Double Negative
A double negative refers to the use of two negatives in one statement or question. In questionnaire design, this is almost always a situation to be avoided. A double-negative usually creates an unnecessary amount of confusion in the mind of the respondent and makes it nearly impossible for the researcher to accurately determine what respondents were agreeing or disagreeing to.
Such a question can increase item nonresponse by increasing the percentage of respondents unable to understand the question. A more insidious problem is an increase in the number of responses from people who have misunderstood the question and responded based on that misunderstanding. Both item nonresponse and misunderstanding contribute to the type of survey error know as measurement error.
Sometimes the questions sound sufficiently confusing that ...
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Reader's Guide
Ethical Issues In Survey Research
Measurement - Interviewer
Measurement - Mode
Measurement - Questionnaire
Measurement - Respondent
Measurement - Miscellaneous
Nonresponse - Item-Level
Nonresponse - Outcome Codes And Rates
Nonresponse - Unit-Level
Operations - General
Operations - In-Person Surveys
Operations - Interviewer-Administered Surveys
Operations - Mall Surveys
Operations - Telephone Surveys
Political And Election Polling
Public Opinion
Sampling, Coverage, And Weighting
Survey Industry
Survey Statistics
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