Chapter 6 Flashcards
survey/poll
A method of posing questions to people online, in personal interviews, or in written questionnaires
open-ended questions
allow respondents to answer any way they like
forced-choice questions
people give their opinion by picking the best of two or more options
leading questions
- wording leads people to a particular response
- charged adjectives
double-barreled questions
- asking 2 questions in 1
- Difficult for people to understand and therefore answer properly
- can be avoided by splitting the question into 2
negatively-worded questions
- a question in a survey or poll that contains negatively phrased statements, making its wording complicated or confusing and potentially weakening its construct validity
- Ex. “abortion should never be restricted” - forces people to have to think in the double negative
response sets
type of shortcut people take when answering questionnaires (they may automatically respond positively or negatively to all questions without thinking them through very carefully)
Acquiescence
when people say “yes” or “strongly agree” to every item
fence-sitting
playing it safe by answering in the middle of the scale or saying “idk” when a question is confusing or unclear
faking good
giving answers on a self-report measure that make one look better than one really is
how can faking good be avoided
anonymity
semantic differential scale
anchored by opposing adjectives (ex. Unfriendly - friendly)
endpoints/anchors
- provide boundaries for ps responses and describes what those anchors mean
- make sure they match the question
what is the average literacy level you should write your surveys in?
8th grade
solutions to shortcuts
reverse-coding
- wording some questions in a positive direction and others in a negative direction
self-reporting more than they know
- may not have access to certain knowledge in their brain
- Ex. Why do you choose the same brand of yogurt from the grocery store? - You might be able to give a response but is it actually the truth?
what is a possible issue when self-reporting memories of events?
- some people’s memories won’t be as accurate as they think they are
why should surveys be kept brief?
- avoid fatigue
- people may not be paying as much attention if it goes on forever
what are 3 problems that could threaten construct validity of observations?
- observer bias (observers expectations influence their interpretation)
- observer effects (participants behave how they think the observer expects them to)
- reactivity (change behaviour when they know they’re being watched)
what are 3 ways to avoid reactivity?
- blend in
- wait it out (let people get used to your presense
- measure behaviours results, not the behaviour itself
what are some ways you can prevent observer bias and observer effects?
- well coded operationalizations
- well trained observers
- use multiple observers
- masked design
masked design
- observers are unaware of the purpose of a study and the conditions to which participants have been assigned
surveys
response options should be mutually exclusive
- there shouldn’t be overlap in question options
- Ex. I enjoy spending time alone. Always | usually | most of the time | seldom | never
What’s the difference between usually and most of the time??
surveys
response options should be exhaustive
- ○ Make sure response options cover everything someone might say (or at least add an “other section”)
- Ex. How do you read books? Paper | e-books | I don’t read books
What about audio books?
why would someone use self-report methods?
- get a different perspective
- it’s hard to observe the mind
- some questions can only be answered using self-report methods
Observer bias
- observers expectations influence the interpretation of the participants behaviour
