Chapter 9 Data Collection Methods

Question 1

Closed-ended questionnaire

Answer 1

1. Type of format in which subjects are asked to select an answer from several choices.
2. Often used in large surveys when questionnaires are mailed to subjects; easily coded.
3. Useful when subjects are not very verbal or articulate.

Question 2

Instrument

Answer 2

1. A device, piece of equipment, or paper-and-pencil test that measures a concept or variable of interest.
2. Consists of a series of items that may be analyzed either as a total score or independently as separate subscales.
3. Scoring guidelines, procedures, and normative data should be included in the instrument and are usually not found in journal articles.

Question 3

Interview schedule

Answer 3

1. List of topics or an open-ended questionnaire administered to subjects by a skilled interviewer. Sometimes referred to as an interview guide.
2. The presence of the interviewer allows for probing of subjects’ responses and decreases the possibility of vague answers.

Question 4

Likert scale

Answer 4

1. Sometimes referred to as a summative scale. Respondents are asked to respond to a series of statements that reflect agreement or disagreement. Most Likert scales consist of five scale points, designated by the words “strongly agree,” “agree,” “undecided,” “disagree,” and “strongly disagree.”
2. Commonly addresses agreement, evaluation, frequency, or importance.
3. Each choice along the scale is assigned a point value, based on the extent to which the item represents a favorable or unfavorable characteristic. The actual values are unimportant as long as the items are consistently scored and follow scoring guidelines.

Question 5

Open-ended questionnaire

Answer 5

1. Type of format in which subjects are asked to provide specific answers to questions.
2. Less common than closed-ended questionnaires, especially when quantitative methods for data analysis are planned; the researcher has less control over subjects’ answers.
3. Responses cannot be analyzed using a computer unless the responses are coded.

Question 6

Q methodology

Answer 6

1. Sorting technique used to characterize opinions, attitudes, or judgments of individuals through comparative rank ordering.
2. An individual is given a set of 40-100 cards containing a series of written items, each on a separate card, and the individual is asked to sort the cards into 5-10 piles according to some scaled criterion. The researcher specifies how many cards go into each pile.
3. Intended to yield a normal distribution of responses, with fewer statements in the extreme category.

Question 7

Questionnaire

Answer 7

1. A structured survey that is self-administered or interviewer administered.
2. Advantages: Can be sent through the mail to reach a large population in a relatively brief time; easily coded and tabulated.
3. Disadvantages: Mailed questionnaires have a low return/response rate (30-60%).

Question 8

Response set bias

Answer 8

1. The tendency for subjects to respond to items on a questionnaire in a way that does not reflect the real situation accurately.
2. Subjects may tend to respond in a socially acceptable way (social desirability response set).
3. To avoid: The researcher may balance the occurrence of positively and negatively worded items (i.e., rewording statements to include the word “not”) on an instrument in order to reduce the tendency for subjects to agree or disagree in a uniform way.

Question 9

Semantic differential scale

Answer 9

1. Set of scales using pairs of adjectives that reflect opposite feelings.
2. Used to measure attitude, beliefs, or both.
3. Scored by assigning values from 1 to 7 to each of the spaces within each adjective pair, with 1 representing the negative extreme and 7 the positive extreme.

Question 10

Scale

Answer 10

1. A set of numerical values assigned to responses that represent the degree to which respondents possess a particular attitude, value, or characteristic.
2. Purpose is to distinguish among people who show different intensities of the entity to be measured.
3. Three common types are Likert, semantic differential, and visual analogue.

Question 11

Survey

Answer 11

1. A method of collecting data to describe, compare, or explain knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors.
2. A series of questions posed to a group of subjects.

Question 12

Visual analogue scale (VAS)

Answer 12

1. Type of scale that measures subjective phenomena (e.g., pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, anxiety). The scale is 100 mm long with anchors at each end quantifying intensity. Subjects are asked to mark a point on the line indicating the amount of the phenomenon experienced at that time.
2. The intensity of the phenomenon is scored by measuring the millimeters from the low end of the scale to the subject’s mark.

Question 13

Qualitative data

Answer 13

1. Can be observed, written, taped, or filmed through unstructured interviews, direct observation, case studies, field notes, diaries, or historical documents.
2. Useful for preliminary investigation of new areas and for understanding the results of quantitative analyses.
3. Advantages: Collecting the data does not require prior knowledge of the subject and individual variation can be recorded in depth.

Question 14

Quantitative data

Answer 14

1. Numerical data that can be used directly (e.g., weight in pounds, height in inches, age in years) or to form categories (e.g., male or female) that can be formulated into counts or tables.
2. Advantages: Data can be analyzed without extreme effort, comparisons can be made, and hypotheses can be tested with well-developed statistical techniques.
3. If data are collected in a standardized, unbiased manner, insights and results may apply to other populations.

Question 15

Quantitative data collection methods include the use of _

Answer 15

Instruments.

Question 16

Guidelines for designing questionnaires

Answer 16

1. Ask questions that are specific rather than general.
2. Use simple language, with a style that is appropriate to the education and knowledge of the respondents.
3. Each question should represent one concept (for example, the question, “Do you wear seat belts when driving your car?” actually asks three questions).
4. Delimit any reference to time (words such as “often” make the question unclear).
5. Phrase questions in as neutral a way as possible (avoid wording that favors a certain answer).

Question 17

Categorical response

Answer 17

1. A type of closed answer that respondents are asked to choose from a limited number of mutually exclusive alternatives.
2. A category of “Other: Specify” can be placed at the end of the list to allow for rare or uncontemplated responses.

Question 18

Continuous response

Answer 18

1. Can accommodate a large range of values, representing a continuum - age, weight, height, blood pressure, etc. Values do not need to be coded.
2. Should specify the unit of measurement used in each value (e.g., ounces) and the level of precision desired (i.e., decimal places).

Question 19

Guidelines for ordering questions

Answer 19

1. Start with the topic that the respondent will consider most useful or important.
2. Group questions that are similar in content and type (e.g., “yes” or “no”).
3. Take advantage of relationships among groups of questions to build continuity throughout the questionnaire.
4. Questions about sensitive topics should be placed about two-thirds of the way into the questionnaire.
5. Demographic questions that the respondent might consider boring or personal should be placed at the end of the questionnaire.

Question 20

Instruments dealing with attitudes about _ are particularly vulnerable to response sets.

Answer 20

Psychological or social issues.

Question 21

Two ways in which the semantic differential scale differs from the Likert scale

Answer 21

1. Only two extremes are labeled.
2. The continuum is based not on agree/disagree but rather on opposite adjectives that express the respondent’s feelings.

Question 22

The method of measurement must closely fit the _ of the variable or concept.

Answer 22

Conceptual definition.

Question 23

Biophysical measures

Answer 23

Quantitative techniques often used in nursing research to measure biological or physiological information - e.g., blood glucose, HbA1C, weight, and BMI.

Question 24

Participant observation

Answer 24

1. Type of qualitative data collection used in ethnographic research. The key element is involvement with subjects in their environment and development of a trusting relationship.
2. Data are collected in an unstructured manner through field notes written in a journal while the researcher directly observes subjects in their natural setting.

Question 25

Focus group interviews

Answer 25

1. Type of interview in which (usually) 6-12 individuals are asked to discuss a particular topic led by a facilitator. May result in more expressive responses due to the perception of “safety in numbers.”
2. The goal is to observe the interactions among focus group members and detect their attitudes, opinions, and solutions to specific topics posed by the facilitator.

Question 26

The use of _ sampling is most often employed when individuals known to have a desired expertise are sought for focus groups.

Answer 26

Purposive.

Question 27

In quantitative studies, data collected usually take the form of _ when being analyzed.

Answer 27

Statistical operations.

Question 28

In qualitative studies, data are elicited through _

Answer 28

Interviews and participant observation.

Question 29

Psychosocial instruments for measuring concepts or phenomena in nursing are the most commonly used _ of data collection.

Answer 29

Quantitative method.

Question 30

Which of the following is not a method of data collection? (Questionnaires; interviews; experiments; observations.)

Answer 30

Experiments.

Question 31

Both open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires are used in research. Which of the following statements is true? (Open-ended questions directly provide quantitative data; Closed-ended questions provide quantitative data; Open-ended questions provide qualitative data; Closed-ended questions directly provide qualitative data.)

Answer 31

Open-ended questions provide qualitative data.

Question 32

An item that directs participants to different follow-up questions depending on their response is called a _

Answer 32

Contingency question.

Question 33

Which of the following is true concerning observations? (It takes less time than self-report measures; It costs less money than self-report measures; It is often not possible to determine exactly why people behave the way they do; all of the above.)

Answer 33

It is often not possible to determine exactly why people behave the way they do.

Question 34

The Hawthorne effect

Answer 34

A type of reactivity that occurs when a person knows they are being watched/observed. Can be reduced through the use of concealment (the person does not know they are being observed) followed by debriefing (the person is informed, and can refuse to allow their data to be included in the study).