Positive vs. Negative: The Impact of Question Polarity in Voting Advice Applications.

ABSTRACT: Online Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are survey-like instruments that help citizens to shape their political preferences and compare them with those of political parties. Especially in multi-party democracies, their increasing popularity indicates that VAAs play an important role in opinion formation for citizens, as well as in the public debate prior to elections. Hence, the objectivity and transparency of VAAs are crucial. In the design of VAAs, many choices have to be made. Extant research in survey methodology shows that the seemingly arbitrary choice to word questions positively (e.g., 'The city council should allow cars into the city centre') or negatively ('The city council should ban cars from the city centre') systematically affects the answers. This asymmetry in answers is in

SUBMITTER: Holleman B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5056712 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature