SCAle construction

1. • Continuous rating scale (also called the graphic rating scale) – respondents rate items by placing a mark on a line. The line is usually labeled at each end. There are sometimes a series of numbers, called scale points, (say, from zero to 100) under the line. Scoring and codification is difficult. 
2. • Likert scale – Respondents are asked to indicate the amount of agreement or disagreement (from strongly agree to strongly disagree) on a five- to nine-point scale. The same format is used for multiple questions. This categorical scaling procedure can easily be extended to a magnitude estimation procedure that uses the full scale of numbers rather than verbal categories. 
3. • Phrase completion scales – Respondents are asked to complete a phrase on an 11-point response scale in which 0 represents the absence of the theoretical construct and 10 represents the theorized maximum amount of the construct being measured. The same basic format is used for multiple questions. 
4. • Semantic differential scale – Respondents are asked to rate on a 7 point scale an item on various attributes. Each attribute requires a scale with bipolar terminal labels. 
5. • Stapel scale – This is a unipolar ten-point rating scale. It ranges from +5 to −5 and has no neutral zero point. 
6. • Thurstone scale – This is a scaling technique that incorporates the intensity structure among indicators. 
7. • Mathematically derived scale – Researchers infer respondents’ evaluations mathematically. Two examples are multi dimensional scaling and conjoint analysis. 
8. Scale evaluation
9. Scales should be tested for reliability, generalizability, and validity. Generalizability is the ability to make inferences from a sample to the population, given the scale you have selected. Reliability is the extent to which a scale will produce consistent results. Test-retest reliability checks how similar the results are if the research is repeated under similar circumstances. Alternative forms reliability checks how similar the results are if the research is repeated using different forms of the scale. Internal consistency reliability checks how well the individual measures included in the scale are converted into a composite measure.
10. Scales and indexes have to be validated. Internal validation checks the relation between the individual measures included in the scale, and the composite scale itself. External validation checks the relation between the composite scale and other indicators of the variable, indicators not included in the scale. Content validation (also called face validity) checks how well the scale measures what is supposed to measure. Criterion validation checks how meaningful the scale criteria are relative to other possible criteria. Construct validation checks what underlying construct is being measured. There are three variants of construct validity. They are convergent validity, discriminant validity, and nomological validity (Campbell and Fiske, 1959; Krus and Ney, 1978). The coefficient of reproducibility indicates how well the data from the individual measures included in the scale can be reconstructed from the composite scale.