Knowledge Bias by Utilizing the Wording on Feedback Questionnaires: A Case Study of an Israeli College
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Knowledge Bias by Utilizing the Wording on Feedback Questionnaires: A Case Study of an Israeli College Yoav Gal & Adiv Gal
Received: 18 February 2013 / Accepted: 3 February 2015 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract Many academic institutions tend to make use of feedback questionnaires without paying the attention required to the effect of wording and meanings on the results obtained. Recent evidence suggests that careless usage may be biased, and in some cases, the feedback may even be used as a punishment tool. This article examines the effect of the wording in questionnaires utilizing Likert-type scales, as tested on undergraduate students. The research hypothesis addresses the way in which the questions are worded. The findings show that wording has a direct impact on the results and show that there is a built-in bias in responses to questionnaires, as a direct result of the wording. Understanding knowledge bias is important in analyzing the decision-making process. Keywords Knowledge bias . Feedback . Likert scale . Wording . Decision-making
Introduction Distribution of student feedback questionnaires in Israel began about 30 years ago. It began as a student initiative to publish opinions on professors, so as to force the academic administration to improve instruction. Gradually, college administrations adopted the idea, but the results were not disclosed to students; instead, only the administration and lecturer in question received the feedback results. Collecting this data has been done for decades, and every few years, small changes are made in the nature of the questions. However, in general, the issue of academic course evaluations has a long history. An early example by Bassin (1974) included a series of Likert scales concerned with five aspects of teaching. These were lecture quality, exam quality, text Y. Gal (*) Bina, B.Y. Nihul LTD, POB 17, 1912000 Gidona, Israel e-mail: [email protected] A. Gal Science Department, Kibbutzim College of Education Technology and the Arts, 149 Namir Road, 62507 Tel-Aviv, Israel e-mail: [email protected]
J Knowl Econ
suitability, participation, and consideration. In an early review of the literature, Cohen (1981) found some attempts to examine correlations between evaluation scales. These tended to be limited to very specific and predictable areas, such as that between a favorable student rating of instructors’ skills and the student having received good grades. Obtaining feedback from students is a common requirement of reflective teaching, enabling teachers to refine their practices and to develop as professionals. This is one reason why formal mechanisms for collecting and processing student feedback are now used in most, if not all, colleges and universities. Many methods can be used to obtain feedback, but the literature suggests that questionnaires predominate (Kember et al. 2002; Wiers-Jenssen et al. 2002; Brennan and Williams 2004, as quoted by Huxham et al. 2008). This article aims to examine the way students of economics and mana
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