Chapter 6

Question 1

survey/poll

Answer 1

A method of posing questions to people online, in personal interviews, or in written questionnaires

Question 1

open-ended questions

Answer 1

allow respondents to answer any way they like

Question 2

forced-choice questions

Answer 2

people give their opinion by picking the best of two or more options

Question 3

leading questions

Answer 3

• wording leads people to a particular response
• charged adjectives

Question 4

double-barreled questions

Answer 4

• asking 2 questions in 1
• Difficult for people to understand and therefore answer properly
• can be avoided by splitting the question into 2

Question 5

negatively-worded questions

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

response sets

Answer 6

type of shortcut people take when answering questionnaires (they may automatically respond positively or negatively to all questions without thinking them through very carefully)

Question 7

Acquiescence

Answer 7

when people say “yes” or “strongly agree” to every item

Question 8

fence-sitting

Answer 8

playing it safe by answering in the middle of the scale or saying “idk” when a question is confusing or unclear

Question 9

faking good

Answer 9

giving answers on a self-report measure that make one look better than one really is

Question 10

how can faking good be avoided

Answer 10

anonymity

Question 11

semantic differential scale

Answer 11

anchored by opposing adjectives (ex. Unfriendly - friendly)

Question 12

endpoints/anchors

Answer 12

• provide boundaries for ps responses and describes what those anchors mean
• make sure they match the question

Question 13

what is the average literacy level you should write your surveys in?

Answer 13

8th grade

Question 14

solutions to shortcuts

reverse-coding

Answer 14

• wording some questions in a positive direction and others in a negative direction

Question 15

self-reporting more than they know

Answer 15

• 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?

Question 16

what is a possible issue when self-reporting memories of events?

Answer 16

• some people’s memories won’t be as accurate as they think they are

Question 17

why should surveys be kept brief?

Answer 17

• avoid fatigue
• people may not be paying as much attention if it goes on forever

Question 18

what are 3 problems that could threaten construct validity of observations?

Answer 18

1. observer bias (observers expectations influence their interpretation)
2. observer effects (participants behave how they think the observer expects them to)
3. reactivity (change behaviour when they know they’re being watched)

Question 19

what are 3 ways to avoid reactivity?

Answer 19

1. blend in
2. wait it out (let people get used to your presense
3. measure behaviours results, not the behaviour itself

Question 20

what are some ways you can prevent observer bias and observer effects?

Answer 20

• well coded operationalizations
• well trained observers
• use multiple observers
• masked design

Question 21

masked design

Answer 21

• observers are unaware of the purpose of a study and the conditions to which participants have been assigned

Question 22

surveys

response options should be mutually exclusive

Answer 22

• 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??

Question 23

surveys

response options should be exhaustive

Answer 23

• ○ 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?

Question 24

why would someone use self-report methods?

Answer 24

• get a different perspective
• it’s hard to observe the mind
• some questions can only be answered using self-report methods

Question 25

Observer bias

Answer 25

• observers expectations influence the interpretation of the participants behaviour