Psychological Tests format specifically, Likert Scale, Category Scale and Checklists and Q-sorts.

2. The Likert Format
• is a type of psychometric scale
frequently used in psychology
questionnaires. It was developed by and
named after organizational psychologist
Rensis Likert.
• Requires that a respondent indicate a
degree of agreement with a particular
attitudinal question.

3. • A scale using a Likert format consists of a
series of items.
Five alternatives offered:
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
The Likert Format

4. • In some applications, six options are used to
avoid allowing the respondent to be neutral.
The six options might be:
Strongly disagree
Moderately disagree
Mildly disagree
Mildly agree
Moderately agree
Strongly agree
The Likert Format

5. How can you analyse data from a
Likert Scale?
• Summarize using a median or a mode
(not a mean); the mode is probably the
most suitable for easy interpretation.
• Display the distribution of observations
in a bar chart (it can’t be a histogram,
because the data is not continuous).

6. The Category Format
• Like Likert, but with MANY more
categories
• Measures in which people rate on a
10-point item scale.
• Consists of several alternative choices on
a continuum for participants to rate
themselves on attitude or personality.

7. • Effect of Context
– The numbers we assign are found to be
affected by context (Parducci, 1968).
– There is a tendency to spread responses
evenly across 10 categories (Stevens,
1966)
Implications: clearly define endpoints of
the scale; use extreme caution in
comparing responses outside of the
current study.
Category Format

8. Checklists and Q-sorts
• One format common in
personality measurement is the
adjective checklist (Gough,
1960).
• In this method, a subject is given
a long list of adjectives and
asked to indicate whether each
one is characteristic of himself or
herself.

9. Introduced by William Stephenson
in 1935.
•
The Q – sort can be used to describe
oneself or to provide ratings of others
(Stephenson, 1953).
•
Give subject a pile of numbered
“cards” & have them sort them into piles.
PILES represent graded degrees of description
(most descriptive to least descriptive).
•
Q- sorts