Positive versus Negative · 2014-10-23 · Positive versus Negative A cognitive perspective on...
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Naomi Kamoen 220 300 Positive versus Negative Naomi Kamoen Positive versus Negative A cognitive perspective on wording effects for contrastive questions in attitude surveys This study is the first to show that the choice for a positive or a negative question wording systematically affects survey answers: respondents are more likely to answer no or disagree to negative attitude questions (e.g. X is bad. Yes/No) than to answer yes or agree to equivalent positive ones (e.g. X is good. Yes/No). To unravel the causes for this positive/negative asymmetry, we related wording effects to the cognitive processes underlying question answering. Two eye-tracking studies were conducted to obtain information about the temporal aspects of the question-answering process for positive versus negative questions. The observed time differences were subsequently related to a theoretical model for the question-answering process. This was done using a combination of insights about processing survey questions, experimental designs in which that knowledge was used, and newly designed eye-tracking measures that are relevant for these specific purposes. With this combination of strategies we were able to demonstrate that contrastive questions cause similar attitudes to be retrieved from memory. Therefore, they measure the same underlying attitude, and hence, are equally valid. Wording effects arise when respondents translate their own opinion into the response options. During this stage, the answering options are assigned a meaning that is not absolute, but relative to the polarity of the evaluative term in the question. The conclusions drawn from this study have implications for theories about text processing in general, and for theories about the cognitive processes of question-answering in particular. These implications, as well as the impli- cations for survey practice, are discussed in this dissertation. ISBN 978-94-6093-083-6 UiL OTS Naomi Kamoen Positive versus Negative A cognitive perspective on wording effects for contrastive questions in attitude surveys
Transcript of Positive versus Negative · 2014-10-23 · Positive versus Negative A cognitive perspective on...
Na
omi K
am
oen
220300
Positive versu
s Neg
ative
Naomi Kamoen
Positive versus Negative
A cognitive perspective on wording effects forcontrastive questions in attitude surveys
This study is the first to show that the choice for a positive or a negative question wording systematically affects survey answers: respondents are more likely to answer no or disagree to negative attitude questions (e.g. X is bad. Yes/No) than to answer yes or agree to equivalent positive ones (e.g. X is good. Yes/No). To unravel the causes for this positive/negative asymmetry, we related wording effects to the cognitive processes underlying question answering. Two eye-tracking studies were conducted to obtain information about the temporal aspects of the question-answering process for positive versus negative questions. The observed time differences were subsequently related to a theoretical model for the question-answering process. This was done using a combination of insights about processing survey questions, experimental designs in which that knowledge was used, and newly designed eye-tracking measures that are relevant for these specific purposes. With this combination of strategies we were able to demonstrate that contrastive questions cause similar attitudes to be retrieved from memory. Therefore, they measure the same underlying attitude, and hence, are equally valid. Wording effects arise when respondents translate their own opinion into the response options. During this stage, the answering options are assigned a meaning that is not absolute, but relative to the polarity of the evaluative term in the question. The conclusions drawn from this study have implications for theories about text processing in general, and for theories about the cognitive processes of question-answering in particular. These implications, as well as the impli-cations for survey practice, are discussed in this dissertation.
ISBN 978-94-6093-083-6
UiL OTS
Naomi Kamoen
Positive versus Negative
A cognitive perspective on wording effects forcontrastive questions in attitude surveys
