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Web Survey Bibliography

Title Revisiting “yes/no” versus “check all that apply”: Results from a mixed modes experiment
Year 2016
Access date 15.02.2016
Full text pdf (154 KB)
Abstract

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.

Year of publication2015
Bibliographic typeJournal article
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