Russel-Research-Method-in-Anthropology

Structured Interviewing I: Questionnaires 269
is that the two formats produce different kinds of data, and it’s your call when
to use what. One obvious disadvantage of fixed-choice questions is that people
naturally focus on the choices they have. If they’d like to offer a response
other than those in front of them, they won’t do it, even if they can (Krosnick
1999:544). Schuman and Presser (1981:89) asked a sample of people this
question: ‘‘Please look at this card and tell me which thing you would most
prefer in a job.’’ The card had five items listed: (1) high income, (2) no danger
of being fired, (3) working hours are short—lots of free time, (4) chances for
advancement, and (5) the work is important and gives a feeling of accomplishment.
Then they asked a different sample the open-ended question: ‘‘What
would you most prefer in a job?’’ About 17% of the respondents to the fixedchoice
question chose ‘‘chances for advancement,’’ and over 59% chose
‘‘important work.’’ Under 2% of the respondents who were asked the openended
question mentioned ‘‘chances for advancement,’’ and just 21% said
anything about ‘‘important’’ or ‘‘challenging’’ or ‘‘fulfilling’’ work.
When the questions get really threatening, fixed-choice questions are generally
not a good idea. Masturbation, alcohol consumption, and drug use are
reported with 50%–100% greater frequency in response to open-ended questions
(Bradburn 1983:299). Apparently, people are least threatened when they
can offer their own answers to open-ended questions on a self-administered
questionnaire, rather than being forced to choose among a set of fixed alternatives
(e.g., once a month, once a week, once a day, several times a day), and
are most threatened by a face-to-face interviewer (Blair et al. 1977).
On the other hand, Ivis et al. (1997) found that at least one pretty embarrassing
question was better asked in a fixed-choice format—and over the phone,
at that. People in their survey were asked: ‘‘How often in the last 12 months
have you had five or more drinks on one occasion?’’ Then, later in the interview,
they were asked the same question, but were given nine fixed choices:
(1) every day; (2) about once every other day; ...(9)neverinthelast year.
The fixed-choice format produced significantly more positive responses. The
anonymity of telephone surveys provides a certain comfort level where people
feel free to open up on sensitive topics. And notice that the anonymity of telephone
surveys lets the interviewer, as well as the respondent, off the hook.
You can ask people things you might be squeamish about if the interview were
face to face, and respondents feel that they can divulge very personal matters
to disembodied voices on the phone.
Overall, since closed-ended items are so efficient, most survey researchers
prefer them to open-ended questions and use them whenever possible. There is
no rule, however, that prevents you from mixing question types. Many survey
researchers use the open-ended format for really intimidating questions and
the fixed-choice format for everything else, even on the phone. Even if there
are no intimidating questions in a survey, it’s a good idea to stick in a few