ipsative scale
a scale in which the points distributed to the various different items must sum to a specific total. In such a scale, all participants will have the same total score but the distribution of the points among the various items will differ for each individual. For example, a supervisor using an ipsative scale to indicate an employee’s strength in different areas initially might assign 20 points for communication, 30 for timeliness, and 50 for work quality but a few months later assign 30 points for communication, 30 for timeliness, and 40 for quality of work. The total number of points distributed in each case, however, is the same (100). Ipsative scales also may involve ranks: Respondents use the same numbers for ranking but may assign them differently. For example, two individuals indicating their preferences for 10 different restaurants will both use the ranks 1 through 10 but the restaurant chosen as #1 will not be the same for each person, the restaurant chosen as
#2 will not be the same, and so on.