The Effect of Design of the Poles of the Scales in Web Questionnaire on Respondents' Answers (Symbolic and Verbal Design)

This study focuses on the effect of design (symbolic and verbal) of the poles of the scales on the respondents ' answers. For the solution of research question the specific instrumentation was produced: two questionnaires, identical in content but with different design of the poles of experimental questions. 509 answers were collected and processed: geography of respondents was limited to Moscow and Moscow Region, the age of the respondents was installed within 18 to 55 years. The study posed two types of questions: analysis of effect of the design of the scale’s poles on the respondents’ answers and on the time of filling the questionnaires. It was found that the use of symbolic design of the poles of the scales in the questionnaire influences the answers of respondents, raising the average rank of the answer to the question. Interaction of type of questionnaire with socio demographic and psychological characteristics has no effect on the respondents’ answers . Also, there were no effect of the design of the poles of the questions on the time of filling the questionnaire