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Tag Archives: survey scales
When Questionnaire Length Threatens Data Quality
When Questionnaire Length Threatens Data Quality
BACKGROUND: When surveys go on too long, respondents can get tired of answering them. They may quit part-way through or just become lazy and speed through without thinking about what is being asked. We discard data from both “drop-outs” and “streamliners,” respectively, but this adds time and money to data collection because many more quality respondents will be needed to make up the difference. The longer the questionnaire, the more drop-outs and streamliners (a.k.a. “straightliners”) result.
RESEARCH METHOD: We analyzed data collected from three questionnaires to measure the incidence of dropping-out and streamlining. Drop-out rate was defined as the percentage of respondents who didn’t complete the questionnaire. Streamline rate was defined as the percentage of respondents who engaged in any of the following:
Research ON Research: Can Providing More Choice Tell Us Less?
Using 5-, 7- or 9-Point Scales
BACKGROUND: In theory, more scale points should permit detection of increasingly subtle differences. After all, shouldn’t a nine-point scale invite finer distinctions than a five-point scale? We wondered whether scales with different numbers of points would produce results that differ in terms of statistical variance, neutral response and completion time.
RESEARCH METHOD: Respondents from a nationally representative online panel of household shoppers answered questions about sports drinks. Respondents rated brands on 28 attributes and were randomly assigned to use otherwise identical scales of 5 (n=416), 7 (n=417) or 9 points (n=417).
