{"id":19130,"date":"2016-03-14T15:50:23","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T22:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/?p=19130"},"modified":"2023-08-22T04:32:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T04:32:18","slug":"measuring-optimism-on-a-0-100-scale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/measuring-optimism-on-a-0-100-scale\/","title":{"rendered":"Measuring optimism on a 0 &#8211; 100 scale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When considering the type of data needed for a survey question we have several choices; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/nominal-data\/\">nominal data<\/a>, ordinal data, interval data and ratio data. In addition to the type of data, most survey platforms offer the survey author a wide variety of visual presentations. This post focuses on the use of numerical scales versus ordinal for measuring optimism and other useful constructs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As market researchers, we are often interested in a respondent\u2019s perceived level of optimism. Is the optimistic respondent that is more likely to purchase our products and services, either now or at some specified point in the future? Does the question then become how best to measure optimism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using an ordinal scale we could provide the respondent with a question like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How optimistic are you about the current business conditions facing your company?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Not optimistic at all<br>Somewhat optimistic<br>Optimistic<br>Very optimistic<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This scale produces an ordinal measure of the respondent\u2019s view of the conditions their company is facing. Collectively, we can use percentages to measure the overall sense of optimism. Optimistic groups could be separated from non-optimistic groups by incorporating other survey questions (business size, industry, geographic region etc.). On the plus side, this type of scale is easy on the respondent, which can lead to data that is more reliable. On the downside, due to its ordinal nature, our hand is forced when looking at analytical options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t<div class=\"banner-section wf-section\" lang=\"\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"right-column-container\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bannerbg white\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"h1-2\">Create memorable experiences based on real-time data, insights and advanced analysis.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#userliteForm\" data-toggle=\"modal\" class=\"button w-button\">Request Demo<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"userlite-modal modal fade\" id=\"userliteForm\" tabindex=\"-1\" role=\"dialog\" style=\"display: none;\">\n\t\t<div class=\"modal-dialog\" role=\"document\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"modal-content\" role=\"document\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"modal-body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"modal-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"close\" data-dismiss=\"modal\" aria-label=\"Close\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"material-icons\">close<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"contact-us-form-wrapper contact-box\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"userlite-form-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/userlite-form-blog-en.html?product=Research&amp;referralurl=https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19130&amp;lang=en&amp;cat=market-research\" style=\"display: block;\" ><\/iframe>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"demo-form-wrapper success-message-div\" style=\"display:none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"success-message-para\"><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, we could ask a respondent to rate their level of optimism on a scale from 0 to 100, with 0 being not optimistic at all and 100 being very optimistic. Having an absolute zero point produces ratio data, from which the full power of statistics can be applied. This is the upside. We can now conduct a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/regression-analysis\/\">regression analysis<\/a> or use other multivariate techniques to isolate the key drivers to optimism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main detractor is an increased cognitive load. With a scale this wide (0 \u2013 100), respondents may not make use of the full range of the scale leading to clusters of data points and a non-normal distribution, which can be a limiting factor with multivariate statistics. One way to mitigate this is to offer a visual slider with endpoints clearly marked. Invariably the survey author will also need to make mental cutoff points to facilitate data analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As in all forms of research, there are tradeoffs to be made which will impact data quality and facilitate comparison of your survey data to other published measures. Depending upon your audience and analytical needs the ordinal scale may be sufficient. In other cases, the robustness of a ratio measure may outweigh the higher level of cognition needed to answer accurately. The key takeaway is there are options for measuring optimism, satisfaction, awareness and other constructs of interest to marketers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more insight into working with metric data see &#8211; <strong>Data Analysis 101 &#8211; Metric Data<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a primer on using surveys see &#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/article\/market-research-surveys-guide.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Survey Data Analysis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When considering the type of data needed for a survey question we have several choices; nominal data, ordinal data, interval [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":768036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[203],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Measuring optimism on a 0 - 100 scale | QuestionPro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are numerous ways for measuring optimism in market and survey research. The 0 - 100 scale offers us ratio data useful for many types of analysis.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/measuring-optimism-on-a-0-100-scale\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Measuring optimism on a 0 - 100 scale | QuestionPro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are numerous ways for measuring optimism in market and survey research. The 0 - 100 scale offers us ratio data useful for many types of analysis.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/measuring-optimism-on-a-0-100-scale\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"QuestionPro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/questionpro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-14T22:50:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-22T04:32:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/marquee_optimism_800-800x521-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"521\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Greg Timpany\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@questionpro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@questionpro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Greg Timpany\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/measuring-optimism-on-a-0-100-scale\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/measuring-optimism-on-a-0-100-scale\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Greg Timpany\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dd964eb1605a56ae265b9c32f202ac62\"},\"headline\":\"Measuring optimism on a 0 &#8211; 100 scale\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-14T22:50:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-22T04:32:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/measuring-optimism-on-a-0-100-scale\/\"},\"wordCount\":487,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Market Research\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/measuring-optimism-on-a-0-100-scale\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/measuring-optimism-on-a-0-100-scale\/\",\"name\":\"Measuring optimism on a 0 - 100 scale | QuestionPro\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-14T22:50:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-22T04:32:18+00:00\",\"description\":\"There are numerous ways for measuring optimism in market and survey research. 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