Using scaling questions

Updates made to this tool

Changes have been made to a number of pages on the Practice Centre to align with the practice approach. Specific changes include:

• Tiaki Oranga replaces the safety and risk screen, and is now being used throughout the life of a case, across service lines whenever we need to understand current safety.
• All references to the Tuituia domains and subdomains have been removed and we now promote the use of Te Puna Oranga and our models, tools and resources to build and deepen our understanding.
• The Tuituia report has been replaced with the assessment report. 

What scaling questions are

Scaling questions ask for a response to a question as a position on a scale.

They create a dialogue that assumes there is a continuum — that the problem doesn’t happen all the time and that there are and can be exceptions.

By their nature, scaling questions embrace the possibility of change. They open up conversations about how things could be different.

Example

In the last two weeks, how often did you feel worried or frightened?

Depending on who you're asking and how old they are, you could offer them a scale like:

• Between 1 and 10, if 1 is not at all, and 10 is all the time
• Between Olaf and Elsa — Olaf never feels worried or frightened, and Elsa is worried all the time.
• Use cut-out shapes of different sizes to indicate the size of their worry or fear.

When to use them

Scaling questions are versatile — they can be used in any context, and they focus on a problem in a way that separates it from the person.

They can be used to assess, measure and celebrate progress.

How to use them

There are no set scales which work for everyone – what’s important is that the scale works for each person, allowing them to explore where they are in relation to the issues.

You can create a scale with numbers, images or a character with whom te tamaiti or rangatahi identifies. The key to constructing individualised pictorial scales is to take the time to find out what te tamaiti or rangatahi prefers – not everyone likes drawing and colouring.

You might:

• use scales that have shapes that start small and get larger so te tamaiti or rangatahi can indicate the size of a problem without having to talk about it
• create a scale with pictures or characters at each end
• ask young tamariki to jump from number to number on a large scale laid out on the floor.

Although a typical numerical scale is 1–10, most teenagers tend to prefer wider scales of 1–100 and may even go off the scale ("I feel like it's 3 zillion today – life is brilliant!").