Revisiting “yes/no” versus “check all that apply”: results from a mixed modes experiment

Publication type

Journal Article

Authors

Publication date

December 15, 2015

Summary:

The work of Smyth, Dillman, Christian, and Stern (2006) and Smyth, Christian, and Dillman (2008) compares “yes/no” questions to “check all that apply” questions. They conclude that the “yes/no” format is preferable as it reflects deeper processing of survey questions. Smyth et al. (2008) found that the “yes/no” format performed similarly across telephone and web modes. In this paper we replicate their research and extend it by including a comparison with face-to-face in addition to telephone and web and by using probability samples of the general adult population. A cognitive interviewing follow-up was used to explore the quantitative findings. Our results suggest there are times when the “yes/no” format may not perform similarly across modes and that there may be factors which limit the quality of answers.

Published in

Survey Research Methods

Volume and page numbers

Volume: 9 , p.189 -204

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.18148/srm/2015.v9i3.6151

ISSN

18643361

Subject

Notes

Open Access journal


Related Publications

#523454

News

Latest findings, new research

Publications search

Search all research by subject and author

Podcasts

Researchers discuss their findings and what they mean for society

Projects

Background and context, methods and data, aims and outputs

Events

Conferences, seminars and workshops

Survey methodology

Specialist research, practice and study

Taking the long view

ISER's annual report

Themes

Key research themes and areas of interest