Answer scales

An answer scale is a reusable set of answer options that you can attach to a question: “Never / Rarely / Sometimes / Often / Always”, “Strongly disagree / Somewhat disagree / Somewhat agree / Strongly agree”, or any other reference set you want to question a candidate against.

Scales let you standardise the answer options of a family of questions without retyping the labels each time. They are especially useful for behavioural questionnaires (Likert scales), self-assessments, and any survey where the same list of choices recurs.

Open the page through the menu Questions module → Questions → Answer scales, or directly at /questions/AdminAnswerScalesWithTable.

Answer scales management page

The table lists every defined scale, with its identifier and the list of its values (the options in order).

Create a scale

Creation is performed entirely inside a modal — there is no dedicated edit page.

  1. From the Answer scales management page, click Add a scale in the action bar.

    Scale creation modal

  2. The “Edit an answer scale” modal shows:

    • A Language selector at the top (switch between the account’s languages).
    • A Values area: each value has a label per language, preceded by a reorder handle (≡) and a position number, and followed by a delete icon.
    • An Add a value button to extend the list.

  3. Enter the values in the desired order, in the displayed language. Then switch to the other languages to translate each label.

  4. Click Save. The scale appears immediately in the list.

💡 Minimum number of options — A scale must have at least two options to be valid (a scale with a single value makes no sense). The platform blocks creation below this threshold.

Reorder options

The order of options determines the order of presentation to the candidate. To change it:

  • Drag and drop an option inside the modal area, or use the up/down arrows next to each option (depending on your interface version).
  • The order is persisted on save.

⚠️ Consistent ordering — The order applies to all languages simultaneously: you cannot have one order in FR and another in EN. If a translation requires a culturally different order (which is rare), create two separate scales.

Multilingual entry

The language selector at the top of the modal lets you enter labels in each language active on your account. Recommendations:

  • Enter the source language first (typically French), then translate to the other languages.
  • Fill every active language before first production rollout. A missing language will display an empty label to the candidate, which is confusing.
  • Have the same number of options in each language: the platform does not let you have 5 options in FR and 4 in EN.

Edit a scale

  1. On the scale’s row, click the Edit icon (pencil).
  2. The same modal as for creation opens, pre-filled with the current values.
  3. Adjust labels, add or remove options, reorder them.
  4. Save.

⚠️ Editing a scale that is in use — If the scale is referenced by questions, your change affects every one of those questions. Be careful: changing the order of options on an already-used scale can disturb the analysis of historical results (an option that was in position 3 suddenly becomes position 5, which can shift statistics).

Filters

The Filters panel offers:

  • Search — free text on the ID or on the option values. Useful to find the scale that contains “Often” among dozens of reference scales.

Column sorting is available by clicking the headers.

Delete a scale

  1. On the scale’s row, click the Delete icon.
  2. Confirm on the confirmation dialog.

⚠️ Scale in use — A scale referenced by at least one question cannot be deleted. The platform refuses the operation with an error message. To delete a widely used scale:

  1. Identify the questions that reference it (search by scale identifier on the Questions page).
  2. Edit those questions to point to another scale, or delete them.
  3. Retry the deletion.

Best practices

  • One scale, one business use case — resist the temptation to merge several different meanings into a single scale. An “Excel usage frequency” scale and a “comfort level with Excel” scale must remain separate, even if the labels look similar.
  • Odd number of options for Likert scales where you want to offer a neutral position to the candidate (typically 5 or 7 levels). Prefer an even number (4 or 6) if you want to force the candidate to take a side.
  • Reuse rather than duplicate — before creating a new scale, check whether an equivalent scale already exists. Filter by keyword to explore the reference set before adding content.