I conducted a verification survey for my thesis with 7 point likert scale. Only one question was used in the survey and 18 participants responded to my survey.
The responses received from 18 participants are:
1- Extremely disagree
1- Mostly disagree
2- Some what disagree
1- Neither agree nor disagree
8- Some what agree
5- Mostly agree
0- Extremely agree
I calculated weighted average as:
( (1*1)+(1*2)+(2*3)+(1*4)+(8*5)+(5*6)+(0*7) )/18= (83/18) = 4.611
Can someone please help me with the inference (Like what can be concluded from the result)
Best Answer
It depends on the question. What was the question?
This is a good opportunity to talk about how Likert scale points are arbitrary. Some people (in my opinion, mistakenly) will test to see if the average is different from, for example, the midpoint (i.e., a one-sample t-test if the average is different from "4"). If it's above, they'll say people are high on whatever it is measuring; if it's below, they'll say people are low.
Consider an example where people are asked to agree or disagree with: "I want to kill my mother." If anything answers 2 – 7 (on a 7-point Likert scale), they are frighteningly high in that construct.
This isn't always the case, obviously, but you have to consider the content of the question that you asked people.