I think the question relates to whether to use a scale with 5 or 7
responses.
Whilst there is quite a lot written about measurement scales, to my
knowledge there is no hard and fast rule about this. Ultimately it
comes down to what you are trying to measure, whether you think people
can discriminate with that degree of accuracy and whether you want to
allow people to sit on the fence or not i.e 1-5 has a middle value (3)
but 0-5 does not (3.5). Most people seem to go for a 5 point scale but
whether that is right or not for your particular study only you are
likely to know.
I'm no expert but if you could provide an idea of the outcome you are
trying to measure that'd help with all 3 Qs you ask.
Best
Jeff Harrison
Senior Lecturer, School of Pharmacy
Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Building 504, 85 Park Road, Grafton, Auckland
Phone +64 9 373 7599 ext. 82144
Fax +64 9 367 7192
-----Original Message-----
From: Evidence based health (EBH)
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ted Harding
Sent: Thursday, 12 March 2009 2:34 p.m.
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: SURVEY
On 12-Mar-09 00:41:13, Barry Diner wrote:
> I am creating a survey and wanted to know if anybody can suggest a
> scale,
> the wording, 5 versus 7 point.
>
> Thanks you
>
> Barry Diner, MD, MPH, FACEP
> Attending Physician St Lukes Episcopal Hospital
> Clinical Assistant Professor Emory University
> Methodologist, ACEP Clinical Policy Committee
Is this supposed to be a survey of people's eyesight?
5-point is almost impossible to read, even with good vision.
7-point may be OK for some, especially with one of the better fonts.
I would suggest 10-point, with either a Helvetica-type "sans" font
(though I'm not keen on it myself) or a nice chunky serif font such
as Bookman.
Can't comment on your other queries, without knowing more about it.
Ted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <[log in to unmask]>
Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861
Date: 12-Mar-09 Time: 01:33:29
------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
|