One Interesting Aspect of Surveys Is That the Order of the Questions

Essay

One interesting aspect of surveys is that the order of the questions can affect the results. This is thought to occur because one question can alter the response to a subsequent question. In 1948 many people in the United States were concerned about the spread of communism as a political and economic philosophy. A survey given that year contained both of the following questions:
1. Do you think the United States should let Communist newspaper reporters from other countries come in here and send back to their papers the news as they see it?

2. Do you think a Communist country like Russia should let American newspaper reporters come in and send back to America the news as they see it?
The following table contains the percentages of the Yes/No answers given by respondents when asked these questions in different orders.

a) Construct a comparative bar chart for these response percentages.
b) Interpret the results of the 1948 survey. Do you think the order of the questions made a difference in the responses? Explain.