What does this research mean for the field?

Scales with a greater number of response categories tend to exhibit higher reliability, although the improvements are modest and depend on the specific scale. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.CONFIRMATORY. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to understand how varying the number of response categories in survey scales affects respondent behavior and psychometric outcomes.

February 21, 2026International Journal of Public Opinion Research

Do You Agree? Do You Strongly Agree? The Effect of the Number of Response Categories on Response Processes and Verification of Substantive Hypotheses

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Authors

APArtur Pokropek TŻTomasz ŻółtakInstitute of Philosophy MMMarek MuszyńskiJagiellonian University

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Implication

Experimental study examines response category impact on survey behavior, revealing modest reliability improvements.

Key Points

This research aims to understand how varying the number of response categories in survey scales affects respondent behavior and psychometric outcomes.
Conducted a web-based survey experiment with over 2,800 participants.
Randomly assigned respondents to different scales with varying response options and labels.
Assessed engagement, response styles, reliability, and convergent validity through process data and modeling.
Scales with more response categories showed higher reliability, though improvements were modest.
Longer completion times and complex responses were observed with more options.
The number of response categories did not significantly alter substantive conclusions in regression models.

Cite This Study

Pokropek et al. (2025) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69994cc2873532290d02189f https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edaf070

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Do You Agree? Do You Strongly Agree? The Effect of the Number of Response Categories on Response Processes and Verification of Substantive Hypotheses

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Do You Agree? Do You Strongly Agree? The Effect of the Number of Response Categories on Response Processes and Verification of Substantive Hypotheses

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Also Consider

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