Re: Coding ordinal level

Posted by Bruce Weaver on Sep 27, 2013; 12:35pm
URL: http://spssx-discussion.165.s1.nabble.com/Coding-ordinal-level-tp5722263p5722276.html

I think Art left out a not in his first sentence below -- i.e., he does not see why any 5 equally ordered values could NOT be used.  

Just another observation:  If your original data has values 1-5, centering on 3 yields your -2 to +2 scale.  So your question boils down to is it okay to center a variable in SEM.  I'm no expert in SEM, but I see no reason why you couldn't do that.

Finally, a colleague once did a little study to see if using 1-5 vs -2 to +2 at the data collection stage made any difference.  I believe he found that it did have an effect, but I don't know the details.  

HTH.

Art Kendall wrote

I have not had the
        opportunity to try that but do not see why any 5 equally ordered
        values could be used.
        In terms of using that response scale in data gathering, be sure
        that you respondents can deal with those anchors.  I would be
        leery about using negative values if the respondents were
        children who were only familiar with the non-negative part of
        the number line.
       
        Are the anchors still SD, D,  N, A, SA? If so it could be
      called a "Likert response scale". (as opposed to a "Likert scale"
      which is a set of such items.) For most audiences, i suggest you
      also include the response scale in the write-up.
     
      Are you dealing with single items to measure a construct, or are
      these intended to be part of a summative scale?
     
      Why do you believe the levels are severely discrepant from
      interval level?
     
     
     
      Art Kendall
Social Research Consultants
      On 9/27/2013 2:53 AM, E. Bernardo [via SPSSX Discussion] wrote:
   
   
     
        Hello members,
       
       
        In SEM, can we use -2,-1,0,+1,+2 instead of 1,2,3,4 for a
          Likert type scale?  What do we call the coding format that
          use -2,-1,0,+1,+2?
       
         
        Thank you for your help.
       
         
        Eins
     
     
     
     
     
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