Mastering Likert Scale in Microsoft Forms

Likert scales are a popular choice for gathering and analyzing data in surveys and forms, and Microsoft Forms makes it easy to incorporate them into your digital questionnaires. By using Likert scales, you can measure attitudes, opinions, and perceptions on a range of topics, providing valuable insights for your research or business decisions.

In this guide, we'll walk you through the process of using Likert scales in Microsoft Forms, ensuring you create effective and engaging questions that yield meaningful results. Let's dive in!

Creating a New Likert Scale Question

To get started, open Microsoft Forms and click on 'New question' to add a new question to your form. In the question type dropdown, select 'Rating' to create a Likert scale question.

You'll then be prompted to enter your question text and customize the scale. The default scale is a 5-point scale with options like 'Strongly Agree' and 'Strongly Disagree'. However, you can customize the scale to suit your needs.

Customizing the Likert Scale

To customize the scale, click on the 'Customize scale' link below the default options. This will allow you to add, remove, or rename the scale points. For example, you might want to create a 7-point scale with options like 'Highly Satisfied' to 'Highly Dissatisfied' for a customer satisfaction survey.

You can also choose to make the scale points neutral, meaning the middle point won't have a positive or negative connotation. This can be useful when measuring opinions on sensitive topics.

Setting the Required Response

By default, Likert scale questions are not required. However, you might want to make them mandatory to ensure you gather complete data. To do this, click on the 'Required' toggle at the bottom of the question settings. This will make it so respondents must answer the question before submitting the form.

You can also choose to show a message when the question is required. This can help guide respondents and explain why their response is necessary.

Analyzing Likert Scale Data

Once you've collected data using your Likert scale questions, it's time to analyze the results. Microsoft Forms provides basic analytics tools to help you understand the responses.

To view the results, click on the 'Responses' tab at the top of the form. You'll see a summary of the responses for each Likert scale question, including the number of responses and the percentage of respondents who chose each scale point.

Exporting Data for Advanced Analysis

While Microsoft Forms offers basic analytics, you might want to export the data for more advanced analysis using tools like Excel or Power BI. To do this, click on the 'Responses' tab and then click on the 'Export responses' button. You can choose to export the data as an Excel file or a CSV file.

Once you've exported the data, you can use your preferred analysis tools to create visualizations, calculate averages, and perform other advanced analysis techniques.

Using Likert scales in Microsoft Forms is a powerful way to gather and analyze data. By following the guidelines in this article, you'll be well on your way to creating effective Likert scale questions and drawing meaningful insights from your survey results. Happy form building!