Effect of Branching Middle Responses in Dichotomous Polar Scales in Web Surveys

In telephone surveys, 11 to 49% of respondents would select a middle alternative when it is offered although they would not volunteer it if it were not mentioned in dichotomous bipolar questions. Furthermore, offering a middle option led to differences in response effects that are related to respondent characteristics, including social desirability bias and satisficing effects. While a question form that branches middle responses has been shown to have a lower validity compared to offered form in telephone surveys, potentially, branched question form can motivate respondents to spend extra time and effort in giving a response in the absence of an interviewer. Therefore, differences in validity and reliability of responses to branched question form compared to offered form is a research interest in general population web surveys. This study tests the validity and the reliability to branched question form in a general population survey using a randomized experiment. The branched question form did not change validity and reliability of responses and reduced the satisficing behavior based on the proxies compared to the offered form.

 Z. Tuba Suzer Gurtekin is an Assistant Research Scientist within the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at the University of Michigan. She is the scientific leader of the Surveys of Consumers, which conducts monthly national surveys of American households to understand consumer expectations and how those expectations impact their spending and saving behavior. Her research experience has included development of alternative sample, methodology and questionnaire designs, data collection and analysis methods for a general population in parallel survey modes. In addition to her work through the Surveys of Consumers, she also currently serves on the Board of Associate Editors of CDC’s Preventing Chronic Disease Journal. 608.82She teaches survey sampling and survey methodology in University of Michigan’s Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis Program (OJOC CRDSA).