Multiple ranking tasks in a semantic domain: An investigation of task order effects

The possibility of task order effects has not been studied previously for some types of multiple rating/ranking tasks commonly used in the social sciences. Data from two studies that employed multiple ranking tasks in a semantic domain were examined for evidence of task order effects. In general, multiple ranking tasks appeared to be free of order effects, although respondents may display less agreement in later tasks than in earlier tasks when data is collected in circumstances that do not promote the full attention and motivation of respondents.