To determine whether respondents are likely to misunderstand or misinterpret a survey question, researchers should
A) use their own judgment based on their knowledge of the intended participant population.
B) use only items that were used in previous surveys.
C) pretest the questions to determine how well potential respondents understand them.
D) use only open-ended questions.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Pretesting questions with a sample of the intended population helps identify any potential confusion, ambiguities, or misunderstandings in the questions. This allows researchers to revise and improve questions before the actual survey is conducted, which can increase the validity and reliability of the data collected. Using previous survey items or open-ended questions do not necessarily address the issue of potential misunderstandings or misinterpretations of the question. Relying solely on the researcher's judgment may introduce bias and subjectivity into the question design.

To Determine Whether Respondents Are Likely to Misunderstand or Misinterpret