The ranges/rates for my survey are the following:
Most Emphatic (+4 to 11)................. 8 possible scores(ex. 5 or 9 total points)
Moderately Emphatic (-3 to +3)........ 7 possible scores
Least Emphatic (-11 to -4)................ 8 possible scores
So is it alright if it's 8-7-8, and not the 8-8-8 or even 7-7-7?
I can't make major changes on my questionnaire since I'm not its original creator.
Thanks.
The distribution of scores in the above stated questionnaire is still "perfectly" balance since the "one" that is not equal to the other "two" is the middle. I think the "original creator" of that has explanations on doing so. It may be better to consult him/her.
There is no problem if you are keeping the three sets of scores separate (i.e., they each belong to a different scale), but you don't want to add together items that have different ranges.
If you do want to combine the three sets, then you should calculate z-scores for each set, and then add the standardized items.
I don't see a problem here. The empathy scale seems to go from -11 to +11 and seems to have three labels for some arbitrary ranges. As long as categorization in these three labels is just for better understanding of data and not used as a variable in computation, there is absolutely no problem with it.
Actually the numbers -11 til +11 are also just labels for a crude approximation of an otherwise continuous characteristic.
If, by any chance, your survey has some questions about empathy that use only a part of this scale (say: -11 to -4, or -9 to +3, and so on) then you should be careful when you compare results of those questions.
To say it simple: use -11 to +11 in all your questions about empathy and use the labels in your interpretation text.
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