The use of scaled agree-disagree statements in attitude measurement.
A scale developed by Rensis Likert, a social psychologist, to quantify a person’s response to a particular statement. A typical application, for instance, might be a survey on health care costs which includes the following statement: Doctors earn too much money, and then asks whether you strongly agree, have no opinion, or, strongly disagree. The respondent’s choice is then scaled as either a zero, a five, or a ten, depending on the construction of the scale. This type of scale is very commonly used in survey research where human attitudes and feelings are being attempted to be quantified.