ABSTRACT
Survey interviews which make use of scaled or ranked responses do add to the options open to the interviewee. Perhaps their prime strength lies in the fact that they do this with a degree of speed and efficiency. They can also be easily quantified or coded for statistical analysis. Against this, you should bear in mind that responses to the scale or rank order are still forced into alternatives which are fixed by you, the researcher, and not the interviewee. These kinds of questions may produce important insights, but their validity crucially depends upon the interviewee accurately understanding the terms of reference that the schedule and interviewer is working within. From this point of view, the distinctions between 'strongly disagreeing' and 'agreeing' or being 'undecided' may be extensive or minimal and may be defined by different respondents along a range of different variables.
