Rating Scales

The term rating scale refers to a closed-ended response format in which individuals provide reactions to a set of statements or questions that are guided by predetermined anchors. Generally, rating scales are used in survey research to capture information from a sample drawn from a larger population. Such a sample of individuals may be asked, for example, to complete one or more rating scales to capture more-or-less subjective quantitative data (e.g., opinions, emotions, political affiliation). Rating scales are used in educational and psychological measurements to collect empirical data to aid in estimating population parameters likely corresponding to a well-defined research question or hypothesis. Instead of providing participants with an open-ended, qualitative format to evaluate a construct, rating scales allow for a more uniform evaluation of ...