Likert Leftovers: A Case for Attending to Items Deleted to Achieve Internal Consistency (Poster 37)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Sunday 9:50 a.m.
  In Poster Session: Precision and Nuance in Survey Research: Novel Approaches to Measurement and Analysis

Abstract

This paper makes an argument for further examination of items for polarity (asymmetry) and disagreement that would otherwise be cast aside in pursuit of internal consistency in Likert-type item summated rating scale construction. Consideration of this additional information is informative for all items, but due to the nature of the process to enhance reliability, key items, particularly those with low variance, may be overlooked. An example and specialized software to achieve these goals is provided.

Authors

• John D. Morris, Florida Atlantic University

• Mary G. Lieberman, Florida Atlantic University

• Maria D. Vásquez-Colina, Florida Atlantic University