Hello,
I am going to conduct research with primary school students, using a ready-made questionnaire assessing motivation based on the Self-determination theory. The original questionnaire goes with a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (not true at all) to 7 (very true). However, according to my own reading, 7-point scales might be confusing for primary children to use. So, I am wondering if I could use this questionnaire with a 5-point scale instead, with 1 being "not true at all" and 5 being "very true".
I am wondering if anyone of you has reduced the scale points of a ready-made questionnaire. Could you tell me your experience, for example, whether the new scale can still produce valid and acceptable results? Or could you please suggest me solutions so that I can make my survey most comprehensible for my young participants?
Thank you very much in advance.
P.s. I am a first-time research student and have no prior experience in doing quantitative research. I would be very much grateful for your advice.
As reviewer, I'd consider the change of scale valid as long as you could demonstrate an equivalence in the results. In other words, a change of scale should not question the validity of the questionnaire. Initially, between 7-Likert and 5-Likert, the expected result is a greater polarization of responses, but I would do a pre-experiment with similar conditions as in the original questionnaire and compare the results. However and preliminary, I would try an experiment using a 7-Likert vs 5-Likert with a subset of your experimental subjects. If differences aren't high, the change of scale won't be necessary.
This paper will probably be of interest to you:
Dawes, J. (2008). Do data characteristics change according to the number of scale points used? An experiment using 5-point, 7-point and 10-point scales. International journal of market research, 50(1), 61-104.
- Badges
- Science topic