Web Survey Bibliography
This article presents a study which compared the impact of numeric values of rating scales in mail surveys and telephone interviews. The specific numeric values presented as part of a rating scale may change the meaning of the scale's verbal endpoints, essentially resulting in responses to different questions. The authors provide a conceptual replication of this finding in a different content domain and compared the relative strength of the impact of numeric values under telephone and mail survey conditions. The data are drawn from a larger experimental survey conducted with a systematic random sample of 412 adults (18 years or older), selected from the telephone directories for Mannheim and Heidelberg, Germany, in November and December 1991. The findings of the study replicate the phenomenon observed by Norbert Schwarz et al. in a different content domain and across two administration modes. Respondents use formal features of the questionnaire to determine the exact meaning of a question. Hence, combining a verbal label with a negative numeric value suggests a more negative interpretation of the verbal scale anchor and results in more positive responses along the scale. The findings indicate that the numeric values do not need to be presented in a visual format to receive sufficient attention.
Homepage (Abstract)
Web survey bibliography - International Journal of Public Opinion Research (21)
- Answering Without Reading: IMCs and Strong Satisficing in Online Surveys; 2017; Anduiza, E.; Galais, C.
- When will Nonprobability Surveys Mirror Probability Surveys? Considering Types of Inference and Weighting...; 2016; Pasek, J.
- Reducing Underreports of Behaviors in Retrospective Surveys: The Effects of Three Different Strategies...; 2016; Lugtig, P. J.; Glasner, T.; Boeve, A.
- Why Do Respondents Break Off Web Surveys and Does It Matter? Results From Four Follow-up Surveys; 2014; Rossmann, J., Blumenstiel, J. E., Steinbrecher, M.
- Measuring Political Participation—Testing Social Desirability Bias in a Web-Survey Experiment; 2014; Persson, M., Solevid, M.
- Is it what you say, or how you say It? An experimental analysis of the effects of invitation wording...; 2014; Fazekas, Z., Wall, M. T., Krouwel, A.
- A Comparison of the Quality of Questions in a Face-to-face and a Web Survey; 2013; Revilla, M., Saris, W. E.
- Evaluation of an online (opt-in) panel for public participation geographic information systems surveys...; 2012; Brown, G., Weber, D., Zanon, D., de Bie, K.
- Assessing Cross-National Equivalence of Measures of Xenophobia: Evidence from Probing in Web Surveys; 2012; Behr, D., Braun, M., Kaczmirek, L.
- Efficiency of Different Recruitment Strategies for Web Panels; 2012; Hansen, K. M., Pedersen, R. T.
- Do Questions about Watching Internet Pornography Make People Watch Internet Pornography? A Comparison...; 2012; Peter, J., Valkenburg, P. M.
- Refining the Total Survey Error Perspective; 2011; Smith, T. W.
- Seeing Through the Eyes of the Respondent: An Eye-tracking Study on Survey Question Comprehension; 2011; Lenzner, A., Kaczmirek, L., Galesic, M.
- Should I Stay or Should I go: The Effects of Progress Feedback, Promised Task Duration, and Length of...; 2011; Yan, T., Conrad, F. G., Tourangeau, R., Couper, M. P.
- The Effect of Phrasing Scale Items in Low-Brow or High-Brow Language on Responses; 2009; Blasius, J., Friedrichs, J.
- Mode Differences Between Face-to-Face and Web Surveys: An Experimental Investigation of Data Quality...; 2009; Heerwegh, D.
- Cognitive Aspects of Survey Measurement and Mismeasurement; 2003; Tourangeau, R.
- Item Nonresponse: Distinguishing between don't Know and Refuse; 2002; Pamela J. Shoemaker, Martin Eichholz and Elizabeth A. Skewes
- New approaches to assessing opinion: The prospects for electronic mail surveys; 2002; Best, S. J., Krueger, B. S.
- Formal features of rating scales and their interpretation of question meaning; 1998; Schwarz, N., Grayson, C. E., Knauper, B.
- The numeric values of rating scales: A comparison of their impact in mail surveys and telephone interviews...; 1994; Schwarz, N., Hippler, H. J.