Overall Evaluation Rating Scales : An Assessment

A study was conducted to determine whether different overall evaluation rating scales would produce different results. Six different rating scales were used to measure three stimuli (the respondents' college, the Governor of New York State, and the quality of the current season's television programs). The six overall evaluation rating scales were: an "overall how would you rate" scale, a "compared to what you expected" scale, a "compared to the ideal" scale,” a "likely to recommend" scale, an "amount of improvement needed" scale, and an "if you had to do it all over again, would you" scale. The results indicated that the six scales, although producing different means, were all measuring the same underlying factor. In addition, the "improvement" scale produced more negative evaluations than the other scales and the overall performance rating scale tended to produce more positive evaluations