Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

SURVEY RESEARCH

may define regularlyas every day, others as once a
week. To reduce confusion and get more informa-
tion, be more specific: Rather than ask if a person
regularlyjogs, ask whether a person jogs “about
once a day,” “a few times a week,” “once a week,”
and so on. (See Expansion Box 3, Improving
Unclear Questions.)
3.Avoid emotional language and prestige
bias.Words have implicit connotative as well as
explicit denotative meanings. Likewise, titles or
positions in society (e.g., president, expert) carry
prestige and status. Words with strong emotional
connotations and issues connected to high-status
people can color how respondents answer survey
questions. It is best to use neutral language and

avoid words with emotional “baggage” because

respondents may be reacting to the emotional words

rather than the substantive issue. For example, the

question “What do you think about paying murder-

ous terrorists who threaten to steal the freedoms of

peace-loving people?” is full of emotional words:

murderous, freedoms, steal,and peace.

Prestige biasoccurs when questions include

terms about a highly prestigious person, group, or

institution and a respondent’s feelings toward the

EXPANSION BOX 3

Improving Unclear Questions

ORIGINAL QUESTION PROBLEM REVISED QUESTION

Do you exercise or play
sports regularly?

What counts as

exercise?

Do you do any sports or hobbies, physical

activities, or exercise, including walking,

on a regular basis?

What is the average number of
days each week you have butter?

Does margarine

count as butter?

This next question is just about butter—

not including margarine. How many

days a week do you have butter?

[Following question on eggs]
What is the number of servings
in a typical day?

How many eggs is a

serving? What is a

typical day?

On days when you eat eggs, how many

eggs do you usually have?

PERCENTAGE OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONSES TO ASKING FOR

QUESTION CLARIFICATION

Original Revision Original Revision

Exercise question (saying “yes”) 48% 60% 5% 0%
Butter question (saying “none”) 33 55 18 13
Egg question (saying “one”) 80 33 33 0

Source:Survey questions adapted from Fowler, Survey Research Methods, Sage Publications. 1992.

Here are three survey questions written by experi-
enced professional researchers. They revised the
original wording after a pilot test revealed that 15 per-
cent of respondents asked for clarification or gave

inadequate answers (e.g., don’t know). As you can

see, question wording is an art that may improve with

practice, patience, and pilot testing.

Prestige bias A problem in survey research question

writing that occurs when a highly respected group or

individual is associated with an answer choice.