Innovations in Measurement: Visual Analog Scales and Retrospective Pretest Self-Report Designs

Abstract

Abstract. The authors discuss limitations of two popular measurement procedures, the Likert scale and conventional pretest-posttest self-report design. Both techniques have limits and yet are often combined, leading to restricted fidelity for measuring change. The authors go on to discuss two innovations in measurement that provide researchers with greater assessment fidelity: Visual analog scales and the retrospective pretest design. Moreover, when used in combination, these innovations measurement techniques provide dramatic increases in the power to detect and quantify change.Keywords. Attitudes, polytomous items, MRG, college students.Resumen. Se discuten las limitaciones de dos procedimientos de medición extremadamente populares; la escala Likert y los diseños pre-post tradicionales. Ambos métodos tienen limitaciones; estos métodos son comúnmente combinados obteniendo como resultado una fidelidad limitada para la medición del cambio. Se discute sobre dos innovaciones en medición que proveen al investigador una mayor fidelidad: escalas visuales análogas y el diseño pre-test retrospectivo. Además, cuando se usan de manera combinada, estas innovaciones en medición proveen notables incrementos en el poder de detección y la cuantificación de cambios.Palabras clave. Actitudes, items politómicos, MRG, estudiantes universitarios.

Visual analogue mood scale scores in healthy young versus older adults

“…Overall, older adults had a tendency to indicate feeling happier, less sad, calmer, less tense, more energetic, and less sleepy than young adults. The absence of such age-group differences in past studies may relate to the limited precision of the scales utilized (only 7 points in past studies, but 100 points in the current study), given that visual analogue scales have been shown to provide more information, thus allowing for finer distinctions, than discreet scales (Rausch and Zehetleitner, 2014;Gorrall et al, 2016;Chang and Little, 2018). Our findings establish significant age-related changes in current mood states that have important implications with regard to the affective needs of young versus older adults.…”

“…This discrepancy in aging effects for symptoms versus current state could potentially reflect the limited precision of the current mood state measurement tools, as the scales used in these studies had only 7 points (Carstensen et al, 2000(Carstensen et al, , 2011. Research indicates that visual analogue scales provide more information than discreet scales, allowing for finer distinctions (Rausch and Zehetleitner, 2014;Gorrall et al, 2016;Chang and Little, 2018). Thus, the current study sought to characterize current mood states in young versus older adults using 100-point visual analogue scales (Forsyth et al, 2016).…”

Winning The War On State-Sponsored Propaganda: Results From An Impact Study Of A Ukrainian News Media And Information Literacy Program

“…However only 32% of the L2D impact study group reported retrospectively that they cross-checked the news prior to the training. Retrospective pre-tests are often more valid self-assessments because participants are more familiar with a concept or procedure (e.g., the concept of "cross-checking") after they have taken the training (Gorrall, Curtis, Little & Panko, 2016). Thus, we hypothesize that the retrospective pre-test level of 32% who cross-checked the news before the training may be a more valid estimate of pre-L2D behavior.…”

The Comfortable Cafeteria Program for Promoting Student Participation and Enjoyment: An Outcome Study

“…To measure students' perception of participation and enjoyment during lunch, we developed a 4-item visual analog scale (VAS). The VAS is a graphic scale that is used to rate a person's subjective experience of the phenomenon of interest (e.g., feeling, attitude, functional ability), allowing for increased sensitivity in evaluation findings compared with a traditional Likert scale (Gorrall, Curtis, Little, & Panko, 2016;Wewers & Lowe, 1990). The VAS is a straight 100-mm line with anchored ends and labels at each end that describe extreme boundaries of the experience (e.g., not fun, fun).…”