Dual Scale in Survey Design

[Katie Waller]

I am conducting a study to measure a student’s perception of the effectiveness of a instructional strategy.

I first ask them if the strategy was used in the course they completed and on the same item I ask them how effective they believed the strategy was if used.

Likewise on the competencies I ask them if they believe the competency was taught in the course and if yes how confident were they to apply the competency post the class. 

What is the form of survey called?

Thanks your for your help,

Katie

[Krishamurthy Prabhakar]

Dear Katie, Please bear with my ignorance. Where is dual scale here in your research? is it possible to just show your questions so that i can contribute if possible.
K.Prabhakar

[Julie Jacobs]

Hi Katie, I am new to Methodspace, found your post by doing a googlesearch on dual scale. I’m not sure if you are still looking for input on your methodology or not, but I work with Dual Scale surveys and thought I’d dip into the discussion today. Dual Scale is a survey format that allows us to detect gaps between what is happening and what should be happening. It is often used to determine if training is effective, so I thought I’d mention it here.

The Dual scale assessment presents several practices and asks two questions:
• How often does it occur? (Current conditions)
• How often should it occur? (Expected condition)

A point value is assigned to each frequency. For each practice, the numeric difference between the two responses is calculated. This numeric difference is commonly called the gap size. The responses from the raters are combined to produce an average gap size for each practice. The average gap size becomes the main indicator of effectiveness. The smaller the average gap size, the more effective the behavior. The larger the average gap size, the greater the need for change.

There is a great QuickLearn on our website, http://www.dualscalesurveys.com . The QuickLearn is called “Why Dual Scale,” and provides a quick introduction to the topic I’ve described above. Just to be fully disclosing, the website I mentioned belongs to Rivertown Communications, Inc., which is a commerical enterprise, as I work in both sectors, public and private. I’d be interested in your feedback if you decide to view it.

Thanks,
Julie Jacobs, MS, RN

[Author]

Posts