OPEN VERSUS CLOSED: THE EFFECTS OF QUESTION FORM ON TRANSIT RIDER EXPRESSIONS OF POLICY PREFERENCES IN AREQUIPA, PERU

摘要

The expression of attitudes is very sensitive to variations in survey structure. Using a surveywith both open and closed questions with a single sample of respondents, we analyze attitudesabout public transportation among peak-hour transit users in Arequipa, Peru. We find thatcombining both question types helps identify and compensate for the limitations of each.The results of the open and closed questions are dramatically different, even though thesame individuals answered both questions. In response to non-directive, open-endedquestioning, respondents emphasized experiential concerns such as comfort and travel times.However, when asked to rank transit-related issues in order of importance, respondentsoverwhelmingly chose social concerns such as pollution and traffic accidents over theexperiential concerns they themselves previously mentioned.We explore the psychological forces that may lead to these apparently contradictoryresults. We draw on the belief-sampling model of survey response and social desirability bias toexplain why open questioning may have understated the true value respondents place on socialissues, while the closed question may have underemphasized the importance of users' quotidiantravel experience. Participants were quite willing to change answers between the two questionforms, suggesting that confirmation bias may not be a significant impediment to use of mixedquestion types.