Data collection mode effect on feeling thermometer questions: A comparison of face-to-face and Web surveys

Feeling thermometer questions are widely used in political science research to estimate people's attitudes and feelings toward a political object, like a political figure or an organization. Given the popularity of the feeling thermometer question in population surveys, more work is needed to explore the measurement of this question type. This study examines the data collection mode effect on feeling thermometers. Using the 2012 American National Election Studies, we find that the measurement of feeling thermometers is not exactly comparable between face-to-face and Web surveys. Face-to-face respondents tend to provide warmer feelings, while Web respondents give relatively more reliable responses in comparison. In both survey modes, respondents are most likely to select the response options that are verbally labeled although the effect is more striking in face-to-face than Web survey. The item nonresponse between these two modes does not differ in a meaningful way. This study ends by discussing future research directions on feeling thermometer questions. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.