Unfolding Question

An unfolding question refers to a type of question sequence that yields more complete and accurate data than would a single question on the same topic. Unfolding questions are used by survey researchers in an attempt to reduce item nonresponse (i.e. missing data) and measurement error.

For example, asking someone into which of the following income categories her 2007 total household [Page 924]income fell—less than $20,000; $20,000-$39,999; $40,000-$59,999; $60,000-$79,999; $80,000-$99,999; $100,000 or more—will lead to a good deal of “Don't Know” or “Refused” answers. Researchers have found that an unfolding question about income will substantially reduce item nonresponse and thus the need to impute those missing values.

An unfolding income question sequence for the income variable referenced in the preceding paragraph, that was programmed to be asked in a computer-assisted interview, would be as follows:

• Ql. Was your total household income from all sources in 2007 more or less than $60,000?
  • <1> MORE (GO TO Q4)
  • <2> LESS (GO TO Q2)
  • <3> $60,000 (GO TO Q6)
  • <8> REFUSED (GO TO Q6)
  • <9> UNCERTAIN (GO TO Q6)
• Q2. And was it more or less than $40,000?
  • <1> MORE (GO TO Q6)
  • <2> LESS (GO TO Q3)
  • <3> $40,000 (GO TO Q6)
  • <8> REFUSED (GO TO Q6)
  • <9> UNCERTAIN (GO TO Q6)
• Q3. And was it more or less than $20,000?
  • <1> MORE (GO TO Q6)
  • <2> LESS (GO TO Q6)
  • <3> $20,000 (GO TO Q6)
  • <8> REFUSED (GO TO Q6)
  • <9> UNCERTAIN (GO TO Q6)
• Q4. And was it more or less than $80,000?
  • <1> MORE (GO TO Q5)
  • <2> LESS (GO TO Q6)
  • <3> $80,000 (GO TO Q6)
  • <8> REFUSED (GO TO Q6)
  • <9> UNCERTAIN (GO TO Q6)
• Q5. And was it more or less than $100,000?
  • < 1> MORE (GO TO Q6)
  • <2> LESS (GO TO Q6)
  • <3> $100,000 (GO TO Q6)
  • <8> REFUSED (GO TO Q6)
  • <9> UNCERTAIN (GO TO Q6)

In this example, after the income sequence has been administered, all respondents are taken to Q6 (the next logical question topic). Of note, even though the entire unfolding sequence comprises five questions, any one respondent would only be asked one, two, or three of the questions, not all five of them and the majority would only be asked one or two. This five-question unfolding sequence will lead to far fewer missing income values than a single income question that presents essentially the same income categories all at once. It also will yield data that the researchers can combine to form a single income variable with the desired six categories in the original one-question income example.

Unfolding questions can be asked for other topics that are measured on some form of ordered scale. They are particularly useful when there are many response choices on the scale and when the cognitive burden on many respondents is too great to present all the choices at once. If all choices were presented at once, primacy, recency, and other satisficing effects would likely lead to errors in the data. For example, a scale measuring political orientation that uses the eight response options (e.g., Extremely Conservative, Very Conservative, Conservative, Somewhat Conservative, Neither Conservative Nor Liberal, Somewhat Liberal, Liberal, Very Liberal, Extremely Liberal) would gather more accurate data if it were presented as an unfolding question sequence starting with a question asking, “In terms of politics, are you liberal or conservative?”

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