How does negative wording bias results Solution
We should avoid phrasing survey questions using negative wording. Negatively worded ques-tions are
... [Show More] confusing, because responding “no” creates a double negative. This confusion can mis-lead the respondent, and may cause biased results. Survey questions should be simple and straight-to-the-point (Cozby, 2009).
Examples of negative wording
For example, this question is phrased negatively: “Do you think the city should “not” increase the rents on public housing developments?” Agreement with this question would be disagreement with the city’s proposal. Nevertheless, stating it this way can cause some confusion, and may cause an inaccurate reply.
Complexity
In an effort to maximize complexity in research while conducting a survey every question must be straight forward. There are many parts to a research experiment and this method is used to simplify research. Simplicity is the goal of this method.
Examples of Complexity
The following question is an example of complexity: “How good do the meetings with the par-ents meet your concern and requirements?” This question is unclear due to the usage of the words meet and meeting being used consecutively. By focusing on complexity I would rearrange the question by asking “Do the meetings with the parents address your concerns? Do they also meet your requirements? By simplifying the questions being asked it is uniform and easier to answer.
Double-Barreled
Avoids the frequency of double-barreled questions: Asking double-barreled questions is a typical error in light of the fact that it’s easy but difficult to do without figuring it out. Here's a sample of one from within the survey: "How good was the communication between the parents and the employee?" This kind of inquiry is tricky in light of the fact that it requests that the respondent give one response for two distinct inquiries. On account of the illustration, the employees could have communicated the best way they knew how with the parent being polite and the parents could have been disrespectful or irate (or vice a versa.) By asking two unique questions, you will get a great deal more precise answer (Fowler, July 21, 1995).
Grammatically Incorrect
A survey questionnaire needs to be written so that the respondents are “able to read and understand the questions” (Cozby, 2009, p. 132). The survey questions can cause confusion if the question is not written in proper sentence structure. In order to achieve readability and under-standing, the researcher must keep the questions simple and to the point. This objective can be accomplished by not using “jargon and technical terms that people won’t understand” (Cozby, 2009, p. 125).
Loaded Questions
A loaded question is written to lead people to respond in one way. Questions that include emo-tionally charged words may influence the way that people respond and lead to bias conclusions.
Examples of Loaded Questions
“Wouldn’t you agree that her behavior was tacky and classless?” This question is already leading the person to agree with the stance before they can make their own assessment. Another example is “aren’t you going to get the vanilla ice cream which happens to be the best ice cream in the world?” [Show Less]