The work of Smyth, Dillman, Christian, and Stern (2006) and Smyth, Christian, and Dillman
(2008) compares “yes/no” questions to “check all that apply” questions. They conclude that the
“yes/no” format is preferable as it reflects deeper processing of survey questions. Smyth et al.
(2008) found that the “yes/no” format performed similarly across telephone and web modes.
In this paper we replicate their research and extend it by including a comparison with face-toface
in addition to telephone and web and by using probability samples of the general adult
population. A cognitive interviewing follow-up was used to explore the quantitative findings.
Our results suggest there are times when the “yes/no” format may not perform similarly across
modes and that there may be factors which limit the quality of answers.