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DIFFERENTIAL SCALE & SUMMATED SCALE

Belbimol E Ist year Msc nursing

GENERAL OBJECTIVE
At the end of the class the student will gain adequate knowledge regarding differential and summated scales, appreciate the knowledge & apply this knowledge in evaluation of students and in nursing research

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
On the completion of the class the student will 1. describe differential & summated scales 2. explain the steps in construction of the scales 3. enumerate the advantages & disadvantages of differential & summated scales 4. differentiate between summated & differential scales

DEFINITIONS
RATING is the term applied to expression of opinion or judgement regarding some situation, object or character. Opinions are usually expressed on a scale of values - Barr & others A RATING SCALE is a device by which the opinion concerning a trait can be systematised. A rating scale is a set of categories designed to elicit information about a quantitative or a qualitative attribute.

TYPES OF RATING SCALES


Numerical rating scale

Graphic rating scale


Descriptive graphic rating scale Comparative rating scale

Numerical rating scale


To what extent does the student participate in discussion? 1 2 3 4 5

Graphic rating scale


To what extent does the student participate in discussion?

Never seldom occasionally frequently always

Descriptive graphic rating scale


To what extent does the student participate in discussion?
Directions: make your ratings on each of the following characteristics by placing a (x)
anywhere along the horizontal line under each item.in the space for comment include any thing that helps clarify your rating

Comments:

USES OF RATING SCALES

ADVATAGES OF RATING SCALES


CAN BE USED FOR A LARGE GROUP EASY TO ADMINISTER & SCORE CLARITY OF FEEDBACK

WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATION

DISADVATAGES OF RATING SCALES


Items stated may not be consistent with objectives

Lack of unity in interpretation of terms

Errors in rating

ERRORS
AMBIGUITY PERSONALITY ATTITUDE OPPURTUNITY FOR OBSERVATION

HALO EFFECT

PERSONAL BIAS

LOGICAL ERROR

GENEROSITY ERROR

CENTRAL TENDANCY

SEVERITY ERROR

PRINCIPLES GOVERNING RATING SCALES


Characteristics should be educationally significant. Characteristics should be directly observable. Characteristics & the points on the scale should be clearly defined. Between 3 & 7 rating positions should be provided and the raters should be permitted to mark at intermediate points.

Cont..
Raters should be instructed to omit ratings when they feel unqualified to judge. Ratings from several observers should be combined whenever possible.

DEFINING AN ATTITUDE
An attitude is the affect for or against a psychological object Louis Thurstone, 1931 evaluation of like or dislike of positiveness or negativeness toward (Do not say feelings)

DIFFERENTIAL SCALE
THURSTONE SCALE

Louis Leon Thurstone was a U.S. pioneer in the fields of psychometrics and psychophysics. He conceived the approach to measurement known as the law of comparative judgment, and is well known for his contributions to factor analysis. Born: May 29, 1887, Chicago Died: September 30, 1955, Chapel Hill Education: University of Chicago,Cornell university

PROCEDURE OF CONSTRUCTION OF THURSTONE SCALE

Items/statements expressing different degree of favourableness are collected Assign arbitrary numbers &Statements are written in cards/strips of paper

Evaluated by a panel of judges

Sort cards in to 11 piles

Assemble all judgements for each statement & tabulate the sortings to determine distribution

Draw a cumulative graph for the cumulative frequencies of each statement with categories in the x axis & % a long the y axis

Connect the points to make cumulative percentage frequency curve

Draw lines across the graph for the median & the 1st and 3rd quartiles

Draw perpendicular to the baseline to the points at which the lines cross the ogive curve

Record the median & calculate Q value

Eliminate statements with excessive Q value & select those statements whose medians are nearest to scale points

Rearrange the statements in random order without scale values

Administer to sample respondants

Check internal consistency

Eliminate irrelevant items & the scale is finalized

Cumulative graph
Scale value, x=8.9 Q=1/2(Q-Q)=1/2(9.8-8.1)=0.9

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

SUMMATED SCALE
LIKERT SCALE

Rensis Likert was an American educator and organizational psychologist best known for his research on management styles. Born: August 5, 1903, Cheyenne Died: September 3, 1981, Ann Arbor Books: New ways of managing conflict Education: Columbia University, University of Michigan

Strongly agree

agree

undecided

disagree

Strongly disagree

My job is like a hobby to me


I consider my job rather unpleasant

PROCEDURE OF CONSTRUCTION OF A LIKERT SCALE

Collection of statements Trial test

Agreement/disagreement is obtained on a 5 point scale

Most favourable attitude is given highest score of 5 & most unfavourable is given lowest score of 1 Total score of each respondent is obtained selecting some part of the highest & lowest of total scores

Array total scores Select the top 25% & bottom 25% of the scores

Most & least favourable attitudes are used as criterion groups to evaluate individual statements

Statements which constantly correlate with low favourability & high favourability are identified Test the significance of difference between the item mean of high score group and that of the low score group by calculating the t-value

Retain items with greatest t-value

ADVANTAGES OF LIKERT OVER THURSTONE SCALE


The method of construction is less cumbersome Supplies more precise & definite response as intermediate vague points are absent

More informative and reliable as it permits revelation of severa degrees of agreement/ disagreement

Cont
Any item empirically consistent can be included Easy to use

Unidimensional
Does not require the use of judges flexible

Validation and Findings Comparing VAS vs. Likert Scales for Psychosocial Measurements
Dan Hasson, RN, PhD; Bengt B. Arnetz, MD, PhD Authors are affiliated with Uppsala University/CEOS, Department of health and Caring Sciences, Section for Social Medicine. Submitted July 19, 2009; Revised and Accepted October 1, 2009 Abstract Context: Psychosocial exposures commonly show large variation over time and are usually assessed using multiitem Likert indices. A construct requiring a five-item Likert index could possibly be replaced by a single visual analogue scale (VAS).

Objective: To: a) evaluate validity and relative reliability of a single VAS compared to previously validated Likert based items and indices measuring the same construct b) detect possible statistically significant differences in absolute levels between the single VAS and Likert items and indices respectively.

Design:Cross-sectional study conducted in May 2004. Methods: 805 participants responded to a webbased questionnaire including both VAS and Likert based items. Intraclass correlations were utilized to assess agreement between VAS and Likert scales/indices and Marginal homogeneity tests were utilized to detect possible differences in absolute levels.

Results: Moderate to strong correlations were found in responses between VAS and Likert based items and indices, and significant differences in absolute levels in seven out of eleven scales. Conclusion: Single VAS questions can, in some cases of uniform construct, replace a single Likert item and also be comparable, but not interchangeable, with multi-item Likert indices.

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