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Using screeners to measure respondent attention on self-administered surveys: Which items and how many?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2019

Adam J. Berinsky ,
Michele F. Margolis Open the ORCID record for Michele F. Margolis [Opens in a new window] ,
Michael W. Sances Open the ORCID record for Michael W. Sances [Opens in a new window]  and
Christopher Warshaw
Adam J. Berinsky
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, MIT, Cambridge, USA
Michele F. Margolis*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
Michael W. Sances
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA
Christopher Warshaw
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, George Washington University, Washington, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: mmargo@sas.upenn.edu
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Abstract

Inattentive respondents introduce noise into data sets, weakening correlations between items and increasing the likelihood of null findings. “Screeners” have been proposed as a way to identify inattentive respondents, but questions remain regarding their implementation. First, what is the optimal number of Screeners for identifying inattentive respondents? Second, what types of Screener questions best capture inattention? In this paper, we address both of these questions. Using item-response theory to aggregate individual Screeners we find that four Screeners are sufficient to identify inattentive respondents. Moreover, two grid and two multiple choice questions work well. Our findings have relevance for applied survey research in political science and other disciplines. Most importantly, our recommendations enable the standardization of Screeners on future surveys.

Keywords

Survey methodology
Type
Research Note
Information
Political Science Research and Methods , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , April 2021 , pp. 430 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © The European Political Science Association 2019

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