5 Point Likert scale analysis is frequently used because respondents can easily answer questions in this format. They don’t have to think too much and write a lot of lines in order to answer. They just simply can choose from already given answers. It is also easy to analyze.
The Likert Scale asks how much a person agrees or disagrees with a particular statement or question.
It is usually made up of a 5 point rating scale ranging from one end to another with a neutral point in the middle.
For example, a scale like this:
Strongly disagree | 1 |
Disagree | 2 |
Neutral | 3 |
Agree | 4 |
Strongly Agree | 5 |
After you get responses to these types of questions, how then do you analyze the answers?
To analyze data from the Likert scale, you need a specific visual that gets you results in the least amount of time.
And that is what we will show you in this article.
Before we dive into the deep analysis of 5 Point Likert Scale, first we need to understand what Likert Scale is?
You must have seen many surveys in which respondents just have to agree or disagree with the given statements/questions. This type of question is known as the Likert Scale.
Definition: A Likert Scale is an evenly scale from which respondents choose the level of agreement or disagreement. It can be used to measure the product or service analysis whether the consumer is pleased or having issues with a particular product or service.
In the following video, you will learn how to analyze and interpret results from the 5 Point Likert Scale which is very easy to build and very nice to present to your stakeholders.
Let us see an example of how you can visualize your data obtained from survey analysis using the Likert Scale for analyzing and interpreting results from it.
George runs a business where he sells skincare products.
He wants to know how his products are doing with customers.
He needs the information to better optimize the products to suit his clients’ needs.
Therefore, he creates a survey with a 5 point Likert scale.
The questions included in his survey were:
He made a table with stats as shown below:
Question | Rating | Count |
The virtual models of customized products are realistic | 1 | 324 |
The virtual models of customized products are realistic | 2 | 176 |
The virtual models of customized products are realistic | 3 | 230 |
The virtual models of customized products are realistic | 4 | 270 |
The virtual models of customized products are realistic | 5 | 0 |
The information about customized components is clearly identified | 1 | 138 |
The information about customized components is clearly identified | 2 | 186 |
The information about customized components is clearly identified | 3 | 176 |
The information about customized components is clearly identified | 4 | 230 |
The information about customized components is clearly identified | 5 | 270 |
The variety of customized products are satisfactory | 1 | 0 |
The variety of customized products are satisfactory | 2 | 138 |
The variety of customized products are satisfactory | 3 | 186 |
The variety of customized products are satisfactory | 4 | 176 |
The variety of customized products are satisfactory | 5 | 500 |
Image rotation is useful for viewing product from different angles | 1 | 5 |
Image rotation is useful for viewing product from different angles | 2 | 100 |
Image rotation is useful for viewing product from different angles | 3 | 146 |
Image rotation is useful for viewing product from different angles | 4 | 116 |
Image rotation is useful for viewing product from different angles | 5 | 420 |
Next, he installed ChartExpo from here and then opened it by clicking on Extensions on the Google Sheet interface.
Then he copied and pasted the above table in the sheet and kept continue to explore ChartExpo on the right side of the screen.
After he opened ChartExpo, he clicked on the ‘Add new chart’ button.
Next, he selected the ‘Likert Scale Chart’.
He then selected the sheet that had his data.
He used ‘Count’ as a metric and added ‘Question’ and ‘Rating’ as dimensions.
Then, he clicked on ‘Create Chart’.
If you want to learn more about customizing this chart, setting properties, header, footer, and labels you can read our guide on How to Present Likert Scale Data.
From this chart, he was able to get insight into his customers’ mindset.
He could know whether his customers are satisfied with your product’s customization or not.
This will make George more confident about his products.
It will help him to hone his strengths and make his products more suitable for customers.
Let’s dive in more to understand the above chart to analyze and interpret results from the Likert Scale.
For most simple and basic data with a few respondents, you could use the ‘Mode’ method to analyze.
Let’s take a look at the exact steps.
The questions would be on one axis and the figure ratings from the last step on the other.
We have discussed so far the different point scales and the characteristics of the 5-point scale.
Now, how do you know if the 5-point scale is right for you, your Likert data, and your Likert survey?
If you want to learn more about customizing this chart, setting properties, header, footer, and labels you can read our guide on How to Present Likert Scale Data.
There are different forms of the 5 point scale.
Some are scales of agreement.
Some 5 point scales measure the rate of satisfaction.
Other scales measure frequency.
While others measure quality, likelihood, and importance.
Let us see some Likert Scale examples.
A 5-point scale that measures agreement will look like this.
Interesting right?
Let us see a typical 5 point scale to measure satisfaction.
This next scale measures quality.
Likert scale questions help you to sample opinions and get relevant information. It gives you an insight into what your audience is thinking. You have to ask these questions sometimes to chart a new course in your business.
Sometimes you have to ask it to know where your brand stands with the audience.
Some other times, it is to foresee impending doom and avoid it quickly.
Regardless of the reason why you are asking the question, you need to know what people are thinking.
To know what different people are thinking, you need to ask questions. After asking questions, you need to collate answers.
Next, you need to go through the answers, understand popular opinion, and take relevant action.
The answers you collate are the data you need.
Let me list them again.
Remember, we said analyzing data is like trying to solve a complex math problem?
Look at those steps.
Then imagine trying to sample the opinions of over 500 employees or 1,000 clients.
It would take a long time and utmost concentration to get it done properly.
On the contrary, you want to save time and energy as a business person.
Plus, you are already bombarded with a ton of information that automatically reduces your attention span and easily distracts you.
Therefore, you need a way to do all the three steps of data analysis in a split of a second.
There are 3-point Likert scales, 4-point Likert scales, 5-point, 6-point, 7-point, and even 9-point Likert scales.
We get your question.
Why are there so many and are they all used for the same purpose?
Like we already mentioned, Likert scales are generally used to measure opinion concerning a subject.
However, the number of answerable options makes a large difference in the feelings of the audience while answering.
The point scales also have a large effect on the type of data that will be acquired.
Overall, it will affect the insights drawn from the data.
How?
Humans think and react in different ways.
They can feel constricted and choked with too few options.
At the same time, they could become easily overwhelmed by too many options.
With 3 point scales, you would mostly see options ranging from High-Medium-Low.
This easily asks the respondents to choose either side of the pole or remain neutral.
While this might seem immediately easy, it only scratches the surface of the opinions.
It does not seek to truly understand the thoughts and feelings of the respondents.
For the 4 point scales, the evenness of the scale makes it difficult to have a neutral standpoint.
Due to the tendency of humans to be polite, respondents may leave the questions unanswered.
That is for the lesser numbers.
For scales as large as the 7-point or 9-point scale, they delve deeper into the true emotions and feelings of the respondents.
However, when faced with a myriad of questions with so many options, respondents tend to lose interest faster.
It is like having to choose one of seven options in 20 different places.
It might be fun at first.
Then you just want to move to something more thrilling.
That is why the 5 point scale is usually the most effective and respondent-friendly Likert scale.
However, it also has its pros and cons which we will outline next.
Here are some benefits of using the 5 Point Likert Scale in your research and survey analysis.
The 5 point scale is simple.
The neutral standpoint is easy to identify with.
The opposing extremes are also easy to understand as either completely positive reviews or negative.
Respondents can easily give more honest and relevant opinions with a lower amount of choices.
Also, on your part, the 5 point scale works well when sampling the opinions of a large audience.
It is so because you have lesser irrelevant options to go through and understand.
This just means that you can reach into the true emotions of your respondents with the 5 point scale.
This helps you to get the relevant data that you need and eventually draw conclusions that you can work on.
Now, let us see the few cons of using the 5-point Likert scale.
Let’s discuss some disadvantages of using the 5 Point Likert Scale.
It is what it is.
The 5 point scale may sometimes be inadequate to measure all the sentiments towards a particular issue. The respondents may need more options to express themselves for you to get accurate data.
In some situations, the 5 point scale may be restrictive for the respondents. This thereby causes them to make choices too mindlessly or critically.
The data obtained from the 5 point scale may not effectively communicate the objective opinions of people.
It may not also achieve the aim of the research or survey.
You do not want to use a 5 point scale when you measure opinions on a complex subject.
For example, when measuring a complex service or operation like customer engagement and store experience.
You need a wider array of opinions and information in such a situation.
However, if you are seeking to know how patients and visitors feel about the cleanliness at the hospital, a smaller range of options will suffice.
Also, more sentiment levels will keep your respondents from congregating at the neutral point.
When presented with options that do not exactly represent their feelings and ideas, respondents tend to be neutral.
Adding more options also delivers more accurate attitudes and avoids unnecessary distortions in data.
The downside of having too many options is that people can get weary and distracted.
In these times, people suffer from information overload.
And this can affect the responses of your audience.
Therefore, this evidence shows that the 5 point scale can keep your audience from losing interest.
It will also make it easy for them to analyze the options and choose which one best suits their opinion.
Also, the 5 point scale eliminates the urge to gravitate towards the neutral point.
It also eliminates the desire to leave the questions blank and unanswered.
The 5-point Likert scale contains 5 response options that will consist of two extreme sides and a neutral option linked to the middle answer options. Examples of a 5-point rating scale for measuring satisfaction are: Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Neutral, Dissatisfied, and Very Dissatisfied.
The Likert scale usually has five, seven, or nine points, with five and seven points, which are often used. For example, the most common selection options include strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree with the statement. Showing survey results based on feedback is the example of the Likert scale chart.
If you are looking to have a specific response then this 4 Point Likert scale is a good option because it doesn’t have neutral results to show only negative and positives are shown. For example, you can have strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. You can call it a forced Likert scale chart as well.
The Likert Scale is a type of scale that is used to assess people’s opinions. Respondents are asked to rate items at the contract level on this scale.
5-points Likert scale is much easier for respondents to understand. On 5 points Likert scale respondents define their level of agreement in a statement generally at 5 points. The 5-point Likert scale has the next level of data distribution. Which is ideal for the vast study of consumer opinion.
When you have to measure attitude, belief, or conduct items, Likert scales may be a good fit. It’s frequently used to measure people’s views by asking how much they agree or disagree with a certain issue or statement. “Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly agree” would be a common scale.
The Likert scale consists of a series of statements. Respondents just have to indicate how much they agree or disagree with a specific statement. Whichever answer the respondent chooses is assigned a point value and the analysis is conducted on it. After recording responses from the survey results researcher can use the Likert Scale Chart to visualize the Likert Scale data.
ChartExpo has over 50 visualizations that help you create the perfect visual for your data.
With a few clicks, you can get your entire data analysis done and understood.
For 5-point Likert scale data, the process of visualizing using ChartExpo gets easier.
You can easily also make use of ChartExpo to analyze and get insights from your Likert scale data.
Analyzing data can be as difficult as rocket science. Before analyzing data, you have to make sure that you get a relevant dataset. This can prove difficult due to the conditions and feelings of people.
The Likert scale survey measures the opinions of people concerning a subject. However, some people might be too polite to give you an honest opinion. Some might have lots of information on their minds that they take your survey mindlessly.
However, the 5 point scale is a haven for many analysts. It gets to the crux of the matter without boring or overwhelming your respondents.
Analysis and visualization of your Likert scale data have been made overly easy with ChartExpo by introducing Likert Scale Chart. The above analysis proves that the Likert Scale Chart is the best way to present survey results.
We have already seen how you can analyze with ChartExpo on Google sheets.
It does not have to be rocket science anymore.
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