chapter 6

Question 1

What is the point of surveys and polls

Answer 1

a sample of people being asked to answer questions for research

Question 2

Define an open ended question

Answer 2

A question that allows respondents to answer in anyway they see fit.

These questions provide spontaneous, rich info to observers

Down side the responses must be coded and categorized (difficult and time-consuming)

(Ex: “What are comments about this professor?”)

Question 3

Define a forced-choice format

Answer 3

People give their opinion by picking the best of the two or more opinions

(Frequently used in political polls, EX: which might ask which of two or three candidates the respondent is most likely to vote for.)

Question 4

Define Likert Scale

Answer 4

When a scale contains more than one item and is anchored by the terms strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree

Question 5

Define semantic differential format

Answer 5

A numerical scale used to rate a target object

EX: Rate my professor 1-5 rating for each category

Question 6

What defines a well written question

Answer 6

• Clear and straight forward to answer
• The wording and order of the questions do not influence the respondents answers.
• Simple

Question 7

Define double-barreled questions

Answer 7

A question that is two questions in one.

Has poor validity (because people might be responding to the first half of the question, second half, or both)

Question 8

Define double negatives

Answer 8

Make the wording of survey questions unnecessarily complicated

The words impossible and never cause you to think in the double negative

Instead of measuring peoples beliefs it is more likely to measure their working memory or their motivation to pay attention

(Ex: “Does it seem possible to you that the nazi extermination of the jews never happened, or do you feel that it happened?”, “Guns should never be controlled)

Question 9

Why does question order matter in a survey?

Answer 9

It can change the way respondents understand and answer the question later

(Ex: “How often do your children play” would have different meanings if the previous question was about sports vs music)

Question 10

Define response set

Answer 10

a type of shortcut respondents can take when answering a survey.

When answering a set of related questions, some people might adopt a consistent way of answering all the questions that has little to do with their sincere opinions.

Tend to answer all the questions in the same way

Question 11

Define acquiescence “yea-saying”

Answer 11

When people say “yes” or “strongly agree” to every item instead of thinking carefully about each one

Question 12

Define nay-saying

Answer 12

When the respondent disagrees with every item

Question 13

How can a researcher tell the difference between someone is yea-saying or nay-saying

Answer 13

By adding the reverse-worded items (reversing the question)

Question 14

Define fence sitting

How can a researcher get rid of fence sitting

Answer 14

When respondents play it safe and answer in the middle of the scale

• Taking out the neutral answer on the scale (Ex: 3 on 1-5 scale)
• use a forced-choice format: pick one of the two answers

Question 15

What are benefits and draw backs of self report?

Answer 15

Benefits: There’s some info. only you know about yourself,

Drawback: can sometimes be inacurrate, can be hard for people to explain why they are thinking, behaving, or feeling the way they do

Question 16

Define socially desirable responding.

How can a researcher avoid these responses?

Answer 16

(sometimes faking good) These respondents know what they really think, but they are too embarrassed, shy, or worried about giving an unpopular opinion on the survey,

Researchers should ensure to their participants that their responses are anonymous, include “fillers” unrelated questions, use computerized measures to evaluate peoples opinions about sensitive topics.

Question 17

Define observer bias

Answer 17

an observer records what they want to see or expect to see, rather than what is really happening

Question 18

Define “masked” or “blind” study

Answer 18

a study design in which the observers are unaware of the conditions to which participants have been assigned, and sometimes are even unaware of what the study was about

Question 19

Define observer effects (reactivity) and how to avoid it?

Answer 19

When people change their behavior when they know another person is watching

Avoid by:

• Making unobtrusive observations (hide, don’t be seen)
• Wait it out (let participants get use to the observers presence and forget they are there)
• Measure the behavior’s results (measure the trace of behavior left behind)

Question 20

What’s a sample vs a population

Answer 20

Sample- Just part of the population

Population- The whole thing

Question 21

When is a sample biased?

What causes a biased sample?

Answer 21

When the sample in unrepresentative of the population

Sampling only those who are easy to contact, sampling only those one is able to contact, sampling those who invite themselves, self selection (a sample is known to contain only people who volunteer to participate)

Question 22

Define probability sampling

Answer 22

Probability sampling- drawing the sample at random from a population

Question 23

Define simple random sampling

Answer 23

Simple random sampling- Most basic form of probability sampling (EX: Picking names out of a hat)

Question 24

Define cluster sampling

Answer 24

Cluster sampling- Start with a cluster and then narrow it down randomly to a few (a sample)

Question 25

Define multistage sampling

Answer 25

Multistage sampling- Start with a lot, narrow it down to a few, then take a sample from each group

Question 26

Define random sampling

Answer 26

Stratified Random Sampling- Selects particular demographic categories on purpose then randomly selects individuals within each of the categories.

Question 27

Define oversampling

Answer 27

Oversampling- A survey that includes an oversample adjusts the final results so that members in the oversampled group are weighed to their actual proportion in the population.

Question 28

Define systematic sampling

Answer 28

systematic sampling- selecting two random numbers using a computer or random number table (Ex: say 4 and 7, Population full of students and the researcher would start with the fourth person in the room and then count off by choosing the seventh person until the sample was desired)

Question 29

Define random assignment

Answer 29

Only used in experimental designs

When researchers want to assign participants into different groups (randomly) (often a treatment group and a comparison group)

Question 30

Define convenience sampling

Answer 30

Samples are chosen merely on the basis of who is easy to access

Question 31

Define purposive sampling

Answer 31

When researchers want to study only certain kinds of people, it makes sense to seek out those kinds of people

Question 32

Is a bigger sample always a better sample?

Answer 32

Not necessarily.