Doctoral Dissertation Research: Clarifying Survey Questions

虽然理解被公认为调查问题回答过程中的一个关键组成部分，但关于它的许多方面仍不清楚。过去的研究表明，模糊或模糊的概念可以通过使用定义、说明或例子来澄清，但受访者不一定注意这些澄清。这个博士论文研究项目的目的是调查在哪里以及如何呈现澄清的信息，以便受访者认识到它对于正确回答调查问题是必不可少的。一个关键问题是感觉通道(听觉和视觉)是否对理解有不同的要求。这个问题的答案在很大程度上是未知的，因为在如此多的相关研究中，感觉通道经常与采访者的存在相混淆。这个项目将有助于确定受访者是否预期到问题的结束，是否比之前更有可能打断放在问题后面的澄清信息，以及这是否会损害调查估计。这将有助于确认，是否像许多研究人员所建议的那样，将澄清纳入问题并提出一系列更简单的问题，是否更有效。最后，我们将了解受访者是否比听觉渠道更善于理解复杂的澄清，以及渠道是否与澄清方法相互作用。这个项目的目标是更好地了解如何减少调查模式中调查问题的歧义和含糊，鉴于目前关于如何为混合模式调查设计问题的辩论，这一目标尤其相关。该项目有可能导致更准确的调查估计，根据调查数据更好地描述国家，并制定更好的决策政策。作为博士论文研究改进奖，支持有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究事业。作为支持调查和统计方法研究的联合活动的一部分，该项目得到了方法学、测量和统计方案和一个联邦统计机构联盟的支持。

Although comprehension is well recognized as a critical component of the survey question response process, much about it remains unknown. Past research has shown that ambiguous or vague concepts can be clarified through the use of definitions, instructions, or examples, but respondents do not necessarily attend to these clarifications. The aim of this doctoral dissertation research project is to investigate where and how to present clarifying information so that respondents will recognize it as essential to their answering survey questions correctly. A key issue is whether sensory channels (aural versus visual) make different demands on comprehension. The answer to this question is largely unknown, because sensory channel is often confounded with the presence of an interviewer in so many of the relevant studies. This project will help to establish whether respondents anticipate the end of a question and are more likely to interrupt clarifying information that is placed after a question than before and whether this harms survey estimates. It will help to confirm whether incorporating the clarifications into the questions and asking a series of simpler questions, as suggested by many researchers, is even more effective. Finally, understanding will be gained regarding whether respondents are better at comprehending complex clarifications in the visual channel than the aural, and whether channel interacts with the method of clarification.The goal of this project, to gain a better understanding of how to reduce ambiguity and vagueness in survey questions across survey modes, is especially relevant given the current debate over how to design questions for mixed-mode surveys. This project has the potential to lead to more accurate survey estimates, to better descriptions of the nation based on survey data, and to better decision-making policies. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, support is provided to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career. The project is supported by the Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics Program and a consortium of federal statistical agencies as part of a joint activity to support research on survey and statistical methodology.