UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

The Likert scale presents a series of statements about an object, and respondents indicate their level of agreement or disagreement using ordered categories such as strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree. Numerical values are assigned to these categories, and scores are summed across items to form an overall attitude score. It is simple to construct and widely used in social science research. Hence, the attitude scale described in the stem is correctly called the Likert scale.

Option A:
Likert scaling relies on the assumption that categories reflect ordered levels of favourability, making it easy for respondents to express degrees of agreement. Summed scores provide a reasonably reliable measure of attitudes when items are well constructed. These features match the stem’s description, so this option is correct.

Option B:
Guttman scales are cumulative, meaning that agreement with a stronger item implies agreement with all weaker items, which is a different scaling logic from the summated ratings used in Likert scales.

Option C:
The Bogardus social distance scale assesses willingness to accept members of other groups in relationships of varying closeness, not general agreement–disagreement with statements.

Option D:
The semantic differential scale uses bipolar adjective pairs and positions on a continuum rather than agreement categories, so it does not fit the description given.