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The Effect of Survey Design on Extreme Response Style: Rating Job Satisfaction

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Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between survey rating scale and Extreme Response Style (ERS) using experimental data from Understanding Society (Innovation Panel 2008), where a self-assessment questionnaire measuring job satisfaction uses two alternative (7 and 11 points) rating options. Our results suggests that when shifting from a shorter to a longer scale, the survey design generates a tendency to choose response scales at the extreme of the distribution, thus creating a misleading quantification of the variable of interest. The experimental design of the data enables us to test our hypothesis using a non-linear estimation approach where age, gender and education level are shown to affect ERS.

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  • Luisa Corrado & Majlinda Joxhe, 2016. "The Effect of Survey Design on Extreme Response Style: Rating Job Satisfaction," CEIS Research Paper 365, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 08 Feb 2016.
    • Handle: RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:365
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Survey Design; Extreme Response Style; Job Satisfaction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

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