Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 12, 2026
08:36
Collecting Sleep, Circadian, Fatigue, and Performance Data in Complex Operational Environments
Published on: August 8, 2019
Survey questions about sleep duration: does asking separately about weekdays and weekends matter?
1a Department of Health Studies , University of Chicago.
Behavioral Sleep Medicine
|April 11, 2013
Summary
Survey questions about sleep duration significantly impact results. Using one question yielded shorter sleep times than two separate questions, affecting comparisons across studies.
Area of Science:
- Sleep research
- Survey methodology
- Public health
Background:
- Standardized methods for assessing sleep duration in surveys are lacking.
- Comparability of different sleep duration questions is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the effects of single versus multiple survey questions on reported sleep duration.
- To investigate how question format influences sleep duration estimates and their associations.
Main Methods:
- A randomized survey experiment was conducted.
- Participants were randomly assigned to answer either one question about usual sleep hours or two questions about weekday and weekend sleep.
Main Results:
- Mean sleep duration was significantly shorter when using a single question (7.03 hours) compared to a weighted average from two questions (7.28 hours).
- Race and ethnicity contrasts in sleep duration varied based on the question format.
- Correlations between reported sleep duration and perceived sleep need were higher with the two-question format.
Conclusions:
- Survey question wording significantly affects reported sleep duration.
- Differences in question format complicate the comparison of sleep duration data across studies.
- Standardizing sleep duration questions in surveys is crucial for accurate and comparable research.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
02:16Surveys
Often, psychologists develop surveys as a means of gathering data. Surveys are lists of questions to be answered by research participants, and can be delivered as paper-and-pencil questionnaires, administered electronically, or conducted verbally. Generally, the survey itself can be completed in a short time, and the ease of administering a survey makes it easy to collect data from a large number of people.
01:23Assessment of the Cardiovascular System I: Subjective Data
A thorough health history and physical assessment are essential for identifying cardiovascular disease (CVD) symptoms and distinguishing them from other health issues.
Initial Enquiry
Ask the patient about their primary concern and thoroughly explore all reported symptoms.
Medical History
Investigate past illnesses affecting the cardiovascular system, such as angina, anemia, rheumatic fever, congenital heart disease, stroke, thrombophlebitis, dysrhythmias, varicosities
Inquire about symptoms...
Initial Enquiry
Ask the patient about their primary concern and thoroughly explore all reported symptoms.
Medical History
Investigate past illnesses affecting the cardiovascular system, such as angina, anemia, rheumatic fever, congenital heart disease, stroke, thrombophlebitis, dysrhythmias, varicosities
Inquire about symptoms...
01:50Cross-Sectional Research
In cross-sectional research, a researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time. If they were interested in people's dietary habits, the researcher might directly compare different groups of people by age. Instead of following a group of people for 20 years to see how their dietary habits changed from decade to decade, the researcher would study a group of 20-year-old individuals and compare them to a group of 30-year-old individuals and a group of 40-year-old...
02:07Blind Procedures
Ideally, the people who observe and record the children’s behavior are unaware of who was assigned to the experimental or control group, in order to control for experimenter bias. Experimenter bias refers to the possibility that a researcher’s expectations might skew the results of the study. Remember, conducting an experiment requires a lot of planning, and the people involved in the research project have a vested interest in supporting their hypotheses. If the observers knew which child was...
01:12What is an Experiment?
An experiment is a planned activity carried out under controlled conditions. The purpose of an experiment is to investigate the relationship between two variables. When one variable causes change in another, we call the first variable the explanatory or independent variable. The affected variable is called the response or dependent variable. In a randomized experiment, the researcher manipulates values of the explanatory variable and measures the resulting changes in the response variable. The...
02:20Longitudinal Research
Sometimes we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and lifespan. When we test the same group of individuals repeatedly over an extended period of time, we are conducting longitudinal research. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time. For example, we may survey a group of individuals about their dietary habits at age 20, retest them a decade later at age 30, and then again...