Recoding issues with response options
Recoding issues with response options
[edited from support email]
I recently discovered something that may be problematic. The first button of a scale response questionnaire is always recorded as a "1". For example, suppose I have a 0-8 likert scale and I create a questionnaire in media lab. I set the labels of the questionnaire to range from 0-8. However, in actuality MediaLab records people's answers as ranging from 1-9. So even if the label on the screen appears as a "0" media lab records the first icon as a "1" regardless of its label. This is problematic for people who later on assume that the data ranges from 0-8 when in fact the data ranges from 1-9. This is also an issue when people try to reverse score questionnaire items in analyses.
Take a look at this and please let me know if I provide any additional information in the message to make it helpful for users.
See www.empirisoft.com/support/showthread.php?t=334
I've been thinking also it would be useful to add a message in the questionnaire editor when people alter the button labels.
[edited follow up from user]
Thanks for the cautionary note and for getting back to me. I think the main problem is that some people do not start with a value of 1 in numeric scale responses. So, I think it might be easier for people to see an example where the scale is in ascending order. I think it would be a great idea to add this message in the questionnaire editor as well: e.g. "please note the first button is recorded with a value of "1".
I will see to it that this cautionary note gets added to the questionnaire editor. Thanks for pointing it out. We may be doing a user mailing in the near future and I'll see if we can add a link to this note.
