What is semantic differential scale?

Semantic differential is a type of a rating scale designed to measure the connotative meaning of objects, events, and concepts. The connotations are used to derive the attitude towards the given object, event or concept. Osgood's semantic differential was designed to measure the connotative meaning of concepts. The respondent is asked to choose where his or her position lies, on a scale between two bipolar adjectives (for example: "Adequate-Inadequate", "Good-Evil" or "Valuable-Worthless"). Semantic differentials can be used to describe not only persons, but also the connotative meaning of abstract concepts—a capacity used extensively in affect control theory. The Semantic Differential (SD) measures people's reactions to stimulus Words and concepts in terms of ratings on bipolar scales defined with contrasting adjectives at each end. An example of an SD scale is: Usually, the position marked 0 is labeled "neutral," the 1 positions are labeled "slightly," the 2 positions "quite," and the 3 positions "extremely." A scale like this one measures directionality of a reaction (e.g., good versus bad) and also intensity (slight through extreme). Typically, a person is presented with some concept of interest, e.g., Red China, and asked to rate it on a number of such scales. Ratings are combined in various ways to describe and analyze the person's feelings.