The traditional vehicle for collection of information from parents about a school's goals is a questionnaire that provides alternative goal statements. Two problems are frequently associated with such questionnaires: the goal lists suggest that a school can achieve all desired goals simultaneously; and many surveys use stimulus questions that are short, abstract, adn laden with educational jargon. Based on these general problems, an experiment was designed to compare responses of parents to four types of stimulus materials: three sets of materials in paired-choice format, varying in their level of specificity; and one set of materials in a Likert rating scale, at a broad level of specificity. Each of 224 respondents was asked to express his or her preferences for eleven curriculum areas. In the paired-choice format, reading was ranked highest; in the Likert format, reading and mathematics tied for the highest ranking. Music and art were ranked lowest. Rankings from the two formats were found to be substantially different. All paired-choice formats were more effective than the Likert format in allowing respondents to discriminate among their preferences. More concrete stimulus materials enhanced respondent discrimination among preferences, but did not result in substantial differences among preference orderings. (BW)