How can you use Guttman scales in survey research?

If you want to measure the intensity of opinions, attitudes, or behaviors in your survey research, you might consider using Guttman scales. These are a type of ordinal scale that allow you to rank respondents based on how many items they agree with in a set of statements. In this article, you will learn what Guttman scales are, how they work, and how you can use them in your survey research.

1 What are Guttman scales?

Guttman scales are named after Louis Guttman, a sociologist who developed them in the 1940s. They are also known as cumulative scales, scalogram analysis, or L-scales. Guttman scales are based on the idea that some statements are more extreme or specific than others, and that if a respondent agrees with a more extreme statement, they also agree with all the less extreme ones. For example, if you agree that you always recycle, you also agree that you sometimes recycle, but not the other way around.

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Sanjeet Reddy

Driving Growth and Building Strong Client Relationships| Ex- InnovateMR | Ex-GMO Research | Ex-Market Cube(SAGO) | Ex-IndusInd Bank
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The Guttman scale gauges the "strength" of a respondent's viewpoint; it is sometimes referred to as the cumulative scale or scalogram analysis. it establishes the extent of their favorable or unfavorable opinion toward a specific subject. A sequence of closely related questions that get simpler is the foundation of the Guttman scale. It entails asking a series of binary questions, sometimes known as "yes/no" questions, to ascertain how strongly a person agrees with or disagrees with a certain point of view.

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2 How do Guttman scales work?

Guttman scales consist of a series of statements that are ordered from the least to the most extreme or specific. The respondents are asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with each statement, usually with a yes or no answer. The responses are then scored by counting how many items the respondent agreed with, starting from the first one. For example, if a respondent agrees with the first three statements out of five, their score is 3. The scores are then used to rank the respondents from the lowest to the highest level of agreement.

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Sanjeet Reddy

Driving Growth and Building Strong Client Relationships| Ex- InnovateMR | Ex-GMO Research | Ex-Market Cube(SAGO) | Ex-IndusInd Bank
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With regard to the measured attribute, objects are placed in a Guttman scale in a hierarchical order, going from least to most. As a result of a cumulative and progressive relationship, respondents are predicted to agree with all things that they agree with the lower-ranked ones on. By designing a scale, the intention is to show a unidimensional continuum of the underlying trait, where the approval of one item on the scale also indicates the approval of all those placed lower.

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3 How can you use Guttman scales in survey research?

Guttman scales can be useful for survey research when you want to measure the intensity or consistency of opinions, attitudes, or behaviors on a certain topic. For example, you can use Guttman scales to assess the level of environmental awareness, political orientation, or customer loyalty. Guttman scales can also help you identify the core and peripheral aspects of a concept, and how they vary among different groups of respondents. However, Guttman scales also have some limitations, such as requiring a large number of items, being sensitive to the order of the statements, and assuming a perfect correlation between the items.

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Sanjeet Reddy

Driving Growth and Building Strong Client Relationships| Ex- InnovateMR | Ex-GMO Research | Ex-Market Cube(SAGO) | Ex-IndusInd Bank
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It uses to evaluate and classify participants according to their views or actions toward a particular concept. 1.Integrity Evaluation:Examine how well respondents' answers correspond to the cumulative structure to determine the Guttman scale's accuracy. 2.Pilot Assessment: Give the scale to a small sample of people to see if there are any problems with the items' phrasing or intelligibility. In order to use the scale in a bigger study, this helps it become more refined. 3.Scoring: Allow each item a number that corresponds to a larger presentation of the construct; a higher number signifies this. A respondent is presumed to agree with all of the lower-level items if they score highly on a higher-level item because the scoring is cumulative.

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4 How can you create Guttman scales?

To create Guttman scales, you need to follow some steps. First, you need to define the concept or dimension that you want to measure, and generate a pool of statements that cover different aspects of it. Second, you need to order the statements from the least to the most extreme or specific, based on your judgment or previous research. Third, you need to test the statements on a sample of respondents, and collect their responses. Fourth, you need to analyze the responses using a technique called scalogram analysis, which checks how well the statements form a Guttman scale. Fifth, you need to select the statements that have the highest agreement and form a coherent scale.

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5 How can you analyze Guttman scales?

To analyze Guttman scales, you need to use scalogram analysis, which is a method of evaluating how well the statements form a Guttman scale. Scalogram analysis involves creating a matrix or a table that shows the responses of each respondent to each statement, and calculating a coefficient of reproducibility, which measures how closely the responses match the expected pattern of a Guttman scale. The coefficient of reproducibility ranges from 0 to 1, and the higher it is, the better the scale. A common rule of thumb is that a coefficient of reproducibility of 0.9 or higher indicates a good Guttman scale. You can also use scalogram analysis to compare the responses of different groups of respondents, and to identify the statements that are the most discriminating or indicative of the concept or dimension that you are measuring.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you use Guttman scales in survey research?

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1 What are Guttman scales?

2 How do Guttman scales work?

3 How can you use Guttman scales in survey research?

4 How can you create Guttman scales?

5 How can you analyze Guttman scales?

6 Here’s what else to consider

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