Research Method and System Using a Likert Scale

A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a research method for determining the polarity or consensus of an issue by gathering and analyzing a position and an opinion of the issue from at least two respondents, the storage device comprising:

• a) computer code presenting the issue to the at least two respondents;
• b) computer code providing, by at least two respondents, the position on the issue, the position configured to be expressed on a Likert scale;
• c) computer code providing by the at least two respondents, the opinion on the issue, the opinion configured to be expressed as a narrative;
• d) computer code analyzing the position and the opinion to form a respondent relationship map;
• e) computer code analyzing the position and the opinion to form an average issue opinion;
• f) computer code analyzing the position and the opinion to derive at least two opinion cases, the at least two opinion cases comprising a range of positive and negative positions;
• g) computer code presenting the at least two opinion cases to the at least two respondents, the at least two opinion cases configured to be anonymous, wherein each respondent is unaware of the position and opinion of the other respondents;
• h) computer code providing, by the at least two respondents, a second position based on the at least two opinion cases, the second position configured to be expressed on the Likert scale;
• and
• i) computer code determining a polarity of the issue based on the second position.

A research system for determining the polarity or consensus of an issue by gathering and analyzing a position and an opinion of the issue from at least two respondents, the research system comprising:

• at least two client terminals configured to provide an issue and receive a response from at least two respondents;
• a production database configured to regulate a set of rules for operating the survey;
• a staging database configured to store the responses;
• a server configured to determine a positive or negative result from the responses, the server further configured to determine the polarity or the consensus of the issue based on a Likert scale and a narrative opinion;
• and
• an Internet configured to form a network for the system.