{"id":101446,"date":"2018-03-21T15:39:28","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T20:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2018\/03\/21\/methods-101-video-question-wording\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T16:17:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T20:17:57","slug":"methods-101-video-question-wording","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2018\/03\/21\/methods-101-video-question-wording\/","title":{"rendered":"Methods 101: Survey Question Wording"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second video in Pew Research Center&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLZ9z-Af5ISavJpPlvdMU4T-etIDOUmldk\">Methods 101 series<\/a> helps explain question wording \u2013 a concept at the center of sound public opinion survey research \u2013 and why it\u2019s important. Writing clear and neutral survey questions is much more difficult than it might seem. We spend a lot of time thinking about the phrasing and ordering of our survey questions. Paying close attention to these seemingly minor factors makes a huge difference. It helps us avoid the trap of poorly worded or leading questions, which can skew survey results.<\/p>\n\n\n<nav style=\"line-height:1\" class=\"items-justified-left is-style-pills wp-block-navigation is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-navigation-is-layout-956e015c wp-block-navigation-is-layout-flex\" aria-label=\"Methods 101 Menu\"><ul style=\"line-height:1\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__container items-justified-left is-style-pills wp-block-navigation\"><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2017\/05\/12\/methods-101-video-random-sampling\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Random Sampling<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2018\/03\/21\/methods-101-video-question-wording\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Survey Question Wording<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2019\/02\/07\/methods-101-mode-effects\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Mode effects<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2018\/08\/06\/video-explainer-what-are-nonprobability-surveys\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">What are nonprobability surveys?<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2019\/07\/16\/video-how-is-polling-done-around-the-world\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">How is polling done around the world?<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2020\/06\/04\/video-what-is-machine-learning-and-how-does-it-work\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">What is machine learning, and how does it work?<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2025\/11\/20\/video-why-have-polls-underestimated-donald-trump\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Why have polls underestimated Donald Trump?<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2026\/02\/11\/video-how-do-polls-work-when-no-one-answers-the-phone-anymore\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">How do polls work when no one answers the phone anymore?<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Methods 101: Question Wording\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eFzGdQrr2K8?feature=oembed&#038;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The second video in Pew Research Center&#8217;s Methods 101 series helps explain question wording \u2013 a concept at the center of sound public opinion survey research \u2013 and why it\u2019s important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":329,"featured_media":21893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"layout-full-width","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_api_pending":"","apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_hidden":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[401,357],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[460,470],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[528],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-101446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-survey-basics","category-survey-methods","formats-feature","formats-video","research-teams-methods"],"label":false,"post_parent":0,"word_count":130,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/2018\/03\/21\/methods-101-video-question-wording\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":21893,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":21893,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":21893,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":21893,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":21893,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp?w=640&h=320&crop=1","width":640,"height":320,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"social":{"id":21893,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/03\/FT_18.03.21_methods_featured-jpg.webp?w=640&h=320&crop=1","width":640,"height":320,"caption":"","chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":[],"report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Methods 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