What is the ideal number of points for a rating scale?
The psychometric literature suggests that having more scale points is better but there is a diminishing return after around 11 points (Nunnally 1978). Having seven points tends to be a good balance between having enough points of discrimination without having to maintain too many response options.
What is the scale of measurement of the rating?
Broadly speaking, rating scales can be divided into two categories: Ordinal and Interval Scales. An ordinal scale is a scale the depicts the answer options in an ordered manner. The difference between the two answer option may not be calculable but the answer options will always be in a certain innate order.
What are the benefits of a 4 point rating scale?
The key benefit of a 4 point performance rating scale is a forced decision to classify each employee as either above or below average, avoiding the the issue of a lack of variance in performance review data. A 5 point performance rating scale has historically been the most common.
Which is the best rating scale for performance review?
This is, by far, the most commonly used performance review rating scale in the world. The 5-point, or 5-level, rating scale is relatively straightforward. You get to rate the employee out of 5. Each rating level out of 5 has its own unique definition. Here is an explanation of how these values work:
When to use a Level 1 or 2 rating scale?
This process is suited to questions with rating scales where it’s ‘okay’ to be a level 1 or a level 2 at a point in the employee lifecycle. For example, an employee that is a couple of months into a new role wouldn’t be expected to be expert in their responsibilities just yet.
When to use a rating scale in a survey?
Answering rating scale questions is fast and fun and when analyzed attentively, the answers provide a great deal of valuable information. Below, I’ve placed the list of the most common survey scale examples with explanations and comments on when and how to use them in your survey.