How to interpret cumulative/ dimension mean values of likert 5 point scale( 1-5 mean)

[Rajashekhar Sangepu]

Dear Group members,

 

I asked respondents  to tick on Highly satisfied to highly dissatisfied on the five point scale on the   variables of size, speed and durability (Exploratory Factor Analysis  extracted these  three  variables as a  factor the  of the green automobile.named it as product features ).  I found the results of  the mean values are for the different age groups minimum mean value is 2.5 and maximum  3.7. 

How do I interpret this? 

I found the  in one interpretation model in  Neha Agarwal thesis (2014). Faculty in Indian academic environment: an evaluation of job satisfaction and organizational commitment (sodh ganga)  as interpretation as 

 below 2 is low and  2-3  moderate and 3 and above 3 is high. I found that there is no significance for  "nutral" / niether agree nor disagree/ neither satisfied nor dis satisfied  response in this interpretation. 

I am willing to interpret mean values as below 3 is less or no satisfaction/ low  and  3 -3.5 neutral or moderate and above 3.5 as high .. I have some doubt on my interpretation also?   Can I interpret like this with the dimension mean values? 

Can I apply the same scale interpretation for  five point scale of  strongly agree to strongly disagree  also? 

could any one  give the clarity on standard  interpretation of  scale/dimension  mean values related to 1-5 point liket scale ? how can I  interpret  the cumulative ( dimension) mean  values from  1-5  in   ANOVA  ? 

Regards 

S. Rajashekhar

Research scholar

[rajeev Kumar]

Dear Rajshekhar 

What I personally do in this type of case is that I adopt the criteria suggested by Scott (1999) if the distribution of sample is normal or approximately normal.

He suggested that for likert type scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree/ Highly dissatisfied) to 5 ((Strongly Agree/ Highly Satisfied) interpretation should be like following:

mean up to 2.8 = Disagree 
2.9 to 3.2 = Neutral or Neither Disagree nor agree 
Above 3.2 = Agree 

I also want to learn something more in this regard by the learned members of this group. 

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Thanks & Regards
Rajeev Kumar Malik (UGC-SRF)
Research Scholar
Faculty of Management Studies
B.H.U.,Varanasi
Mobile- +91 979 594 3341

[Punita Duhan]

rajeev, could you please send the detailed link or information, so that i can download.

Warm Regards,

Punita Duhan

Lecturer (Business Administration)

Meera Bai Institute of Technology,

& Bhai Parmanand Institute of Technology,

Deptt of Training and Technical Education,

Govt. of NCT of Delhi.

Mob: 09868108992

[Punita Duhan]

dear rajashekhar,

here is a link, which you may find useful. i could not download the papers, so can not really comment on how useful is it going to be. do share if u get something worthwhile.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_best_way_used_to_present_the_five-point_likert_scale_data_Using_mean_scores_or_using_percentages

Warm Regards,

Punita Duhan

Lecturer (Business Administration)

Meera Bai Institute of Technology,

& Bhai Parmanand Institute of Technology,

Deptt of Training and Technical Education,

Govt. of NCT of Delhi.

Mob: 09868108992

[Rajashekhar Sangepu]

 Thank you Rajeev Kumar  and  Punitha  Madam. The link is useful  but still I have to learn in this regard.    

S. Rajashekhar

[Neeraj Kaushik]

Dear Raj

Rensis Likert's scale is considered in the category of Summated Rating Scale which means that individual statements are rated and then the sum is obtained.  

Ex if I've taken 5 statements on anyone's liking for Math with coding for Highly unlike as 1 and Highly liking as 5. Now if a respondent reply all statements then his/her sum will be min 5 and max 25

Now I can analyze results by taking 

Sum            Analysis

upto 5         Respondent dislike Math to a great extent

6-10            Respondent dislike Math

11-15          Respondent has no clear like/dislike for Math

16-20          Respondent like Math 

Above 20    Respondent like Math to a great extent

If you'll take mean score then the score will be between 1-5

In ur case too, you can make classes like this and interpret.

Plz ask where is your doubt.

Best wishes

Neeraj

[Rajashekhar Sangepu]

Sir,

As per your explanation, I have to classify the scale for interpretation as 

0-1   mean score indicates the respondents strong disagreement

1-2   Respondent disagreement

2-3   neither agree nor disagree

3-4    Agree

4-5   strongly agree

But my doubt is the mean values of the 5 responses starts from minimum value of 1. It is not below the 1.  Then

If I start interpreting 1-2 as respondents strong disagreement,

2-3 as Respondent disagreement

3-4 as    neither agree nor disagree

4-5 are Agree

In this case I am missing the mean for the interpretation of Strongly Agree.

In another case as I found in thesis,

If the mean is below 2 as  Low

Between 2-3  as moderate

Above 3 is high,

In this case the interpretation for the neutral or undecided is missing,

 as  per the Scott (1999), 

Mean up to 2.8 = Disagree 
2.8 to 3.2 = Neutral or Neither Disagree nor agree 
Above 3.2 = Agree ,,, I may get some valid interpretation  

Now,  my doubt is as per the 0-1  mean score is as strongly disagree, practically there are no values in between 0-1 but only mean value 1 is possible.

Shall I consider the 0-1 as strongly disagree whit out obtaining any practical mean values in between 0-1?

Or

Can I fallow up to 2 is low, 2-3 is moderate and 3 and above as high?

O r

Can I fallow up to   2.8 is disagree 2.8-3.2 as neutral and above 3.2 as agree?

Or can I fallow my own interpretation as up to 3 is disagree , 3-3.5 is neural or neither agree nor disagree  and above 3.5  as the agree

I am very much worried about this, what is the  standard interpretation? If we  consider the 0 -1 half of the problem is solved but the problem is that there  are no practical values in between them .

If We start from 1-2 as strongly disagree,  we are unable to interpret the one response   it may either neutral / neither agree nor disagree response or strongly agree response.

What to do sir. What should I fallow?

 

[Punita Duhan]

Dear Neeraj sir,

i came across this link which talks about how to interpret survey results.

http://www.measuringu.com/blog/interpret-responses.php

but there is a query in point number 4 

4.     Z-Score to Percentile Rank (56%): This is a Six-Sigma technique. It converts the raw score into a normal score—because rating scale means often follow a normal or close to normal distribution. We just need a reasonable benchmark to compare the mean to. I've found that 80% of the number of points in a scale is a good place to start (a meta-analysis by Nielsen & Levy also found this). For a 5 point scale use a 4 (5*.80=4), for a 7 use 5.6 and for 11 use 8.8. Next follow these three steps. 

1.     Subtract the benchmark from the mean: 4.167-4 = .167

2.     Divide the difference by the standard deviation: .167/1.21 = .1388. This is called a z-score (or normal score) and tells us how many standard deviations a score of 4.167 falls above or below the benchmark. 

3.     Convert the Z-score to a percentile rank: Using the properties of the normal curve we find out what percent of area falls below the .1388 standard deviations above the mean using a calculator or lookup table, we get .556 or 56%.

so can we say that (1) we are 95% confident that 56 % people agree to the construct.

(2) in case of factor analysis, if we get z scores for the factors and then we take mean of these z scores, then can we straight away interpret this mean as area under the curve.

Warm Regards,

Punita Duhan

Lecturer (Business Administration)

Meera Bai Institute of Technology,

& Bhai Parmanand Institute of Technology,

Deptt of Training and Technical Education,

Govt. of NCT of Delhi.

Mob: 09868108992

[rajeev Kumar]

yaksha prashna pooch diya aapne ma'am @Punita Duhan