An ‘X’ is put anywhere along the spectrum. Participants’ responses are then converted into a bar chart. In the final stage, participants are presented with thirty randomly selected hypothetical profiles, displayed in bar charts tagged with the participant’s chosen areas of quality of life (i.e. friends). They then have to rate the quality of life of each profile on the visual analogue scale (Figure 3). Using multiple regression analysis it is then possible to derive the relative weight given to each area: “An overall quality of life score for each individual is calculated by multiplying each nominated area by its
corresponding weight and summing across the five areas to produce an index score between zero and 100” (Ruta and Garratt, 1994: 143). A problem with this method is the extent to which researchers can or should ‘prompt’ participants. Additionally, analysis requires a certain level of statistical sophistication and this may inhibit some researchers from using the measure.