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]>
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]>> 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
> Educational Research and Methodology Listserv
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Professor Emeritus Emory University
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