formats (Likert, Stapel, Semantic Differential, etc.). Researchers typically restrict
themselves to a limited number of scale formats.
Step 3: Generate a pool of items that will be used to measure the concept or construct.
Step 4: Have others critique the pool of items.
Step 5: Consider adding items that will provide a check on internal consistency. For example, in non-
adjacent places ask the respondent's age and birth date.
Step 6: Pre-test the instrument. This is a critical step because it helps researchers learn if respondents
are misinterpreting questions.
Step 7: Drop redundant items.
Step 8: Optimize the scale, which involves consideration of reliability and the length of the instrument.

Another consideration: How long does the researcher have to develop the scales. Rank-order scales can
be developed quickly while developing a semantic differential scale can take a long time.

Balanced versus Unbalanced Scales: Researchers must decide whether to employ balanced or

unbalanced scales. Balanced scales have an equal number of positive and negative categories while
unbalanced scales do not. Unbalanced scales are often used when pilot studies suggest that more opinions
are positive than negative, or more negative than positive. In these cases, unbalanced scales will give the
researcher a more nuanced view of respondents' attitudes.

Forced versus Non-Forced Choice: Sometimes researchers will add a "do not know" category to the range
of possible answers. When they are concerned that respondents with limited knowledge will tend to answer
with a "neutral" option, if available. Some researchers avoid using a "do not know" answer out of fear that
lazy respondents will often check this answer without much reflection.
The argument for "forcing" respondents to answer a question is that it makes them think about their feelings
and attitudes. The argument against "forcing" an answer is that respondents will give a "false" answer,   or
they may refuse to answer the question.

What is the Guttman Scale?

In the social sciences, the Guttman or “cumulative” scale measures how much of a positive or negative
attitude a person has towards a particular topic.
The Guttman scale is one of the three major types of unidimensional measurement scales. The other two
are the Likert Scale and the Thurstone Scale. A unidimensional measurement scale has only one (“uni”)
dimension. In other words, it can be represented by a number range, like 0 to 100 lbs or “Depressed from a
scale of 1 to 10”. By giving the test, a numerical value can be placed on a topic or factor.
The scale has YES/NO answers to a set of questions that increase in specificity. The idea is that a person
will get to a certain point and then stop. For example, on a 5-point quiz, if a person gets to question 3 and
then stops, it implies they do not agree with questions 4 and 5. If one person stops at 3, another at 1, and
another at 5, the three people can be ranked along a continuum.

Examples
The scale is designed to measure one factor or subject. For example, the following shows a questionnaire
for a person’s attitudes towards depression:

Sometimes, sensitive topics are concealed within other questions to disguise the intent of the
questionnaire. For example, this one quizzes for possible gaming addiction:

One disadvantage of the Guttman scale is that respondents may feel overly committed to questions; They
may continue to answer YES beyond the point where they should have stopped. Using the concealed
questionnaire helps to avoid this issue.

Use in Education
In the social sciences, the Guttman scale is often used to measure an increasing amount of “attitude”
towards a single topic. In education, it’s sometimes used to show a student’s logical progression through
coursework. For example, the expected progression through math topics for 3 children. It’s expected that a
child does well in fractions before they are able to grasp algebra. A “0” means that the student hasn’t
mastered a topic, while a “1” means that a student has  mastered it:
In practice, it’s rare to find data that fits perfectly to a Guttman scale. More often than not, you’re actually
testing more than one factor. For example, algebra may need good reading skills as well as the ability to
solve an equation. If you know (or suspect) that your instrument is measuring two or more factors,
use multidimensional scaling or Correspondence Analysis to analyze your results.
 #6 My Own Assessment using other Assessment tools
Answer the question below, then have a picture on it and send your output
via messenger or email: (zirkhonz@gmail.com)

Cite a task then create an assessment tools using checklist, anecdotal records, likert scale or semantic
differential scale to evaluate the output.

 Checklists
 Anecdotal records
 Likert scale
 Semantic differential scales: (with positive and negative side)
Example Task: Creating a Poster about Education
My Sample Checklist
Criterion Yes No
Poster includes all required information –such
names, illustrational affiliation
All components fits into space provided

Title lettering

Each figure is self-sufficient

Message is significance to the title

Content are easy to follow and understand

Use at least 3 colors

My Sample Semantic Differential Scale

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Dirty Clean
Confusing Informative
Disarrange Arrange/organize
copied Original/unique
Blemish/ruin polish

My Sample Likert Scale

1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Neatness
Revealing/
Educational
Organize
Unique
Polish/smooth

Anecdotal Records
 Your comments/suggestion regarding the poster

This poster is copied from a Google website specifically www.copied.com