{"id":2444,"date":"2015-04-17T08:20:50","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T12:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=2444"},"modified":"2019-09-24T08:33:41","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T12:33:41","slug":"survey-phenomena-that-make-the-best-surveys-faulty-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/survey-phenomena-that-make-the-best-surveys-faulty-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey Phenomena That Make the Best Surveys Faulty (Part I)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You have created an almost perfect survey with the help of your research team. And while the survey questionnaire thrilled you, certain survey biases may probably have been the reason why you have gathered inaccurate data.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Our survey experts have identified some survey biases that affect survey results:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Social Desirability Bias<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/checking-on-checklist-boxes-made-from-recycled-paper-craft-stick-on-_shutterstock_126771989.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2456 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/checking-on-checklist-boxes-made-from-recycled-paper-craft-stick-on-_shutterstock_126771989-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"checking on checklist boxes made from recycled paper craft stick on _shutterstock_126771989\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/checking-on-checklist-boxes-made-from-recycled-paper-craft-stick-on-_shutterstock_126771989-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/checking-on-checklist-boxes-made-from-recycled-paper-craft-stick-on-_shutterstock_126771989-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/checking-on-checklist-boxes-made-from-recycled-paper-craft-stick-on-_shutterstock_126771989.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Survey participants, sometimes, show tendency towards providing socially-desirable or acceptable answers, which may not be accurate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Solution:<\/span><br \/>\nAvoid asking questions related to controversial topics.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Faulty Memory<\/strong><br \/>\nSome survey respondents happen to answer questions incorrectly simply due to poor memory. This becomes more frequent as the time period increases between the survey and the event.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Solution:<\/span><br \/>\nAvoid questions that compel respondents to recall events that happened a long time ago. For example, questions like, &#8220;What was your weight four years ago?&#8221; should be avoided.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Horizontal Response Format<\/strong><br \/>\nAnswer options laid out in a horizontal line can confuse respondents, as a result of which they may select the wrong options.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Solution:<\/span><br \/>\n1. Arrange answer options in a vertical format.<br \/>\n2. Keep a safe distance between two answer options.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Acquiescence Bias<\/strong><br \/>\nThe tendency to choose all positive answer choices is referred to as acquiescence bias.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Solution:<\/span><br \/>\nCreate balanced response sets with equal number of positively- and negatively-worded questions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Extreme Responding<\/strong><br \/>\nThe tendency to select extreme answer options, regardless of the right answer, is called extreme responding.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Solution:<\/span><br \/>\nThis habit is usually noticed when there are more than 10 answer options.<br \/>\n1. Limit the number of answer options<br \/>\n2. Split the large matrix into multiple small ones<br \/>\n3. Change the scale<br \/>\n4. Make the responses more interactive or personal by choosing scales such as pictorial scales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You have created an almost perfect survey with the help of your research team. And while the survey questionnaire thrilled you, certain survey biases may probably have been the reason why you have gathered inaccurate data. Our survey experts have identified some survey biases that affect survey results: Social Desirability Bias Survey participants, sometimes, show tendency towards providing socially-desirable or acceptable answers, which may not be accurate. Solution: Avoid asking questions related to controversial topics. Faulty Memory Some survey respondents happen to answer questions incorrectly simply due to poor memory. This becomes more frequent as the time period increases between the survey and the event. Solution: Avoid questions that compel respondents to recall events that happened a long time ago. For example, questions like, &#8220;What was your weight four years ago?&#8221; should be avoided. Horizontal Response Format Answer options laid out in a horizontal line can confuse respondents, as a result of which they may select the wrong options. Solution: 1. Arrange answer options in a vertical format. 2. Keep a safe distance between two answer options. Acquiescence Bias The tendency to choose all positive answer choices is referred to as acquiescence bias. Solution: Create balanced response sets with equal number of positively- and negatively-worded questions. Extreme Responding The tendency to select extreme answer options, regardless of the right answer, is called extreme responding. Solution: This habit is usually noticed when there are more than 10 answer options. 1. Limit the number of answer options 2. Split the large matrix [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[60,242,221,67,257],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Survey Phenomena That Make the Best Surveys Faulty (Part I) - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sogolytics survey experts explaining some survey biases that affect survey results like Social Desirability Bias, Faulty Memory, Horizontal Response Format, Acquiescence Bias, Extreme Responding etc.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/survey-phenomena-that-make-the-best-surveys-faulty-part-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Survey Phenomena That Make the Best Surveys Faulty (Part I) - Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sogolytics survey experts explaining some survey biases that affect survey results like Social Desirability Bias, Faulty Memory, Horizontal Response Format, Acquiescence Bias, Extreme Responding etc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/survey-phenomena-that-make-the-best-surveys-faulty-part-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-17T12:20:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-24T12:33:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/chalk-man.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sogolytics\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/survey-phenomena-that-make-the-best-surveys-faulty-part-1\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/survey-phenomena-that-make-the-best-surveys-faulty-part-1\/\",\"name\":\"Survey Phenomena That Make the Best Surveys Faulty (Part I) - 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