Abstract
BackgroundSurveys on attitudes towards assisted dying play an important role in informing public debate, policy and legislation. Unfortunately, surveys are often designed with insufficient attention to framing effects; that is, effects on the respondents’ stated attitudes caused by question wording and context. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate and measure such framing effects.MethodsSurvey experiment in which an eight-question survey on attitudes towards assisted dying was distributed to Norwegian citizens through a web-based panel. Two variations of question wording as well as two variations of question order were employed. Respondents were randomized to receive one of four questionnaire versions.ResultsThree thousand and fifty responses were received. There were moderate to large question wording and question order effects. A majority of Norwegian citizens favour the legalization of assisted dying for patients with terminal or chronic disease.ConclusionsStakeholders in the assisted dying debate need to acknowledge potential framing effects, and accordingly should interpret survey results with caution. The same holds for researchers who conduct attitude surveys in the field of bioethics.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12910-016-0107-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Surveys on attitudes towards assisted dying play an important role in informing public debate, policy and legislation
As part of the Norwegian Bioethics Attitude Survey (NOBAS),1 a web-based questionnaire was distributed by the commercial firm Respons Analyse to a sample of the general public in June 2015
Distinct majorities hold a positive attitude towards legalization of physicianassisted suicide (PAS) (Q1) and, slightly less, euthanasia (Q2)
Summary
Surveys on attitudes towards assisted dying play an important role in informing public debate, policy and legislation. Surveys are often designed with insufficient attention to framing effects; that is, effects on the respondents’ stated attitudes caused by question wording and context. Due to the logical cleavage between facts and norms, descriptive surveys of attitudes towards AD cannot by. Both the complexity and the normative charge sometimes cause confusion and misunderstanding among. Magelssen et al BMC Medical Ethics (2016) 17:24 citizens, journalists and politicians, as well as among healthcare professionals. In the literature it is, uncommon for attitude surveys to take these issues sufficiently into account. Instead of stating detailed and unequivocal definitions of key concepts and using normatively balanced questions, questionnaires often employ euphemisms and leave crucial terms undefined [4]
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