Likert scale - mean or meadian?

[lynnar]

HI

I have some quesitons on Likert scale. I have 9 statements in 1 questionnaire (scale of 1 to 6).

My questions are:

1) I want to display teh result in bar chart...so I have to use median , is it? or do i need to use mean? am i right?

2) If i want to compare two groups (girls and boys) with the same questionnaire..I need to use MAnn Whitner u test? am i right?

now..this is where i get more confused.. from teh 9 statemetns..each 3 statements belonged to a group..tehrefore teh staements in the questionnaires are grouped into 3 groupes A c B and C

3) IF I want ot diaplay the results of the groups in bar chart -group A , B and C..how do I do it? do i add all the umbered coding and find teh mean? can I display teh mean? or do i need to display the median? if I need to display the median..how am I supposed to do it?

4) If i want to comopare two groups (boys and girls)..what test do i need to use..? ok, i understrand taht this is very much dependent on Q3...

HELP! would really appreciate some feedback!

Thanks!

 

[trinker]

This is a debated question that's not easily answered. Instead you need to become aware of the facts around Likert scales (which you don't actually have) and make the decision as a researcher based on knowledge of different perspectives. I'm going to post a recent paper I wrote about Likert data. it's fairly short and packed with information. The reference list is pretty good too. I suggest you read it, reflect and ask questions after you've become more informed. Sorry to not give you a more clear response but once you become more informed you'll understand why I can't just shoot you an answer of do this...

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[lynnar]

thanks..will read the paper !