No doubt you could rank these issues. Research shows that there can be significant differences. Generally, it is more expensive to use open-ended questions. They are more difficult to code, quantify, compare and track over time, but they allow respondents to tell it their way. Closed questions inevitably constrain respondents and therefore limit the capacity of surveys to uncover the unexpected.
Closed questions have a self-fulfilling effect.
Some critics have gone further to suggest that the way these results are often presented has similar consequences on the opinions of Canadians. Imagine, for example, that you read that most Canadians are concerned about crime and corrections. The bandwagon effect may operate not only in politics but also in public policy. Public opinion surveys, then, can become an instrument for shaping rather than measuring public opinion. We read that the average Canadian is concerned about crime and lacks confidence in our system of corrections and conditional release.