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Effects of minor phrasing variations in traffic-related questionnaires - Comparison of objective equivalences and respondents' subjective statements

På svenska

Author

  • Charlotte Wahl
  • Åse Svensson
  • Christer Hydén

Summary, in English

This paper examines questionnaire-related issues of variations in the wording of questions and the objective accuracy of the response, in terms of three traffic-related phenomena (accident frequency, incident frequency, and speeding). ca. 900 survey respondents, living along four major arterial streets in Malmö, Sweden, estimated the occurrence of the phenomena in question. The dispatch consisted of two parallel questionnaires with minor variations in question wording which showed significant differences in the given estimates of accident and incident frequency depending on the phrasing. The correspondence between the subjective estimates and objectively measured accident and speeding figures is discussed along with the potential impact of wording, the phenomenon’s characteristics and response scales. Increased knowledge of these factors could ease communication with the public in the municipal traffic-planning process.

Publishing year

2010

Language

English

Pages

315-328

Publication/Series

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour

Volume

13

Issue

5

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Civil Engineering
  • Infrastructure Engineering

Keywords

  • Response effects
  • Traffic planning
  • Question wording
  • Public participation

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1369-8478