摘要：Although researchers have recognised the importance of question wording in survey research for many years, the search for generalisable rules of question wording has proved elusive. This paper reports the results of four studies on question wording: a comparison of an open with a closed question on the same topic, a comparison of negative versus positive statements, a test of different question wording variations, and a test of the effect of one question on another. The conclusion reached is that, while it is possible to write the same question in a number of different ways, simply changing one word may change the whole meaning of a question. However, other questions are more resistant to wording variations and further research in this area may help distinguish between specific variations that affect question meaning and those that do not
