An Approach to Developing Likert Scale Survey Results Based on the Example of a Research Study Involving a Limited Number of Students

Surveys are important tools for collecting knowledge, including student knowledge, and assessing their opinions and behavior. Survey results inspire information processing and selection of a processing method for further knowledge management. In this study, an improved approach to presenting survey results was developed, utilizing a Likert scale. In the survey, 20 students answered 10 questions (issues) that examined their opinions on the impact of modern technical equipment on dairy production assessment. The feature significance index (FSI) was utilized to inform the development of the survey study results. The FSI is the ratio of the percentage share of the highest to the lowest ratings on a Likert scale. In the case of four issues, none of the students indicated the options had very little impact and little impact. Therefore, the FSI could not be calculated, so a modified version was proposed. After ranking the issues in the survey based on the FSI, the difference in FSI between the best-rated and worst-rated issues was more than 13 times. This difference was less than two times in the modified version of the FSI. A larger difference allows for a more comprehensive interpretation of the survey results. The study confirmed that the small number of survey participants is a key limitation in developing the survey results.