Using examples to increase recall in self-administered questionnaires

Abstract

Self-administered questionnaires often use examples or lists of examples to aid respondent recall. We report on the results of a field experiment examining how such examples in survey questions affect the episodic recall of events. Building on part-set cuing theory, the authors propose that examples increase recall when they cue low-accessibility subcategories of events, but may decrease recall when they cue high-accessibility subcategories. Further, cuing with examples rather than subcategory names may in some situations clarify questions and reduce non-useable open-ended responses. Findings from a survey of 2137 adult Medicaid recipients are generally consistent with these predictions.