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COMM 333 Attitude Scale Assessment

Introduction:

For this blog post, I will be analyzing two out of the three attitude scales. Semantic Differential and the Likert Scale. A Semantic Differential scale is a survey or questionnaire where people rate a product, brand, or company on a basic scale that has multiple options. For example "good-bad" or "happy-sad". This basic scale gets a good reading of how people feel about the product, brand, or company. The Likert scale is a 5-7 point scale that gives you the option of bad on one side and good on the other side but allows you in-between options as well. For example, the scale will include "fully agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, fully disagree". These two scales are a great way to determine the worth of products, brands, and companies.


Critical Assessment:

Semantic Differential Scale:

  • What is the benefit of the scale in measuring attitudes? When could it be beneficial? This scale gets right to the point of how someone feels about the product, company, or brand. There are no "maybes" it's all yes or no. This scale is great because you can use any words to ask how the consumer is feeling, and you'll get the answers that you need. This can be beneficial when a product, company, or brand needs direct feedback if they are doing something well or not. It's either you like it or you don't, no in between and this allows you to get the raw emotion from the consumers.

  • What is your main criticism of the scale in measuring attitudes? My main criticism of the scale is that you don't get reasons why this is bad or good. I feel that if you get a lot of bad answers you won't know how to fix that certain thing.

Likert Scale:

  • What is the benefit of the scale in measuring attitudes? When could it be beneficial? When using a Likert scale you are able to get a true understanding of how the surveyor feels because you give them more options. This is also a great scale because you get "clear and relevant answers" (Voxco) for your data collection which leads to a better understanding of what changes need to be made or if it is successful. This scale can be beneficial when you need to figure out if a brand or product is liked by other people and you are able to ask certain questions and get real emotions and true responses for it.

  • What is your main criticism of the scale in measuring attitudes? I feel that this scale can have a few issues. Having the neutral option is an issue because what if everyone chooses that neutral option and then you don't know if it's bad or good?

Theoretical Application:

A person's responses on a Likert scale may be influenced by social desirability bias, which may lead them to provide comments that are more aesthetically pleasing than truthful. For instance, someone would be more inclined to select higher ratings for statements like "I work hard," "I am reliable," or such affirmations of their character or behavior. Alternately, they might be more inclined to select lower scores for statements like "I am irresponsible" or "I am lazy" which reflects badly on their behavior or character.

Comments on a semantic differential scale can be influenced by social desirability bias, which makes respondents submit comments they think will be accepted by others. This could imply that they may play up their strengths and downplay their weaknesses in an effort to provide a more positive overall image of themselves that they believe will be more socially acceptable. For instance, a respondent might rank something as "very good" rather than "good" to appear more favorable or positive.


Reflect:

These two scales are very similar but also very different. They both can tell you the same things about the ending result of your data collection but also one gives you a set answer and the other gives you more emotional and thought-out answers. A Semantic Differential is a great way to really figure out if your product, brand, or company is simply bad or good and then you go from there. This scale is great because it's quick and easy. The Likert Scale is also great because you get more in-depth answers and are given more options to choose from which allows us to learn and understand the emotions of our product, brand, or company. These two scales were very important to learn about for this class. This is because we get to really understand why a brand, product, or company needs this feedback and how they receive it. These scales can help a brand, company, or product be successful and also show a great reputation of wanting feedback and making changes to satisfy the consumer or customer.


References:

References


QuestionPro. (n.d.). Semantic differential scale, example, and question types. QuestionPro. Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://www.questionpro.com/semantic-differential-scale.html#:~:text=A%20semantic%20differential%20scale%20is,opposite%20adjectives%20at%20each%20end.

VOXCO. (2023, January 23). Is 5-point likert scale a better choice to use? Voxco. Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://www.voxco.com/blog/5-point-likert-scale/#:~:text=The%205%2Dpoint%20Likert%20scale,%2C%20disagree%2C%20and%20fully%20disagree.




 
 
 

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