In our work conducting Community-based participatory research with members
of the Deaf Community, we adapted the Likert scale based on a consensus from
25 Deaf people who represented the more language dysfluent sub-set of the
population. (SEE Barbara Allen, Nancy Meyers, John Sullivan et al, Journal
of Communications Research Vol 1, Issue 2/3 2008 pp. 155 "Adaptation of
Likert Scales."  Two points that we found critical in our survey process:
When given the choice between a horizontal or vertical scale, all chose the
vertical scale. This was confirmed in consultation with a Deaf psychologist
who said simply: "everyone knows 'up' and everyone knows 'down.'"  The
response categories also were changed to reflect the word order and literal
translation from English to American Sign Language. Example: *Somewhat
Important *becomes IMPORTANT, SO-SO.  *Not Very Important * becomes
IMPORTANT, LITTLE. *Not Important *becomes IMPORTANT, NOT or IMPORTANT,
NONE. In our case, it is important to remember that American Sign Language
does not have a written form and it has no connection to the English
language. It has its own syntax and grammar. Therefore, it is critical --at
the very least--to put the English into the word order of the individual's
native language.






Nancy Meyers
Communication & Health Education Specialist
Minnesota Deaf Community Health Worker Project
612-702-9458

On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 9:18 AM, Felicia Morton fmorton at gmh.edu> wrote:


> Hi all,

>

> Does anyone have a reference or two on the challenge of using Likert-type

> scales with low-literate survey respondents.  Specifically, evidence that

> the more points on the response scale, the more difficult for the

> respondents to choose (without consideration of the sensitivity of the tool;

> focusing only on the ease of use for the respondent).

>

> THANKS, as always!

> Felicia

>

> Felicia J. Morton, MSPH, CHES

> Patient Education Specialist

> Patient Care, Quality Management & Education

>

> Grady Health System

> 80 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, SE Box 26062

> Atlanta, GA 30303

> (404) 616-5153

> (404) 616-0685 - fax

> fmorton at gmh.edu

>

>

> This e-mail message and any attachments transmitted with it may contain

> legally privileged and confidential information that is intended solely for

> the identified addressee(s).  If you are not the intended recipient, you are

> hereby notified that the dissemination, distribution, copying, or other use

> of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited.  Please notify

> the sender immediately by e-mail or telephone if you have received this

> e-mail by mistake and delete this message and all copies and backups thereof

> from your system.

>

> E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as

> information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or

> incomplete, or contain viruses.

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Health and Literacy mailing list

> HealthLiteracy at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/healthliteracy

> Email delivered to njmeyers at gmail.com

>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/healthliteracy/attachments/20091028/fefc42ab/attachment.html