A Generalized Ordered Logit Model to Accommodate Multiple Rating Scales

Abstract

Rating scales are ubiquitous in the social sciences, yet may present practical difficulties when response formats change over time or vary across surveys. To allow researchers to pool rating data across alternative question formats, the article provides a generalization of the ordered logit model that accommodates multiple scale formats in the measurement of a single rating construct. The resulting multiscale ordered logit model shares the interpretation as well as the proportional odds (or parallel lines) assumption with the standard ordered logit model. A further extension to relax the proportional odds assumption in the multiscale context is proposed, and the substitution of the logit with other convenient link functions is equally straightforward. The utility of the model is illustrated from an empirical analysis of the determinants of respondents’ confidence in democratic institutions that combines data from the European Social Survey, the General Social Survey, and the European and World Values Survey series.