Using the Likert Scale to Assess Risk via NGO Security
Humanitarian security practitioners often use impact/probability charts like the following one to determine levels of risk. You take a potential incident and mark the chart where the impact and probability intersect. It's a handy tool for allowing you to assess and prioritize a number of different threats. (The process of doing this with every possible negative incident you can think of is called bulletproofing.)I've always thought this type of an impact/probability chart is a bit simplistic and doesn't really give you enough granularity to make the best, informed decisions. Instead, I use a variation based on the Likert Scale. In the 1930s, psychologist Rensis Likert developed a way to measure attitudes consisting of either a 5 or 7 point scale - 7 points gives you a higher degree of...