Design Principles for the Use of Filter Questions

• Activity Number: 232
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 5, 2013 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
• Author(s): Stephanie Eckman*+ and Frauke Kreuter and Annette Jaeckle and Antje Kirchner and Stanley Presser and Roger Tourangeau
• Companies: IAB and University of Maryland and ISER and IAB and JPSM and Westat
• Keywords: questionnaire design ; filter questions

Abstract

To avoid asking respondents questions that do not apply to them, surveys very often use filter questions to determine routing into follow up items. Filter questions can be asked in an interleafed format, in which follow up questions are asked immediately after each relevant filter, or a grouped format, in which follow-up questions are asked only after multiple filters have been administered. Most previous investigations of such questions have found that the grouped format collects more affirmative answers to the filter questions than the interleafed format. However, there are several other factors which can also affect the responses to the filter questions, such as the repetitiveness of the follow up items, the number of follow up items, and how the questions are displayed in web surveys. Using results from two telephone surveys and two web surveys, as well as linked administrative data, we provide evidence-based guidance on how these questions should be asked in the two modes.