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Mismatching middle options: consequences for attitude measurement in smartphone surveys

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Autorschaft

  • Jan Karem Höhne
  • Dagmar Krebs

Externe Organisationen

  • Universität Mannheim
  • Universität Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
  • Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
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    • Citation Indexes: 3
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Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)381-386
Seitenumfang6
FachzeitschriftInternational Journal of Social Research Methodology
Jahrgang24
Ausgabenummer3
Frühes Online-Datum4 Aug. 2020
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 4 Mai 2021
Extern publiziertJa

Abstract

Measuring respondents’ attitudes is a crucial task in numerous social science disciplines. A popular way to measure attitudes is to use survey questions with rating scales. However, research has shown that especially the design of rating scales can have a profound impact on respondents’ answer behavior. While some scale design aspects, such as scale length and direction, are frequently researched, some other scale design aspects, such as scale midpoint and polarity, are under-researched. In this study, we therefore investigate the effects of mismatches between scale midpoints and scale polarity–i.e., unipolar ‘moderately’ vs. bipolar ‘partly/partly’ middle options in unipolar scales–on respondents’ answer behavior. We conducted an experiment in a smartphone survey (N = 1,641) and randomly assigned respondents to one of two scale conditions (match vs. mismatch). The results reveal that mismatches between scale midpoints and scale polarity slightly affect respondents’ answer behavior. More specifically, mismatches cause small but significant shifts in latent means. Thus, mismatches pose a threat to attitude measurement.

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Zitieren

Mismatching middle options: consequences for attitude measurement in smartphone surveys. / Höhne, Jan Karem; Krebs, Dagmar.
in: International Journal of Social Research Methodology, Jahrgang 24, Nr. 3, 04.05.2021, S. 381-386.

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Höhne JK, Krebs D. Mismatching middle options: consequences for attitude measurement in smartphone surveys. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 2021 Mai 4;24(3):381-386. Epub 2020 Aug 4. doi: 10.1080/13645579.2020.1803621
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