Frageformateffekte bei der Beantwortung von Fragebögen: Der Einfluss des gegebenen Zeitrahmens bei offenen Häufigkeitsfragen auf das Antwortverhalten

Empirical research confirms that respondents asked to report behavioral frequencies use formal features of the question format to form their answer: E.g. assessing frequency reports by means of scales is influenced by a tendency towards the middle range of the scale. Therefore literature about questionnaire design recommends the use of open response question formats where the respondent gives a number. At this the question includes a special temporal interval, the answer should be given for. In this study the possible influence of this specified interval is examined. A college sample reported behavioral frequencies of different fields of activities. The temporal interval was manipulated between-subjects (week, month, quarter, semester). A systematic bias could be detected for all items: The shorter the temporal interval the higher the behavioral frequencies reported by the respondents. Recommendations regarding questionnaire design are discussed.