The Likert scale, developed in 1932, has been one of the most widely used survey scales. Marketers use it extensively in customer surveys to gauge their customers' perceptions and experiences. 

The Likert scale typically starts from as low as 2-points and can extend to 10 or slightly higher rating options. What gets researchers scratching their heads the most is the 5 point vs 7 point Likert scale dilemma when designing their surveys.

The five and seven point scale are the most commonly used ones since they are the most helpful when gathering quality feedback.

In this article, we’ll explore why the Likert scale is mostly used in 5-point and 7-point parameters and how to choose between the two for high-accuracy survey results.

The Five-point Likert

The five-point Likert scale is widely used in psychometric surveys and questionnaires to assess respondents' opinions and perceptions. Its symmetric agree-disagree ratio gives respondents enough options to speak their minds. 

With the five-point Likert scale, you get to keep the options to respond between 1 to 5, reflecting:

• 1 for “Strongly Disagree” 
• 2 for “Disagree” 
• 3 for “Neutral” or “Neither Agree nor Disagree” 
• 4 for “Agree”
• 5 for “Strongly Agree”

A 5-point Likert scale offers you straightforward, precise, and actionable feedback. It helps you eliminate any extra or potentially unnecessary options and gives you the exact range of responses that suffices most surveys. 

Other survey scales like 2 or 3-point ones, fail to achieve this level of clarity.

For instance, with the 2-point scale, the respondents can only choose between Satisfied or Dissatisfied and no neutral option. This gets you somewhat vague responses, which can be far from reality.

And while the 3-point scale adds an option for neutral feedback, it still lacks options for nuanced opinions. 

In comparison, the 5 point scale strikes a perfect balance between too few and too many response options.

Sample questions for 5-point Likert Scale

Here are some example survey questions appropriate for five-point Likert scale:

Question: “How responsive was our customer support team to your inquiries?”

• Response Options:

• Very Unresponsive
• Somewhat Unresponsive
• Neutral
• Somewhat Responsive
• Very Responsive

Question: “How likely did our product match your expectations?”

• Response Options:

• Very Unlikely 
• Unlikely 
• Neutral 
• Likely
• Very Likely

Question: “Did our staff demonstrate professionalism during your interaction?”

• Response Options:

• Not at all
• To a small extent 
• Neutral
• To a large extent 
• Absolutely

Now, let’s understand the seven point Likert Scale.

The Seven-point scale

‍

If the nature of your feedback requires a more precise and nuanced approach, then the seven point scale tops the 5 point vs 7 point Likert scale debate.

It is used for measuring respondents' feelings or thinking about a particular topic on a granular level. 

This is because a seven point scale needs more self-reflection from respondents as it adds two more parameters to the five-point Likert i.e Extremely Satisfied and Extremely Dissatisfied. 

While reviewing responses may take up more of your time, it helps you analyze the survey results more precisely.

You should still keep in mind that offering seven options might overwhelm respondents. It could also lead to survey fatigue or disinterest as they go through your survey. 

They might even avoid filling out the questionnaire altogether if they feel the choices are too many or confusing at first glance. That is not to say you shouldn’t use the seven point scale but to highlight that you should utilize it only if you need it.

Sample questions for 7-point Likert Scale

The following sample questions are suitable use cases for a seven point scale:

Question: “To what extent do you agree with the statement "The company values its customers"?”

• Response Options:some text
  • Strongly Disagree
  • Disagree
  • Somewhat Disagree
  • Neutral
  • Somewhat Agree
  • Agree
  • Strongly Agree

Question: “How likely are you to recommend our product to a friend or colleague?”

• Response Options:some text
  • Extremely Unlikely
  • Unlikely
  • Somewhat Unlikely
  • Neutral
  • Somewhat Likely
  • Likely
  • Extremely Likely

Question: “How confident are you in the security of your personal information with our service?”

• Response Options:some text
  • Not Confident at All
  • Slightly Confident
  • Moderately Confident
  • Neutral
  • Somewhat Confident
  • Very Confident
  • Extremely Confident

Now that you know about both survey scales, you must be wondering which to choose, the 5-point or 7-point Likert scale, for your next survey. 

Choosing between 5 point vs 7 point Likert Scale

Choosing the right Likert scale comes down to factors such as: 

• The number of respondents.
• The topic of the survey.
• How precise do you want your survey to be? 

The 5-point scale helps researchers and respondents get to the point quickly. It offers a balanced range of choices, is easy to understand, and provides valuable information. However, for more specific feedback, a 5-point scale might fall short for your research purposes.

This is when you turn to the 7-point Likert scale as it offers the precision you need. With more response options, it captures the intricacies of customer sentiments which leads to more effective decision-making and other improvements.

In short, if you want fast, simple, and straightforward feedback with ease of analysis, choose the five point scale. But for more detailed and precise insights, the seven point scale is the better option.

5 helpful Likert Scale best practices

Many popular brands, from Apple to McDonald's and Amazon, use the Likert scale to gauge customer experience after a purchase or delivery.

Following are a few best practices to consider when dealing with the Likert scale:

1. Keep questions simple and specific

If your goal is to acquire accurate responses, you need to ask clear and direct questions and avoid all types of biased survey questions. 

Since the Likert scale is all about close-ended questions, it is better to keep it specific to what respondents are evaluating like their opinions or satisfaction.

Most successful brands simply write “How satisfied are you with our product/services?” and give 1-5 or 1-7 options between very satisfied and very dissatisfied to exclude any confusion.

2. Maintain consistency across the scale

Another aspect to keep in mind when writing Likert scale questions is to be consistent throughout the survey. 

If you are keeping one extreme as "completely agree," the opposite should be "completely disagree." 

Being consistent helps respondents understand the scale and provide answers specific to the topic.

3. Choose appropriate scaling methods

Before writing the questions, you need to decide between a 5 point vs 7 point Likert scale based on the survey's objectives. 

Some researchers also choose a bipolar or 2-point Likert scale for capturing binary opinions like positive or negative. You can also use an even-point scale for forced-choice situations where a neutral option isn't available. 

4. Don't use statements, use questions 

When preparing a Likert scale assessment, you need to phrase the items as questions rather than statements. 

By taking this approach, you can minimize survey bias that potentially happens when respondents automatically agree with positive statements or unconsciously lean towards positive responses.

For example, when asking about the quality of service, instead of stating, "The service quality is satisfactory," you can ask, "How satisfied are you with the quality of this service?”. 

Asking it as a question encourages respondents to think about their own experiences and feelings of satisfaction instead of just agreeing with a leading statement that's already provided.

5. Occasionally reverse scale points

Lastly, you have to prevent response biases by occasionally switching the scale points. For example, if your scale starts with 1 for "completely agree" and ends with 5 for "completely disagree," switch it around in some questions. 

The occasional switch helps to keep respondents' attention on the questionnaire and prevents them from falling into a predictable pattern of responses.

Formaloo supports all Likert scales and more!

‍

Again, the 5 point vs 7 point Likert scale debate depends on your survey’s goals and the level of detail you need. 

While the five-point Likert scale can help you get quick responses with slight precision, you can pick up minute details about a topic with the seven point scale.

Just like the perfect survey scale should offer enough response options to fully cater to the audience’s sentiments, the perfect survey maker should also support Likert scales of all sizes.

Formaloo is an advanced survey maker that perfectly fits that description. Besides supporting Likert scale questions of all sizes, it also supports 30+ question types.

Formaloo also offers advanced features such as real time data visualization and smart survey logic. To provide more ease, Formaloo also has premade survey templates.

So sign up for Formaloo today and build surveys like never before.