Research Wonder: Expression of Gratitude and Survey Quality

by | Oct 5, 2015 | Opinion / Editorial, Research Wonder, Survey Methodology

Neuroscientists have demonstrated that if you ask yourself, “What am I grateful for?”, it will raise dopamine and serotonin in the brain, both of which help boost your mood when you feel down.  You don’t even have to make an expression of gratitude – just simply searching for something has the same effect. Could it have an impact on survey quality?

I WONDER…

If a simple expression of gratitude is given during a survey, how might that gratitude impact the other answers in the survey?

AND I WONDER…

Can asking a respondent to express gratitude while reading a survey invitation boost their likelihood to respond to the survey?

AND I ALSO WONDER…

How much do inadvertent gratitude expressions or thoughts during survey responses influence the responses themselves?  How does this affect survey quality? Do we need to take care in where we ask questions that may lead to thoughts of gratitude, so that we do not bias the following questions?

What’s a Research Wonder?  Read this to find out…

About the Author

Scott D. Crawford

Scott D. Crawford is the Founder and Chief Vision Officer at SoundRocket. He is also often found practicing being a husband, father, entrepreneur, forever-learner, survey methodologist, science writer & advocate, and podcast lover. While he doesn’t believe in reincarnation, he’s certain he was a Great Dane (of the canine type) in a previous life.