SURVEY RESEARCHprestigious person or group overshadows how he
or she answers a question. You would not know
whether you are measuring their feelings about a
prestigious person or their real thoughts on the
issue. For example, you ask, “Most doctors say that
cigarette smoke causes lung disease for those who
are near a smoker. Do you agree?” People who think
it best to agree with doctors might agree even if they
personally disagree.
4.Avoid double-barreled questions.This
is a version of avoiding ambiguity. You want
each question to be about one and only one topic.
A double-barreled questionconsists of two or
more questions mixed together. For example, you
ask, “Does your employer offer pension and health
insurance benefits?” A respondent working for a
company that offers health insurance benefits but
not a pension could answer either yes or no.
A respondent who hears the word andand thinks it
means and/orwill say yes. A respondent who hears
andand thinks it means bothor and alsowill say
“no.” With double-barreled questions, you cannot
be certain of the respondent’s intention. If you want
to ask about the joint occurrence of two things, ask
two separate questions, each about a single issue.
During data analysis, you can see whether people
who answered yes to one question also answered
yes to another.
- Avoid leading questions.You always want
respondents to believe that all response choices are
equally legitimate and never want them to become
aware of an answer that you expect or want.
Aleading(or loaded) questionis one that leads
the respondent to one response over another by its
wording. There are many kinds of leading ques-
tions. For example, the question “You don’t smoke,
do you?” leads respondents to state that they do not
smoke.
Loaded questions can lead respondents to
either positive or negative answers. For example,
“Should the mayor spend even more tax money to
keep the city’s excellent streets in super shape?”
Double-barreled question A survey enquiry that
contains more than one issue and can create respon-
dent confusion or ambiguous answers.leads respondents to answering no. A question
phrased, “Should the mayor allocate funds to fix
streets with large potholes that have become
dangerous and are forcing drivers to make costly
repairs?” leads respondents to say yes.
6.Avoid questions beyond respondents’capa-
bilities.Asking something that respondents do not
know creates confusion, frustration, and inaccurate
responses. Respondents cannot always recall past
details and may not know specific information. For
example, asking a 40-year-old, “How did you feel
about your brother when you were 6 years old?” is
probably worthless, as is asking about an issue
respondents know nothing about (e.g., a technical
issue in foreign affairs or an internal policy of an
organization). Respondents may give you an answer
but an unreliable and meaningless one. When many
respondents are unlikely to know about an issue, use
special question formats (we discuss this later in the
chapter).
Try to rephrase questions into the terms in
which respondents think. For example, few respon-
dents can answer, “How many gallons of gasoline
did you buy last year for your car?” Yet they might
be able to answer a question about gasoline pur-
chases in a typical week. You can do the calcula-
tions to estimate annual purchases.^16
Clear, relevant questions increase accuracy
and reduce errors. Clear questions contain built-in
clues and make contrasts explicit. Instead of asking
“Do you pay money to the children of your past
marriage?” it would be better to ask “Do you pay
child support?” For those answering yes, follow-
up questions could be “Did you pay alimony in
addition to child support?” and “Did you have any
other financial obligations, such as paying health
insurance, tuition, or contributing to the mortgage
or rent payments?”^17
7.Avoid false premises.If you begin a ques-
tion with a premise with which respondents dis-
agree and offer choices regarding it, respondents
may become frustrated and not know how to
answer. About two years ago, I experienced a false
premise question, but it was not in a survey. I was
an airline passenger shortly after the airlines ceased
providing free in-flight snacks. A flight attendant
handed me an optional snack, and asked, “Will you