Guttman scale

The Guttman scale is a multi-item scale that measures cumulative subjective characteristics across items, with items ranked from “easiest” to “most difficult.” The scaling model, which enables scale assessment, is based on scalogram analysis. The Guttman scale is based on the deterministic cumulative model, introduced by L. Guttman and formalized by W. S. Torgerson. It is considered one of the most important applications of measurement theory in psychometrics and the social sciences. It represents relationships between subjects and items in dichotomous or polytomous response matrices, based on a principle of cumulative order along a unidimensional continuum.