Satisfaction Score Rating, measuring perception in Research effectively

A Questionnaire that measures perception

Ever heard of a satisfaction score rating questionnaire? Well if you haven't then now is the right time to learn about how to measure perception using a tool which can really help you out in a research. When it comes to collecting data through a research activity you will find beyond reasonable doubt that collecting data isn't an easy task at all. Collecting quantitative data is usually a piece of cake but when it comes to collecting qualitative data, that can really be a nightmare. Why is that the case? measuring perception and opinions of others is such a difficult thing because human perception ladies and gentlemen is controlled by a number of factors. During a research most time people respond to perception questions due to a number of factors such as their personal mood during that day, whether they are in good health or not, or because of an experience they had in life whether good or bad. For instance, lets say you are doing a research on whether security has improved in a community or not and you choose a sample group who will either give you a yes or no answer. You are certainly going to get a lot of different responses even when it is crystal clear that security has generally improved. But you see, the satisfaction score rating questionnaire attempts to allocate a numerical value on perception of a sample group during a survey. Lets briefly understand the satisfaction score rating questionnaire in detail shall we.

Satisfaction score rating, measuring perception all the way

When you conduct a research in order to find out how people feel concerning a certain situation, you are going to receive a lot of funny responses. But measuring perception in research can be very difficult indeed. Now, referring to the example provided on the level of security in a community. People may give you a yes or no answer but you can go a step further to find out in detail to what extent security has either improved or declined. Here is how a satisfaction score rating questionnaire really works, hope you have your note book close by. Imagine you ask the question below;

Q: How would you rate the level of security in your community?

Responses
A) 1 = Non-Existent
B) 2 = Very Bad
C) 3 = Bad
D) 4 = Good
E) 5 = Very Good
F) 6 = Excellent

If you look closely on these research questions you will soon discover that it becomes relatively easy to attach a numerical value to a perception response. A respondent will have an option of choosing from A to F depending on how he individually feels. Now, imagine if you interviewed 10 people in your research and out of those, three respond that security is good, two responded that its excellent while the rest responded that its bad. How do you get to draw a conclusion? Watch and learn...

If Individual Z responded good then he scored = 4
   Individual X responded good then he scored =4
   Individual L responded excellent then he scored =6
   Individual S responded bad then he scored =3
   Individual M responded excellent then he scored=6
   Individual N responded bad then he scored=3
   Individual O responded bad then he scored =3
   Individual Y responded bad then he scored =3
   Individual W responded good then he scored=4
   Individual I responded bad then he scored=3

Now the total of all their scores is 39. The average is 3.9. Now this value (3.9) is very close to good on our responses scale. So as a researcher you may conclude that although there were mixed responses, security is quit good.

Making the satisfaction score sheet work for you

When doing a satisfaction score rating you may want to be careful how you interpret these findings. From the previous example it isn't just enough to say that security is quite good but you should also be able to get the reasoning's from respondents who felt that security was bad. As a researcher you will soon see how this tool is useful when doing some in depth research activities. Make sure to practice how its done, All the best!!