Likert Scale in Social Sciences Research: Problems and Difficulties

Abstract

The Likert scale is one of the essential rating scales used as a measurement tool in social sciences research, especially in the qualitative approach. Unfortunately, this scale has a great deal of controversy surrounding how data is obtained from Likert questionnaires and the appropriate statistical analysis of these data. A systematic review was performed to address this issue. Research publications from various recognized national and international articles served as research objects. This paper provides a comprehensive study of the two-perspective of the rating scales based on measurement experts, statisticians, education researchers, and other practitioners. The experts’ opinions, analyses, suggestions, and solutions are obtained from journal articles, proceedings, theses, and books. After reading this article, the reader should be able to know that the accurate Likert scale produces data intervals for social sciences research. However, some requirements must be considered, specifically the composite score, midpoint, and the number of points. If these conditions are implemented, statistical methods, parametric and non-parametric, can be used to analyze the data depending on the research purpose.