Experiments With the Middle Response Alternative in Survey Questions

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Abstract
A series of experiments shows (1) that people are significantly more likely to select the middle response alternative on an issue when it is explicitly offered to them as part of the question than when it is omitted; (2) that merely mentioning that there is a middle alternative, in the preface to the question, makes it more likely that respondents will select it, even though it is not offered to them as an explicit choice; (3) that the order in which the middle alternative is presented in the question—in the middle or last position—can make a significant difference in the results, but that a “recency bias” does not occur invariably, or consistently; and (4) that people who select a middle response alternative when it is offered would not necessarily answer the question in the same way as other respondents if forced to choose sides on the issue.

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