Effects of Question Order on Survey Responses

Two question orders were used in a Kentucky statewide randomsurvey. In nonoverlapping sections, four questions which askedthe respondents to express their general interests in politicsand religion and their general evaluations of the gravity ofthe economic and energy situations either preceded or followedseries of specific questions on the same issues. The respondentsexpressed significantly greater interest in politics and religionwhen these general questions followed the specific questions,but evaluations of the economic and energy crises were not significantlyaffected by question placement. Implications for the arrangementof questions within surveys are discussed.