Can Likert scales be treated as interval scales?—A simulation study

H Wu, SO Leung�- Journal of social service research, 2017 - Taylor & Francis
H Wu, SO Leung
Journal of social service research, 2017Taylor & Francis
The Likert scale is widely used in social work research, and is commonly constructed with
four to seven points. It is usually treated as an interval scale, but strictly speaking it is an
ordinal scale, where arithmetic operations cannot be conducted. There are pros and cons in
using the Likert scale as an interval scale, but the controversy can be handled by increasing
the number of points. Several researchers have suggested bringing the number up to
eleven, on the basis of empirical data. In this article the authors explore this rational and�…
Abstract
The Likert scale is widely used in social work research, and is commonly constructed with four to seven points. It is usually treated as an interval scale, but strictly speaking it is an ordinal scale, where arithmetic operations cannot be conducted. There are pros and cons in using the Likert scale as an interval scale, but the controversy can be handled by increasing the number of points. Several researchers have suggested bringing the number up to eleven, on the basis of empirical data. In this article the authors explore this rational and share the same view, but simulate artificial data from both symmetrical normal and skewed distributions where the underlying metric is known in advance. Results show that more Likert scale points will result in a closer approach to the underlying distribution, and hence normality and interval scales. To increase generalizability social work practitioners are encouraged to use 11-point Likert scales from 0 to 10, a natural and easily comprehensible range.
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