Respondsschaalitems

Respondsschaalitems, often translated as response scale items, are a type of questionnaire item that asks respondents to rate or judge a statement, attribute, or behavior using a defined scale. They are a core tool in survey research, used to measure attitudes, satisfaction, perception, and self-reported frequency or agreement. The term is common in Dutch-language contexts but the concept is widely used in international survey design.

Common formats include Likert-type items, where respondents indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with a statement on a symmetric scale (for example, from strongly disagree to strongly agree, typically using five to seven points). Other formats include bipolar scales (poles on either end, such as very dissatisfied to very satisfied) and semantic differential scales, which rate a concept between two opposite adjectives (for example, useful–useless) across multiple steps. Items are often labeled at each point to improve reliability and interpretability.

Design considerations include the number of response categories, balance of anchors, and clarity of wording. Scales should be unambiguous, with single-focus items, avoiding double-barreled or leading statements. Researchers often include reverse-coded items to detect response bias, and pilot testing helps reduce ambiguity and ceiling or floor effects. Reliability and validity are assessed using internal consistency measures (e.g., Cronbach's alpha), item-total correlations, and factor analysis; item response theory may be used for more advanced modeling.

In analysis, response scale items are typically coded as ordinal data, though many practitioners treat them as interval data for parametric tests. Interpretation focuses on central tendency, dispersion, and the scale’s overall reliability, as well as patterns across related items or factors.