Polarity Scale Questions

The polarity scale question type is essentially a smooth scale with 200 steps. It is often used to for semantic differentials or to measure subjective or nuanced perceptions of a brand, logo, corporate identity, product, service, character, experience, or situation.

Watch this short video or keep reading to learn more!

This question type prompts respondents to move the slider to the left or right of center in order to indicate how close their perception is to one of the two opposing alternatives located at each end of the scale. 

Build

To insert a polarity scale question, simply drag and drop the polarity scale icon from the sidebar into the survey editor. 

To add scales, click the “+” below the last scale. You can add up to seven scales per question. 

To delete a scale, hover to the left of the corresponding scale number and click the red “x” that appears. 

Next, specify the left label and right label for each scale. You can choose from the large library of pairs we’ve created by navigating to the dropdown menu, or you can enter your own unique scales. 

You can change the order in which scales appear for each respondent by turning on global randomization. Even with global randomization selected, you can still anchor scales in place. Simply activate the anchor icon adjacent to the desired scale.

Now let’s explore the custom settings that you can enable for this question type. You will find a series of checkboxes at the bottom of the question. 

“Snap to center” creates a ‘gravitational zone’ ten steps in either direction from the center. The platform will snap the slider back to the middle if a respondent is indecisive and leaves the slider too close to the center. 

When you use “snap to center” with the “accept neutral” option off, you can prevent users from remaining undecided and force them to pledge their allegiance toward one end of the scale or another.

“Snap to poles” creates a similar gravitational zone around the extreme ends of the scales. Once the slider is released within ten steps of either end, the platform will automatically snap it all the way to the end of the scale. 

"Show values" gives respondents a sense of precision by showing values above the sliders. 

Analyze

By default, results are presented in "Popularity" mode. You will see how popular each side of the scale was, or how many people left their slider on one side or another. 

If neutral answers were allowed, some grey gaps may appear in the center of the chart, indicating the percentage of undecided respondents. 

The table below will show you exact numbers and percentages of respondents in each group. 

The slider at the top of the question allows you to change the rules of what you count as a neutral or undecided answer. It will work regardless of whether you allowed neutral answers or not in the survey. For example, if you move the slider to the plus or minus 25 position, the platform will treat any answers within a range of -25 to 25 as neutral. 

Intensity

Next, let's take a look at Intensity. Intensity mode incorporates the intensity of answers, or the degree to which respondents moved away from the center toward one side of the scale or another. 

 

Pairs

The default view is called Pairs and shows intensities of answers on both sides of each scale. 

 

Deltas

Deltas calculates the average of all answers and shows the resulting value on the chart. 

For both Pairs and Deltas, you can further adjust the chart by choosing the mean or median option. 

Using Filters

You can also filter your survey by the polarity scale question type with ease. To do so, click the funnel icon in the sidebar and navigate to the question you would like to filter. Then, restrict the range for each pair to the values you want to allow in your filter and click apply.

Keep in mind that in the survey widget, the scale ranges from 100 on one side to 100 on the other side, with 200 steps in total. However, in the filters on the stats page, the scale is expressed from -100 to 100. 

Note: the stops on the sliders in filters will only show the values selected by at least one respondent.

Take a test drive on real-world results for this question type! Explore a live demo report.