Measurement Quality of a Multi-Item Scale in Plain Language
Saved in:
| Title: | Measurement Quality of a Multi-Item Scale in Plain Language |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Tanja Kunz (ORCID |
| Source: | Field Methods. 2026 38(1):33-45. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 13 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Research Problems, Language Usage, Comprehension, Reader Response, Surveys, Rating Scales, Standard Spoken Usage, Sentence Structure |
| DOI: | 10.1177/1525822X251322031 |
| ISSN: | 1525-822X 1552-3969 |
| Abstract: | To ensure good measurement quality, survey questions should be clear, concise, and easily understandable for all respondents. One way of achieving this is to use plain language, an approach comprising a set of measures relating to the wording, sentence structure, and design of texts. Using a between-subjects design in a web survey, we tested whether a multi-item scale in plain language leads to better measurement quality while having similar scale properties to the original, standard language scale. Our results showed that the plain-language version led to greater response differentiation, fewer midpoint responses, and shorter response times than the original version, and that the two language versions had similar scale properties. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1496355 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | To ensure good measurement quality, survey questions should be clear, concise, and easily understandable for all respondents. One way of achieving this is to use plain language, an approach comprising a set of measures relating to the wording, sentence structure, and design of texts. Using a between-subjects design in a web survey, we tested whether a multi-item scale in plain language leads to better measurement quality while having similar scale properties to the original, standard language scale. Our results showed that the plain-language version led to greater response differentiation, fewer midpoint responses, and shorter response times than the original version, and that the two language versions had similar scale properties. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1525-822X 1552-3969 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/1525822X251322031 |
