This paper reports results from 18 experimental comparisons designed to test 10 hypotheses about ... more This paper reports results from 18 experimental comparisons designed to test 10 hypotheses about the effects of verbal language (words) and nonverbal languages (numbers, symbols, and graphics) on responses to self-administered questionnaires. The experiments were included in a large-scale survey of 1,042 university students. Significant differences were observed for most comparisons, providing support for nine of the ten hypotheses. The results confirm that people's responses to questions in self-administered questionnaires are influenced by more than words. Thus, the visual composition of questions must be taken into consideration when designing such surveys and, especially, when comparing results across surveys in which the visual presentation of questions is varied. It has been recognized for many years that answers to self-administered questionnaires are influenced by the way in which the questions and answers are displayed on questionnaire pages (e.g., Wright and Barnard, 1...
This paper reports results from 18 experimental comparisons designed to test 10 hypotheses about ... more This paper reports results from 18 experimental comparisons designed to test 10 hypotheses about the effects of verbal language (words) and nonverbal languages (numbers, symbols, and graphics) on responses to self-administered questionnaires. The experiments were included in a large-scale survey of 1,042 university students. Significant differences were observed for most comparisons, providing support for nine of the ten hypotheses. The results confirm that people's responses to questions in self-administered questionnaires are influenced by more than words. Thus, the visual composition of questions must be taken into consideration when designing such surveys and, especially, when comparing results across surveys in which the visual presentation of questions is varied. It has been recognized for many years that answers to self-administered questionnaires are influenced by the way in which the questions and answers are displayed on questionnaire pages (e.g., Wright and Barnard, 1...
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Papers by Leah Christian