Response Scales: Effects of Category Range on Reported Behavior and Comparative Judgments |
| |
| Authors: | SCHWARZ, NORBERT HIPPLER, HANS-J. DEUTSCH, BRIGITTE STRACK, FRITZ |
| |
| Affiliation: | Norbert Schwarz is Assistant Professor of Psychology, and Brigitte Deutsch is Research Associate. Universität Heidelberg. Hans-J. Hippler is Project Director, Zentrum für Umfragen. Methoden und Analysen (ZUMA), and Fritz Strack is Assistant Professor of Psychology. Universitat Mannheim. Experiment I was supported by ZUMA. Mannheim, as part of a larger study on response effects in surveys; Experiment II was supported by grant Schw 278/2-1 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to Norbert Schwarz and Fritz Strack. The authors want to thank George W. Bohrnstedt, Detlev Kommer. Seymour Sudman. and Robert S. Wyer, Jr. for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article. Address correspondence to Norbert Schwarz, Psychologisches Institut. Universitat Heidelberg, Hauptstr. 47-51, D-6900 Heidelberg, Federal Republic of Germany. |
| |
| Abstract: | Effects of the range of response categories provided in a closedanswer format on behavioral reports and subsequent judgmentswere explored. Respondents reported their daily use of televisionalong a scale that either ranged from "up to a half hour" "tomore than two and a half hours" or ranged from "up to two anda half hours" to "more than four and a half hours." The formersubjects reported less use of television than the latter andestimated the average use of TV to be lower. Moreover, the formersubjects evaluated TV to be more important in their lives (Experiment1) and reported less satisfaction with the variety of theirleisure-time activities (Experiment 2). These results indicatethat subjects inferred the average amount of television watchingfrom the response alternatives provided them and used it asa standard of comparison in evaluating their behavior and itsimplications. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 Oxford 等数据库收录！ |
|
