The impact of the number of scale points, dispositional factors, and the status quo decision heuristic on scale reliability and response accuracy

This research examines the effects of the number of scale points and respondent characteristics on scale reliability and response accuracy and the mediating role of the status quo heuristic (SQH)-a tendency to select the same response category regardless of the question. The results of two studies in which data were collected from respondents indicate that people are more likely to use the status quo decision heuristic as the number of scale points increases and as respondent processing capacity decreases. Greater use of the status quo heuristic, in turn, increases scale reliability. However, it decreases response accuracy-an indication of construct validity. The results of a third study, using simulated data, reveal that the number of scale points alone significantly affects reliability, but this effect is small. Taken together, the results of these studies imply that differences in reliability and response accuracy across various numbers of scale points are due largely to characteristics of the respondent.