Response Effort & Data Quality Self-Report

QC-EFFORTData Quality

5 items

Asks participants directly about the quality of their own answers. Surprisingly effective and much less irritating than attention checks — participants are largely honest when told their answer will not affect payment. Place at the end of a session.

Usage

Items are used individually as exclusion filters, not summed. Tell participants explicitly that answering honestly will not cost them their payment, or the self-report loses its validity.

Citation

Meade, A. W., & Craig, S. B. (2012). Identifying careless responses in survey data. Psychological Methods, 17(3), 437–455.

doi:10.1037/a0028085

License: Free to use and adapt.

Items (5)

#1slider

How much effort did you put into answering these questions?

0100 · "None at all" → "A great deal"

#2choice

In your honest opinion, should we use your answers in our analyses? Your payment will not be affected by your response.

Yes, use my data · No, do not use my data

#3choice

Were you interrupted or distracted while answering?

No · Briefly · Yes, substantially

#4likert

How carefully did you read the questions?

17 · "Not carefully at all" → "Very carefully"

#5choice

Was anyone else able to see your answers while you responded?

No, I was alone · Someone was nearby but could not see · Yes, someone could see my answers

Use this module in your own ESM/EMA study — drop it into a survey within SMAAT.