Asking Questions - The Definitive Guide To Questionnaire Design ...

64 ASKING QUESTIONS
on paper the aims of the study, hypotheses, table formats, and proposed
analyses. These aims should not become absolute, but they
should provide some useful guidelines and boundaries.
Even if you are clear on what is wanted, the respondent may still
be uncertain, since respondents do not have your perspective on a
topic. Belson (1981) demonstrates widespread misunderstanding of
survey questions and such words as usually, have, weekday, children,
young people, generally, regularly, and proportion. He hypothesizes that
respondents will interpret broad terms or concepts less broadly than
the researcher intended. He also suggests that respondents distort
questions to fit their own situations or experience. Although one
cannot ensure that all respondents will understand all questions
exactly as intended, the use of specific questions will help reduce
respondent differences in interpretation. If general or global questions
are used, they should be tested to determine what respondents
think they mean.
Select an Appropriate Time Period to Ask About
The basic idea to consider in determining a time period is that a
person’s accurate recall of a behavior is directly related to the
amount of time elapsed and to the salience of the behavior (Sudman
and Bradburn, 1974). The more important the event, the easier
it is for the respondent to remember. Although research on
saliency is limited, there appear to be three dimensions that distinguish
between events that are more and less salient: (1) the unusualness
of the event, (2) the economic and social costs or benefits of
the event, and (3) the continuing consequences of the event.
Longer Time Periods for Highly Salient Events. Events that occur
rarely in one’s life—such as graduating from high school, getting
married, buying a house, having a baby, or having a serious motorcycle
accident or surgery—are likely to be remembered almost indefinitely.
Historical events can have the same saliency. Almost
anyone who was old enough can remember exactly what they were