The Use of Likert Scales With Children

We investigated elementary school children's ability to use a variety of Likert response formats to respond to concrete and abstract items. 111 children, aged 6-13 years, responded to 2 physical tasks that required them to make objectively verifiable judgments, using a 5-point response format....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pediatric psychology 2014-04, Vol.39 (3), p.369-379
Main Authors: MELLOR, David, MOORE, Kathleen A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child clinical studies
Female
Humans
Judgment
Male
Medical sciences
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:We investigated elementary school children's ability to use a variety of Likert response formats to respond to concrete and abstract items. 111 children, aged 6-13 years, responded to 2 physical tasks that required them to make objectively verifiable judgments, using a 5-point response format. Then, using 25 items, we ascertained the consistency between responses using a "gold standard" yes/no format and responses using 5-point Likert formats including numeric values, as well as word-based frequencies, similarities to self, and agreeability. All groups responded similarly to the physical tasks. For the 25 items, the use of numbers to signify agreement yielded low concordance with the yes/no answer format across age-groups. Formats based on words provided higher, but not perfect, concordance for all groups. Researchers and clinicians need to be aware of the limited understanding that children have of Likert response formats.
ISSN:0146-8693
1465-735X
DOI:10.1093/jpepsy/jst079