Creating Likert-scale visualizations: An approach using Stata and Tableau

Stata and Tableau are tools that can be used to gain insight into Likert-scale responses. However, very little research exists that discusses how one can create Likert-scale visualizations with the use of Stata and Tableau in tandem. The purpose of this work is to help researchers create Likert-scale visualizations efficiently. The step-by-step process will serve as a guide for researchers to create dashboard-worthy visualizations that effectively present data. The key is creating an Excel file exported from Stata that can be imported as a data source into Tableau. It is important that this file include respondents' ID, group variable, and Likert-scale responses. In addition, the raw data must be prepared using reshape, and an additional variable indicating the numeric values of the Likert-scale responses (or vice versa) must be generated using gen. Once the Excel file is imported into Tableau, we can set up the visual with the sheet interface. Using Tableau, we can create a Likert-scale visual with select mark modifications and even include item-response averages using level of detail (LOD) arithmetic. Using best data practices and formatting, we can create visuals that effectively communicate findings from raw survey data.