An analyst wants to compute the mean of responses on a five-item Likert scale (1–5) and then multiply that mean by 1.2 to create an adjusted score. Evaluate the validity of this procedure and choose the most defensible conclusion.

• A. It is valid only if each single-item Likert response is converted to z-scores first, otherwise multiplying by 1.2 creates a meaningless composite that cannot be interpreted practically.
• B. It is always invalid because ordinal scales never permit any arithmetic, so neither calculating a mean nor scaling by 1.2 is acceptable under any circumstances.
• C. It can be defensible if the researcher justifies treating the Likert aggregate as approximately interval—many practical studies accept the mean of summed Likert items and linear transformations preserve ordering and relative differences.
• D. It is valid only when the original Likert scale has an absolute zero; since 1 is not zero, any multiplication distorts the scale and should be replaced by a geometric mean instead.

Answer: (C)