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3 - The Use of Likert-Type Scales in Survey Research Examining Students’ Attitudes, Challenges, and Languages Use in an EMI University in Hong Kong

from Part I - Theoretical Chapters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2024

By
Christopher Shepard
Edited by
Samantha M. Curle  and
Jack Pun
Samantha M. Curle
Affiliation:
University of Bath
Jack Pun
Affiliation:
City University of Hong Kong
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Summary

This chapter explores the design, development, and format of the Likert-type scales and response categories used in an online questionnaire for quantitative data collection for a recent empirical case study exploring attitudes, challenges, and perceptions of first-year undergraduate students at an English Medium Instruction (EMI) university in Hong Kong. Questionnaires are among the most widely used methods for research in the social sciences and can be an important and valuable source of data, which can be converted into measures of the numerous variables being examined. A variety of rating scale formats and designs with differing numbers of response categories and sequences are used in survey research. While researchers are typically confronted with a surplus of design and format choices, there is often little in terms of research, guidelines, or standards directing them toward which styles and formats to choose. Based on the survey design and development for this recent EMI-related study, and drawing from the literature, this chapter reviews how such choices and decisions were made, how the Likert-type scales were designed, and how these decisions may have influenced the overall success of the data collection and analysis. The case studies in Chapters 7, 8, and 11 of this book also adopt Likert-type scales in their questionnaire design, and these could be read together to supplement the understanding of the current chapter.

Keywords

English Medium Instruction (EMI)English for academic purposes (EAP)higher educationLikert scalesquestionnaire developmentsurvey design
Type
Chapter
Information
Researching English Medium Instruction
Quantitative Methods for Students and Researchers
 , pp. 40 - 54
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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