Sorry, but I disagree. What is the use of a 6 or 7 point scale where half of the values are rarely used. Consider the following distribution of responses on a six point scale.

Strongly disagree.   1
Disagree.                 5
Slightly disagree.   50
Slightly agree.      100
Agree.                   500
Strongly agree.     344

Wouldn't you rather know about the variation in 500 agrees the 56 who disagreed?

Paul Swank
Sent from my iPad

On Apr 29, 2015, at 6:26 PM, Burke Johnson <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

That might be true Paul, but using a biased scale is not the solution. The solution is to add to the number of categories on the scale for finer discrimination.
Cheers,
Burke

On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 6:04 PM, Swank, Paul R <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
The purpose is to spread people out on a continuum. If all the responses are occurring in just a few categories, then the balanced scale fails. This has been a known problem in the scaling literature for years. In bff balanced scales make good sense when a substantial number of the responses are on the positive side of the scale.

Paul Swank

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 29, 2015, at 5:50 PM, William Pendleton <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>> wrote:

Exactly.  If the purpose is to equalize the numbers in each grouping, the question is a bad one  That end can be done in coding. Using the unbalanced form that would seem to decrease the number of unfavorable responses to force that end strikes me as poor design.

On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 6:17 PM, Swank, Paul R <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>> wrote:
The problem with many balanced scales is that when evaluating events or people or objects raters tend to stick to the positive end of the scale. This is a particular bias in raters, especially untrained ones. When 70% or more of the responses are on a positive end then differentiation suffers. There are 2 ways to deal with this, either expand the scale to more levels, which may just give you a large number of levels not endorsed (the negative ones), or make the scale unbalanced. The latter method is more efficient. And by spreading out so many positive responses across more levels, better differentiation is achieved.

Paul Swank, Professor
Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences
School of Public Health
University of Texas Health Science Center Houston

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 29, 2015, at 4:55 PM, Burke Johnson <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>>> wrote:

Question for research and measurement experts,

Are any of you concerned about the unbalanced 4-point rating scale being used by the AERA to evaluate the recent annual conference? Here is the unbalanced scale they are using:

1=dissatisfied
2=somewhat satisfied
3=satisfied
4=very satisfied.

It seems pretty convenient and unfair to have 3 of 4 responses indicating satisfaction and only one indicating dissatisfaction in my professional opinion.

I informed the Executive Director of the AERA about this problem two years ago and she did not make a change to a recommended scale.

I had recommended that they use one of the two following scales:

1=Very dissatisfied
2=Somewhat dissatisfied
3=Somewhat satisfied
4=Very satisfied

or

1=Very dissatisfied
2=Somewhat dissatisfied
3=Neutral
4=Somewhat satisfied
5=Very satisfied

If you agree with me about this scaling problem, do you have any suggestions about how to get the AERA to change their scale?

Cheers,
Burke Johnson
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Professor Emeritus Emory University
3 Breakers Ct.
Salem, SC 29676

Tel. 864 944-2238
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