Here’s an example of how to calculate a five-point Likert scale:
Let’s say we have a survey question that asks respondents to rate their level of agreement with the statement “I enjoy exercising regularly.” The possible response options are:
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Neutral
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
We collect responses from 50 individuals and the data looks like this:
- 5 people strongly disagree
- 10 people disagree
- 8 people are neutral
- 20 people agree
- 7 people strongly agree
To calculate the mean score, we assign numerical values to each response option:
- Strongly Disagree = 1
- Disagree = 2
- Neutral = 3
- Agree = 4
- Strongly Agree = 5
Then we multiply the number of respondents who chose each response by the assigned numerical value, sum the results, and divide by the total number of respondents:
(5 x 1) + (10 x 2) + (8 x 3) + (20 x 4) + (7 x 5) = 139 139 / 50 = 2.78
So the mean score for this question is 2.78, which falls between “Disagree” and “Neutral” on the five-point scale.