Effects of Survey Question Comprehensibility on Response Quality

Abstract

Many studies have shown that vague or ambiguous questions are often interpreted idiosyncratically by respondents and thus can increase measurement error. This article provides some evidence that the cognitive effort required to comprehend survey questions affects data quality in a similar way. A web survey experiment revealed that respondents receiving less comprehensible questions provided lower-quality responses (as indicated by breakoff rates, number of nonsubstantive responses, number of neutral responses, and over-time consistency) than respondents receiving control questions that were easier to comprehend. Moreover, interaction effects of question comprehensibility with respondents’ verbal skills and their motivation to answer surveys were found. These findings indicate that survey designers should minimize the cognitive effort required to comprehend their questions and the article suggests specific ways how to do so.