Providing an exact answer to open-ended numeric questions can be a burdensome task for respondents. Researchers often assume that adding an invitation to estimate (e.g., “Your best estimate is fine”) to these questions reduces cognitive burden, and in turn, reduces rates of undesirable response behaviors like item nonresponse, nonsubstantive answers, and answers that must be processed into a final response (e.g., qualified answers like “about 12” and ranges). Yet there is little research investigating this claim. Additionally, explicitly inviting estimation may lead respondents to round their answers, which may affect survey estimates. In this study, we investigate the effect of adding an invitation to estimate to 22 open-ended numeric questions in a mail survey and three questions in a separate telephone survey. Generally, we find that explicitly inviting estimation does not significantly change rates of item nonresponse, rounding, or qualified/range answers in either mode, though it does slightly reduce nonsubstantive answers for mail respondents. In the telephone survey, an invitation to estimate results in fewer conversational turns and shorter response times. Our results indicate that an invitation to estimate may simplify the interaction between interviewers and respondents in telephone surveys, and neither hurts nor helps data quality in mail surveys.

中文翻译：

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你最好的估计是好的。还是它？

为开放式数字问题提供准确答案对于受访者来说可能是一项繁重的任务。研究人员通常认为，在这些问题中添加估计邀请（例如，“你的最佳估计是好的”）可以减少认知负担，进而降低不良反应行为的发生率，如项目无反应、非实质性答案和必须处理的答案转化为最终回答（例如，合格的答案，如“大约 12”和范围）。然而，很少有研究调查这一说法。此外，明确邀请估计可能会导致受访者四舍五入他们的答案，这可能会影响调查估计。在这项研究中，我们调查了在邮件调查中对 22 个开放式数字问题和在单独的电话调查中的三个问题添加估计邀请的效果。一般来说，我们发现，在任何一种模式下，明确邀请估计都不会显着改变项目不答复、四舍五入或合格/范围答案的比率，尽管它确实会略微减少邮件答复者的非实质性答案。在电话调查中，邀请进行估算会导致更少的对话轮次和更短的响应时间。我们的结果表明，邀请进行估算可能会简化电话调查中访调员和受访者之间的互动，既不会损害也不会帮助邮件调查中的数据质量。邀请进行估算会减少对话次数并缩短响应时间。我们的结果表明，邀请进行估算可能会简化电话调查中访调员和受访者之间的互动，既不会损害也不会帮助邮件调查中的数据质量。邀请进行估算会减少对话次数并缩短响应时间。我们的结果表明，邀请进行估算可能会简化电话调查中访调员和受访者之间的互动，既不会损害也不会帮助邮件调查中的数据质量。