Schwarz, N. (1990). What respondents learn from scales: The informative functions of response alternatives. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 2(3), 274-285.
Survey respondents are often asked to report the frequency with which they engage in a certain behavior by checking the appropriate alternative from a list of response categories provided to them. A psychological research program, reviewed in the present paper, indicates that response alternatives are not only measurement devices but constitute a source of information for the respondent. Specifically, respondents assume that the average or ...