The use of numerical value of adverbs of quantity and frequency in the measurement of behavior patterns: transforming ordinal scales into interval scales

Parreira, Artur; Silva, Ana Lorga da

doi:10.1590/S0104-40362016000100005

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Artigo Original • Ensaio: aval. pol. públ. educ. 24 (90) • Jan-Feb 2016 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-40362016000100005 copy

The use of numerical value of adverbs of quantity and frequency in the measurement of behavior patterns: transforming ordinal scales into interval scales

O uso do valor numérico dos advérbios de quantidade e frequência na medição de padrões de comportamento: das escalas ordinais às escalas de intervalos

La utilización de adverbios de cantidad y frecuencia en la medición de conducta: transformar escalas ordinales en escalas de intervalos

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

This paper presents a research on rating scales in response to different situations. It aims to improve the significance and accuracy of ordinal scales, transforming them into interval scales. To reach this objective, the presented scales combine quantitative and qualitative perspectives, joining the ease of the Likert scale and the Thurstone’s procedure. In this research, a sample of subjects was asked to indicate the numerical value of adverbs, in reference to a numerical scale. The results were subjected to statistical analysis, to assess their validity. Combining the qualitative dimension with a quantitative evaluation, this procedure can meet the biopsychosocial specificities of subjects, as required by the complexity paradigm. The results of this study seem to be an affirmative response to the questions about validity and reliability, and about the practicality of this procedure.

Questionnaire; Behavioral assessment; Value of adverbs; Evaluation tool

Quantity adverbs	N	mean	sd	min	max	range
Extremely	240	9.443	0.747	9	10	1
Quite enough	240	7.418	0.850	5	9	4
Medially	240	4.765	0.860	2.5	8	5.5
Little	240	2.207	0.868	0.5	5	4.5
Nothing at all	240	0.249	0.531	0	3	3

Original adverbs	Translated adverbs	Mea	Median	Mode	Sd	min		max
A- Totalmente	Totally	9.52	10	10	0.833	7	10	3
B- Completamente	Completely	9.34	10	10	0.892	7	10	3
C- Perfeitamente	Perfectly	9.36	10	10	0.822	7	10	3
D- Inteiramente	Entirely	9.44	10	10	0.821	7	10	3
E- Extremamente	Extremly	9.25	9	10	0.844	7	10	3
F- Muito	Very much	7.62	8	8	1.541	4	10	6
G- Bastante	Quite enough	7.08	7	8	2.121	2	10	8
H- Medianamente	Medially	4.62	5	5	0.841	3	6	3
I- Moderadamente	Moderatly	5.28	5	5	0.898	4	7	3
J- Razoavelmente	Reasonably	5.42	5	5	0.899	4	7	3
K- Mais ou menos	More or less	4.18	5	5	1.211	1	6	5
L- Pouco	Little	2.27	2	2	1.072	0	5	5
M- Nada	Nothing at all	0.54	0	0	0.873	0	3	3

Gender	Frequency	Percent
0	146	66.9
1	72	32.9
NA	1	0.5

Total D	37	100

Classes	Frequency	Percent
[19,34[	114	52.1
[34,47[	62	28.2
[47,60[	35	16
[60,73[	7	3.2
NA	1	1.5

Total	219	100

Classes	Frequency	Percent
1- Basic (5 years)	3	1.4
2- First cycle (6 years)	4	1.8
3- Second cycle (9 years)	4	1.8
4- Secondary level (12 years)	20	9.1
5- University level	168	76.7
6- Post-Graduate and PhD	14	6.4
NA	6	2.8

Total	219	100

Adverbs	Mean	Median	Mode	Std	Min.	Max.
Always	88.387	90	100	14.39	50	100
Extremely frequent	83.785	90	90	13.33	50	100
Frequently	68.536	70	80	16.85	30	100
Many times	67.177	70	70	16.19	30	100
Quite enough times	68.491	70	70	15.83	30	100
sometimes	39.625	40	40	16.59	10	80
Rarely	16.012	10	10	9.71	10	40
Never	1,283	0	0	3.36	0	10

A 6 position scale, adjusted to a questionnaire with items is presented below (responses and their treatment serve only as an example):
	Extremely important					(E)
	Very important					(M)
	Enough important					(B)
	Medially important					(md)
	Little important					(P)
	Not at all important					(N)

	E	M	B	md	P	N
1. Is it important that the teacher gives incentives, praises and demonstrates personal esteem to his pupils, to motivate them?		x
2. Is it important that the teacher gives a permanent example of openness to new ideas?	x

These items focus the skill to motivate the students to develop more complete and open perceptions of reality. The respondent evaluates item 1 at level M = 7,62; and item 2 at level E = 9,25

A 5 position scale, adjusted to a questionnaire with items is presented below:
	Totally true				(E)
	Enough true				(B)
	Medially true				(md)
	Little true				(P)
	Not at all true				(N)

	T	B	md	P	N
1. My interactions with other people are not very positive.			x
2. My productive activities effectively create the resources for my subsistence. I am indeed an effective worker	x

The subject has a positive and an assertive selfimage as a productive worker, with a score of 9,52; a positive image relying mainly on economic productivity; the relational dimension is not so positive; its distance to the top of the scale is quite large (numerical score 4,62). It must be said that current computational devices offer no difficulties to using these scales.

Adverbs	Numerical values	Distances
A- Always	88,387	19,898⁴
E- Enough times	68,491	28,766³
F- Sometimes	39,625	23,613²
G- Rarely	16,012	14,729¹
H- Never	1,283	-

Situations	Frequency in personal life (%)	Frequency in work (%)
A- Situations that generate feelings of warmth, sympathy, friendship	71.39	59.69
R- Situations that generate feelings of anger, irritation	26.09	35.97
C- Situations that arise feelings of curiosity, desire to know, lust for information	57.12	65.54
N- Situations that arise feelings of rejection, revulsion, disgust	9.04	23.99
M- Situations that arise feelings of fear	23.30	27.87
D Situations that arise relax and certainty feelings	58.88	46.95
S- Situations that arise feelings of satisfaction, joy, enthusiasm	62.17	46.96
T- Situations that arise feelings of sadness, abandon, depression	19.51	26.24
O- Situations that arise feelings of pride and a sense of personal importance	63.69	86.44
V- Situations that arise feelings of guilt and shame	9.47	11.14

		Pair differences				t	df	Sig2 extremes)

		Mean	St	95% difference reliable interval

				Inferior	Superior
Pair	A	11.713	16,963	39.918	19.434	3,164	20	0,005
Pair4	N	-14.957	23,151	-252.222	-46.923	-3,03	21	0,006
Pair6	D	11.936	28,377	-0.6454	245.181	1,973	21	0,062
Pair7	S	15.211	29,525	21.204	283.022	2,416	21	0,025

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[1] Informações dos autores

Artur Marecos Parreira e Moreira Gonçalves: Professor Doutor. Professor Catedrático da Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, investigador do CPES, Coordenador do NESC. Contato: arturmparreira@gmail.com

Ana Lorga da Silva: Professora Doutora. Professora Associada da Universidade Lusófona, investigadora do CPES e pesquisadora do CEDRIC - CNAM. Contato: ana.lorga@ulusofona.pt