Chapter 9

Question 1

What is the most frequently used mode of gathering data in the social science? what does it involve?

Answer 1

Survey research

-it involves selecting a sample of respondents and then collecting info from them with a questionnaire or interview

Question 2

Surveys are versatile, what three purposes can they be used for..

Answer 2

1. exploratory
2. descriptive
3. explanatory purposes

Question 3

The unit of analysis in surveys

Answer 3

• usually the individual

- sometimes used to report on the household

Question 4

What do surveys study

Answer 4

the attitudes, beliefs, values, and orientations of populations

Question 5

Research with low legitimacy is sometimes carried out as survey research, what are some examples…

Answer 5

marketing research

political push polls

Question 6

Most survey concepts are measured with what two things?

Answer 6

questions or statements

Question 7

Examples of statements that are presented to respondents who are asked to respond in some way:

Answer 7

for example, asked to indicate how much they agree or disagree with a position expressed as a statement, how often they engage in behavior described in statement, etc.

Question 8

What forms of questions can be asked? Explain both

Answer 8

Closed-ended: format is easier to process but provides answers with less depth

Open-ended: more in depth

Question 9

Good questions should be (7 things)

Answer 9

1. relevant to the respondent
2. clear
3. as short as possible
4. possible for respondent to answer
5. not biased
6. not double barreled
7. not subjected to social desirability issues

Question 10

Questionnaire formatting

Answer 10

• well organized
• uncluttered ( a lot of white space)
• attractive

Question 11

Formatting for close-ended questions

Answer 11

use boxes for each response, evenly and adequately spaced

Question 12

when should contingency questions be used

Answer 12

should be used when needed to avoid asking irrelevant questions of the respondent

Question 13

When is the matrix format useful

Answer 13

when asking several questions that use the same response format (answer categories).

Question 14

What is one problem with the matrix format?

Answer 14

respondents will sometimes select the response from the same category without reading the question. This is called a RESPONSE SET

Question 15

How to order questions in the questionnaire

Answer 15

– Question order effects are real. An order effect happens when
answers to a question affects response to later questions.

– Questionnaires should begin with a set of very interesting questions
to generate respondent interest in the study.

Question 16

Why and who pretests questionnaires?

Answer 16

• need to identify issues before “going live”
• should be tested on respondents who are similar to the kinds of people who will respond to the questionnaire in the real investigation

Question 17

How are self-administered questionnaire surveys done?

Answer 17

they are most often administered by mail, but can also be administered to a group of respondents

another strategy is the “drop off/pick up” approach

Question 18

Process of mail surveys

Answer 18

• arrangements should be made in mail surveys for the questionnaire to be returned at the researchers expense
• the researcher needs to monitor the return of questionnaires, this allows for follow up mailings to be sent out as well as the calculation of response rates
• follow up mailings are essential in mail surveys. two follow-ups mailed two or three weeks apart are best

Question 19

What advantages do interviews have over self administered questionnaire surveys?

Answer 19

they tend to have higher response rates, they decrease the number of “idk” and “no answer” responses, they help correct confusing items, and they provide the opportunity to observe the social situation in which the data are obtained

Question 20

What are interviewer “musts”?

Answer 20

• must be neutral
• must have pleasant demeanor
• must dress in a manner similar to the person being interviewed
• must be familiar with the questionnaire being used
• must read questions as worded and record responses exactly
• must be good at probing incomplete answers
• must be thoroughly trained and monitored by supervisors
• must be taught how to handle difficult and confusing situations

Question 21

What do telephone interview surveys save?

Answer 21

money and time

Question 22

What may respondents be more willing to give over phone rather than in person?

Answer 22

socially disapproved or embarrassing responses

Question 23

what is known about safety concerns when interviewing over phone?

Answer 23

they have less safety concerns rather than having to enter unsafe communities, etc.

Question 24

What makes the obtainment of an acceptable response rate challenging for phone interviews?

Answer 24

they can hang up

Question 25

What is necessary to gain access to respondents with unlisted phone numbers?

Answer 25

(RDD) random digit dialing

Question 26

Why is the obtainment of representative populations for phone surveys growing increasingly difficult?

Answer 26

because most cell phone numbers are excluded from telephone sampling frames

some households are now “cell phone only households”

Question 27

how has telemarketing influenced people?

Answer 27

it has made people less willing to participate in phone surveys, many people assume that a survey is a hidden attempt to sell products and services

Question 28

What is CATI and why do we use it?

Answer 28

• computer-assisted telephone interviewing

- telephone surveys usually use computers to enhance reliability and validity

Question 29

What is increasingly using computers?

Answer 29

computer-assisted face-to-face (personal) interviewing

Question 30

What is the chief problem with web-based surveys?

Answer 30

-obtaining a sample of respondents that is representative of the population of interest. web surveys tend to have response rates similar to what are obtained in mail surveys

Question 31

Relative advantages overall

Answer 31

–self administered surveys are less expensive to carry out, faster to complete, and are especially appropriate when the survey is not about sensitive topics

–interviews tend to lead to more complete data and higher response rates, but are expensive and take a lot of time to complete. interviews are especially appropriate for topics that are complicated. Interviews can also be carried out when all one has is a sampling frame of addresses

Question 32

strengths of surveys over other methods

Answer 32

• -better when one wishes to describe the characteristics of large populations
• -flexible and the use of standardized procedures and questions enhances reliability

Question 33

weaknesses of surveys over other methods

Answer 33

–standardization often results in the investigator using closed-ended questions, overlooking other appropriate responses to questions

–in short, surveys are weak on validity but strong on reliability

Question 34

secondary analysis of survey data

Answer 34

–survey researchers often do not have the resources to carry out their own large-scale surveys. for this reason, they may rely on secondary analysis of survey data gathered for other purposes

–secondary data analysis is low cost

–a key problem of secondary data analysis is validity. data collected for one purpose may not always be relevant to another researchers interests. a question asked in the original study, for example, might be different than how the secondary data analyst would have asked it if she/he had the resources to carry out a survey