Question Order
Could the order of the questions that were asked have impacted the results? It is possible that the process of the interview changed the respondent in some way, perhaps sensitizing or desensitizing participants to respond a particular way. Consider the open-ended “most important problem” question. Let’s say you’re looking at a survey focusing on the condition of the US education system. The survey includes a variety of questions tapping public opinion on the quality of schools, state and federal funding, educational programming and testing, etc. In this case, the placement of the most important problem is key. Different results would be expected depending on whether the MIP question is asked before or after the barrage of specific questions on education.