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Question order sensitivity of subjective well-being measures: focus on life satisfaction, self-rated health, and subjective life expectancy in survey instruments

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Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the effect of question context created by order in questionnaires on three subjective well-being measures: life satisfaction, self-rated health, and subjective life expectancy.

Methods

We conducted two Web survey experiments. The first experiment (n = 648) altered the order of life satisfaction and self-rated health: (1) life satisfaction asked immediately after self-rated health; (2) self-rated health immediately after life satisfaction; and (3) two items placed apart. We examined their correlation coefficient by experimental condition and further examined its interaction with objective health. The second experiment (n = 479) asked life expectancy before and after parental mortality questions. Responses to life expectancy were compared by order using ANOVA, and we examined interaction with parental mortality status using ANCOVA. Additionally, response time and probes were examined.

Results

Correlation coefficients between self-rated health and life satisfaction differed significantly by order: 0.313 (life satisfaction first), 0.508 (apart), and 0.643 (self-rated health first). Differences were larger among respondents with chronic conditions. Response times were the shortest when self-rated health was asked first. When life expectancy asked after parental mortality questions, respondents reported considering parents more for answering life expectancy; and respondents with deceased parents reported significantly lower expectancy, but not those whose parents were alive.

Conclusion

Question context effects exist. Findings suggest placing life satisfaction and self-rated health apart to avoid artificial attenuation or inflation in their association. Asking about parental mortality prior to life expectancy appears advantageous as this leads respondents to consider parental longevity more, an important factor for true longevity.

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Funding

The data used in this study were collected with funding from the Regula Herzog Young Investigator Fund awarded to Sunghee Lee.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, USA

    Sunghee Lee, Colleen McClain & Noah Webster

  2. School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Saram Han

Authors
  1. Sunghee Lee
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  2. Colleen McClain
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  3. Noah Webster
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  4. Saram Han
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sunghee Lee.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Michigan.

Appendices

Appendix 1. Description of experimental design

Main experiments

Experiment 1

In the original study, there were six conditions as in Table 4. While there is no clear guidance, some variations of the question order as in Condition 1 appear to be practiced (e.g., Health and Retirement Study). Hence, we randomly assigned 2/7 of the sample to Condition 1 and 1/7 to the remaining conditions. For this study, Condition 2 is not applicable as it was implemented to study the effect of response scales on measuring self-rated health, hence, removed from the analysis. Conditions 3, 4, and 5 collectively asked life satisfaction immediately after self-rated health. These three conditions produced similar correlation coefficients between self-rated health and life satisfaction and, hence, were grouped into one. Condition 6 asked self-rated health immediately after life satisfaction and was retained as a separate condition in the analysis.

Table 4 Comparison of original experimental conditions and presented conditions
Full size table

Experiment 2

Subjective life expectancy was asked in two different questions in the original study: one using percent chance, and the other using actual years in age (See Appendix 2 for details of the wording). As the one with percent chance is used more popularly, we assign 2/3 of the sample to the percent chance wording (conditions 1 and 2 in Table 4) and the remainder to the actual years wording (conditions 3 and 4). Within each subjective life expectancy wording, we randomly split the sample half and asked subjective life expectancy either before parental mortality questions (conditions 1 and 3) or after them (conditions 2 and 4). Due to the differences in the question type, we dropped conditions 3 and 4 from the analysis.

Ancillary experiments

The following experiments were implemented in the survey and not included in this study as they address aspects other than question contexts.

Experiment 3: response scale for self-rated health

Condition 2 in Table 4.I was implemented to be compared to Condition 1 only on the distribution of self-rated health.

Experiment 4: types of anchoring vignettes for self-rated health

Different types of vignettes questions were asked in order to examine whether vignette types affect the adjustment of self-rated health.

Experiment 5: question types of subjective life expectancy

Although labeled as “subjective life expectancy” in the literature, some use actual age and others use percent chance. This experiment was included to examine the difference in the question type of subjective life expectancy.

Appendix 2. Question wording

Self-rated health with a 5-point response scale

Would you say your health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor in general?

□ Excellent

□ Very good

□ Good

□ Fair

□ Poor

Self-rated health with a 100-point response scale

On a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 is worst possible health and 100 is perfect possible health, how would you rate your health in general? Please provide the number (from 0 to 100).

________

Life satisfaction

Please think about your life and situation right now. How satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?

□ Completely satisfied

□ Very satisfied

□ Somewhat satisfied

□ Not very satisfied

□ Not at all satisfied

Vignette introduction

We are interested in how you would rate the health of other people your age. Now we are going to describe the health of some people your age and then ask you to rate their health in the way you would to rate your own health.

Physical health vignettes

[Randomize: Mary/Steve] has no problem with walking, running, or moving his/her limbs. [She/He] jogs 3 miles twice a week. The last time [she/he] spent time in bed due to illness was more than a year ago. In general, would you say [Mary’s/Steve’s] health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?

□ Excellent

□ Very good

□ Good

□ Fair

□ Poor

[Kate/Mike] has no problem walking 1 mile. Occasionally, [she/he] feels fatigued and has some trouble bending and lifting, but his/her occasional pain does not affect his/her daily activities. [She/He] spent a couple of days in bed due to illness last year. In general, would you say [Kate’s/Mike’s] health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?

[Nancy/John] has no problem walking a couple of blocks or climbing a couple of flights of stairs. However, [she/he] feels tired after walking or climbing stairs. He/she has a great deal of trouble with daily activities. Each week, [she/he] experiences pain that limit some of his/her daily activities. [She/He] spent a week in bed due to illness last year. In general, would you say [Nancy’s/John’s] health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?

Mental health vignettes

[Jennifer/Peter] enjoys his/her work and social activities and is generally satisfied with [her/his] life. [She/He] gets depressed rarely and loses interest in what [she/he] usually enjoys. In general, would you say [Jennifer’s/Peter’s] health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?

[Kelly/David] enjoys social activities, but does not like [her/his] work. Although [she/he] is content with [her/his] life, [she/he] gets depressed once a month or so but is able to carry on with [her/his] day-to-day activities. In general, would you say [Kelly’s/David’s] health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?

[Jane/Jack] feels depressed most of the time. [She/He] weeps frequently and feels hopeless about the future. [She/He] feels that [she/he] has become a burden on others and that [she/he] would be better dead. In general, would you say [Jane’s/Jack’s] health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?

Combined physical and mental health vignettes

[Jennifer/Peter] enjoys [her/his] work and social activities and is generally satisfied with [her/his] life. [She/He] has no problem with walking, running, or moving [her/his] limbs and jogs 3 miles twice a week. In general, would you say [Jennifer’s/Peter’s] health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?

[Kelly/David] feels fatigued occasionally and has some trouble bending and lifting, but [her/his] occasional pain does not affect [her/his] daily activities. Although [she/he] is content with [her/his] life, [she/he] gets depressed once a month or so. In general, would you say [Kelly’s/David’s] health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?

[Jane/Jack] feels depressed most of the time. Although [she/he] has no problem walking a couple of blocks or climbing a couple of flights of stairs, [she/he] feels tired after walking or climbing stairs. In general, would you say [Jane’s/Jack’s] health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?

Chronic conditions

Next, we’d like to learn more about you. Has a doctor ever told you that you have diabetes or high blood sugar?

□ Yes

□ No

Has a doctor ever told you that you have asthma?

□ Yes

□ No

Has a doctor ever told you that you have high blood pressure or hypertension?

□ Yes

□ No

Subjective life expectancy with percent chance response

The next few questions ask about your views of the chances that various events will happen. Your answers can range from zero to one hundred, where zero means there is absolutely no chance, and one hundred means that it is absolutely certain. For example, when weather forecasters report the chance of rain, a number like 20 % means “a small chance,” a number around 50 % means “a pretty even chance,” and a number like 80 % means “a very good chance.”

What is the percent chance that you will live to be [75 or more (IF AGE IS ≤ 64)/80 or more (IF AGE IS 65–69)/

85 or more (IF AGE IS 70–74)/90 or more (IF AGE IS 75–79)/95 or more (IF AGE IS 80–84)/100 or more (IF AGE IS ≥ 85)]? If you can’t think of an answer, you can choose “Don’t know.”

________ percent chance

□ Don’t know

Subjective life expectancy with actual age response

Now, we want to ask you about your expectations that various events will happen.To what age do you expect to live? If you can’t think of an answer, you can choose “Don’t know.”

_______ years old

□ Don’t know

Probing for subjective life expectancy with percent chance response

{SHOW IF SUBJECTIVE LIFE EXPECTANCY IS ANSWERED} You said there is a [FILL ANSWER FROM SUBJECTIVE LIFE EXPECTANCY] % chance that you will live to be [FILL AGE USED IN SUBJECTIVE LIFE EXPECTANCY] or more. How did you arrive at this answer? What did you consider to say that there is a [FILL ANSWER FROM SUBJECTIVE LIFE EXPECTANCY] % chance that you will live to be [FILL AGE USED IN SUBJECTIVE LIFE EXPECTANCY] or more?

______________________________________________________________

{SHOW IF SUBJECTIVE LIFE EXPECTANCY = Don’t know} You said you don’t know the chance that you will live to be [FILL AGE USED IN SUBJECTIVE LIFE EXPECTANCY] or more. How did you arrive at this answer? What made you say “don’t know”?

_____________________________________________________________

Parental mortality

Is your mother alive now?

□ Yes

□ No

{SHOW IF MOTHER NOT ALIVE} How old was your mother when she passed away?

_________ years old

Is your father alive now?

□ Yes

□ No

{SHOW IF FATHER NOT ALIVE} How old was your father when he passed away?

_________ years old

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Lee, S., McClain, C., Webster, N. et al. Question order sensitivity of subjective well-being measures: focus on life satisfaction, self-rated health, and subjective life expectancy in survey instruments. Qual Life Res 25, 2497–2510 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1304-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1304-8

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