1

Reporting using the Mean or Sum

2

Here is an example of the two:

Students

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Student Average

Mandy 5 6 5 5.3

Karly 1 2 1 1.3

Tanner 4 5 4 4.3

Mckay 3 4 3 3.3

Wanda 1 2 1 1.3

Total Summed Score 15.7

Total Summ

ed Scores

4

Students

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Student Average

Mandy 5 6 5 5.3

Karly 1 2 1 1.3

Tanner 4 5 4 4.3

Mckay 3 4 3 3.3

Wanda 1 2 1 1.3

Total Summed Score 15.7

Students Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Student Average

Mandy 5 6 5 5.3

Karly 1 2 1 1.3

Tanner 4 5 4 4.3

Mckay 3 4 3 3.3

Wanda 1 2 1 1.3

Total Summed Score 3.1

Total Summ

ed Scores

Mean or

Average

Scores

5

Anderson & Bourke (2000) recommend using mean scores because they -

• simplify the treatment of missing scores

• provide for the comparability between scales of different lengths

• put the mean score on the same scale as individual items (e.g., a mean score of 3.8 on a scale of 1 to 4 – Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree) provides an intuitive understanding of the meaning of the score.