11.80 Key terms in survey questions are often not well understood, and such ambiguity can affect responses.

As an example, the article “How Unclear Terms Affect Survey Data” (Public Opinion Quarterly [1992]: 218– 231)

described a survey in which each individual in a sample was asked, “Do you exercise or play sports regularly?” But what constitutes exercise? The following revised question was then asked of each individual in the same sample: “Do you do any sports or hobbies involving physical activities, or any exercise, including walking, on a regular basis?” The resulting data are shown in the accompanying table.

Yes No Initial Question 48 52 Revised Question 60 40 Can a procedure from this chapter be used to answer the following question: Is there any difference between the proportions of yes responses to these questions? If yes, carry out the test. If not, explain why not.