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      Survey Questions: Why Use a Six-Point Likert Scale?

      Why a Six-Point Likert Scale?

      Likert scales are one of the most widely used scales in employee surveys, allowing employees to indicate their level of agreement to survey items, such as "I am proud to work here."
      Five-point, six-point, and seven-point agreement scales are common variations of Likert scales, giving employees enough range to indicate a specific level of agreement without making it difficult by overwhelming the survey participant with too many options.
      Since our founding in 2002, Quantum Workplace has used a six-point agreement scale which ranges from:
      1. Strongly Disagree
      2. Disagree
      3. Somewhat Disagree
      4. Somewhat Agree
      5. Agree
      6. Strongly Agree

      A strong benefit of the six-point agreement scale is that an even number of responses yields evenly categorized results, making it easy to understand and discuss results. 

      By default, Quantum Workplace categorizes survey responses as: 

      • Unfavorable: the combination of responses that are Strongly Disagree and Disagree
      • Neutral: the combination of responses that are Somewhat Disagree and Somewhat Agree
      • Favorable: the combination of responses that are Agree and Strongly Agree

      The six-point agreement scale is recommended when using Quantum Workplace's best practice surveys, e.g. the employee engagement survey. 

      Additionally, industry and organization size benchmarks are available when Quantum Workplace customers use the six-point agreement scale for survey items with benchmarks. Industry and organization size benchmarks are not available when a different response scale is used. 

      Additional Resources to Optimize Your Survey