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Eliciting People's First-Order Concerns: Text Analysis of Open-Ended Survey Questions

Author

Listed:
  • Beatrice Ferrario
  • Stefanie Stantcheva

Abstract

This paper illustrates the design and use of open-ended survey questions as a way of eliciting people's first-order concerns on policies. Multiple choice questions are the backbone of most surveys, but they may prime respondents to select answer options that they would not naturally have thought about, and they may omit relevant options. Open-ended questions that do not constrain respondents with specific answer choices are a valuable tool for eliciting first-order thinking. We discuss three text analysis methods to analyze open-ended questions' answers. To illustrate how to apply these methods, we provide evidence from large-scale surveys on income and estate taxation. We show the that key concerns relate mostly to distribution issues, fairness, and government, rather than to efficiency concerns. There are large partisan gaps in the first-order concerns on policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Beatrice Ferrario & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2022. "Eliciting People's First-Order Concerns: Text Analysis of Open-Ended Survey Questions," NBER Working Papers 29686, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29686
    Note: EFG LS PE POL
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    Cited by:

    1. Demgensky, Lisa & Fritsche, Ulrich, 2023. "Narratives on the causes of inflation in Germany: First results of a pilot study," WiSo-HH Working Paper Series 77, University of Hamburg, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, WISO Research Laboratory.
    2. Brandts, Jordi & Busom, Isabel & Lopez-Mayan, Cristina, 2025. "Do giving voice and social information help in revising a misconception about rent–control?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    3. An, Zidong & Binder, Carola & Sheng, Xuguang Simon, 2023. "Gas price expectations of Chinese households," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    4. Jordi Brandts & Francesc Trillas Jané, 2024. "Opposing Views on Public Ownership and Their Influence on Citizens' Attitudes," Working Papers 1453, Barcelona School of Economics.
    5. Lippmann, Quentin & Surana, Khushboo, 2025. "The evolution of partner preferences: Evidence using matrimonial ads from Canada, France, India and the United States," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    6. Duraj, Kamila & Laudenbach, Christine & Lindner, Vincent, 2025. "Hessenmonitor Finanzkompetenz: Was wissen junge Erwachsene in Hessen über Geld und Finanzen? Abschlussbericht," SAFE White Paper Series 110, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    7. Gabriella Conti & Michele Giannola & Alessandro Toppeta, 2022. "Parental Beliefs, Perceived Health Risks, and Time Investment in Children: Evidence from COVID-19," Working Papers 2022-045, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    8. Kovács, Anna & Luckner, Katharina & Sekuła, Anna & Kantorowicz, Jarosław, 2024. "Beyond courts: Does strategic litigation affect climate change policy support?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Tobias Wekhof & Sébastien Houde, 2023. "Using narratives to infer preferences in understanding the energy efficiency gap," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 8(9), pages 965-977, September.
    10. Quentin Lippmann & Khushboo Surana, 2022. "The Hierarchy of Partner Preferences," Discussion Papers 22/08, Department of Economics, University of York.
    11. Filippini, Massimo & Leippold, Markus & Wekhof, Tobias, 2024. "Sustainable finance literacy and the determinants of sustainable investing," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    12. Jiang, Lingqing & Zhu, Zhen, 2022. "Information exchange and multiple peer groups: A natural experiment in an online community," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 543-562.
    13. Kantorowicz, Jaroslaw & Metelska-Szaniawska, Katarzyna, 2025. "Debt beliefs and public support for restrictive fiscal rules," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    14. Burgstaller, Lilith & Pfeil, Katharina, 2024. "You don’t need an invoice, do you? An online experiment on collaborative tax evasion," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    15. Link, Sebastian & Peichl, Andreas & Roth, Christopher & Wohlfart, Johannes, 2023. "Attention to the Macroeconomy," CEPR Discussion Papers 18699, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Hoy, Christopher & Kim, Yeon Soo & Nguyen, Minh Cong & Sosa, Mariano & Tiwari, Sailesh, 2026. "Attitudes towards reducing fossil fuel subsidies: Evidence across 12 middle-income countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    17. Fabienne Cantner & Geske Rolvering, 2022. "Does information help to overcome public resistance to carbon prices? Evidence from an information provision experiment," Working Papers 219, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    18. Dräger, Lena & Gründler, Klaus & Potrafke, Niklas, 2025. "Political shocks and inflation expectations: Evidence from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    19. Bruttel, Lisa & Nithammer, Juri, 2025. "Opinion Piece: How to pre-register experimental studies that involve machine learning for text data analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    20. Tobias König & Renke Schmacker, 2022. "Preferences for Sin Taxes," CESifo Working Paper Series 10046, CESifo.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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