On the importance of the phrasing of questions in medico-hygienic social surveys.

In connection with studies done on the effects, in the form of annoyance, that noise can produce in exposed individuals, certain methodological problems have come to light. One of these problems concerns the effect which alternative formulations of the questions could have on the results. In a laboratory experiment it was possible to show that the choice of verbal expression for the reaction can influence the incidence of annoyance reactions. The results from the laboratory study could not be verified in a field experiment, however.