Response scales are a basic type of interface. They should reflect the attitude of the respondent as precisely as possible while requiring as little effort as possible to answer. When collecting data from participants, some wished they could have picked a value between two numbers, for example, 5.5 or 6.5, which can be done with
In earlier articles, we investigated the effects of manipulating item formats on rating behaviors—specifically, we compared sliders to traditional five-point and eleven-point radio button numeric scales. For those analyses, we collected data from 212 respondents (U.S. panel agency, late January 2021) who used radio buttons and sliders to rate online shopping websites (e.g., Amazon) and
Adding more points to a scale can increase its reliability and sensitivity. But more points also take up additional screen real-estate space. Imagine twenty or a hundred points displayed on desktop or, even worse, on mobile. One recent digital alternative, allowing for nuanced ratings using the same screen real-estate as a traditional scale, is the
When it comes to collecting numeric ratings in online surveys, there is a definite allure to using sliders rather than the more common numeric scales with radio buttons. It just seems like you should get higher-quality measurements with sliders. Sliders give respondents many more response options, and they appear more engaging than multipoint scales. The
Sliders are a type of visual analog scale that can be used with many online survey tools such as our MUIQ platform. The literature on their overall effectiveness is mixed (Roster et al., 2015). On the positive side, evidence indicates that sliders might be more engaging to respondents. On the negative side, evidence also indicates
There are many ways to format rating scales. Recently we have explored Labeling neutral points Labeling all or some response options Altering the number of response options Comparing agreement vs. item-specific endpoint labels Each of these formatting decisions has a variety of opinions and research, both pro and con, in the scientific literature at large.
