Many people will be familiar with the idea but for those that are not, it’s really worthwhile understanding the principle of Measuring, Rating and Scaling situations as it provides a very easy, practical and flexible approach to assessing all sorts of issues. 

The key to this simple procedure is understanding that its only function is to assess and measure the extent of some given factor. In terms of measurement, there are basically two ways. 1) is having some factual, numerical or scientific change, for example, using weighing scales, to give the weight. 2) Self-reporting is where people assign a number to how they feel such as happiness, organised, depressed, respected, successful, etc.

So, when a person say’s they feel i.e. “Unhappy” they usually neglect to express the extent in any tangible form. In using this approach, it’s actually possible to quantify the extent of how the person feels, which can be highly significant. The person rates how they feel on a scale of 1 to 10 but to avoid confusion, it’s important to set the scale for example, with (1) being unhappy and (10) being really happy. It should also be made clear that 10 is the maximum number, the person should not distort the scale by saying (minus 11) or (100).