Exam 2 - Chapter 7 (Survey Research) Flashcards
Purposes of surveys
surveys/questionnaires serve many purposes, so they come in many forms
Surveys are used to:
- Describe behavior
- Test hypotheses
- Assess psychological health
- Gather information
- Inform policy
- and More!!
3 Types of Survey Questions
- **Facts and Demographics **(share personal knowledge abt self + world)
- Attitudes and Beliefs: (these focus on the way people evaluate and think about issues)
- Behaviors: (ask people about their past behaviors or their intended future behaviors).
Why is Wording important in a questionnaire?
The validity of a questionnaire based experiment/study depends on the quality of the questions in the survey.
Types if Wording Issues
- Simplicity/complexity
- Loaded Questions
- Double-Barreled Questions
- Negative Wording
- “Yea-Saying” and “Nay-Saying”
Wording Issues: Simplicity/complexity
Survey questions should be relatively simple and straightforward so people can respond to them easily.
Wording Issues: Loaded Questions
Questions that set you up to answer in a certain way.
- Questions that include “emotionally charged words” influence how people respond to questions (lead to biased responses)
Common in: Political Surveys & Advertising
Wording Issues: Double-Barreled Questions
Questions that ask two things at once.
- Asking two questions at once may result in two separate attitudes/answers. So ask them separately
Wording Issues: Negative wording
Negative wording can create confusion, and result in inaccurate answers.
Wording Issues: “Yea-Saying” and “Nay-Saying”
**When you ask questions about the same topic consecutive, people tend to *agree with all_ OR disagree with all.
- “Yea-Saying” (or acquiescence): The tendency to agree consistently
- “Nay-Saying”: The tendency to disagree consistently
EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.
“Professors should not be required to take daily attendance. 1 = (Strongly Disagree) and 5 = (Strongly Agree)
Answer: Negative Wording
EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.
“I enjoy studying and spending time with friends on weekends.”
Answer: Double-Barreled Question
EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue
“Do you support the legislation that would unfairly tax hard working farmers?”
Answer: Loaded Question
EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.
“I would describe myself as attractive and intelligent.”
Answer: Double-Barreled Question
EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.
“Do you believe the relationship between cell phone behavior and consumption of fast food is orthogonal?”
Answer: Simplicity/complexity
EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.
“Restaurants should not have to be inspected each month.”
Answer: Negative Wording
EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.
“Are you in favor of the boss’s whim to cut lunchtime to 30 minutes”
Answer: Loaded Question
What is a: Response Set
Anything that indicates inattentive responses (like a pattern that is unrelated to the questions).
- Example: “Yea-Saying” and “Nay-Saying”
Survey Response Types:
(response = Qu format)
- Open-ended vs. Closed-ended responses
- Number of Response Options
- Rating Scales
Additional Textbook Terms:
- Question Grouping
- Labeling Responses
Response Types:
Open-ended vs. Closed-ended rResponses
Open-Ended Questions: ppl can give free-form responses in their own words.
- Much harder for researcher to code & for participant to answer
- BUT they allow for more extensive responses (good for topics that lack research)
Closed-Ended Questions: The participant has a set of responses to choose from. (ie: multiple/multi choice)
- Much easier for researcher to code & for participant to answer
Response Types:
Number of Response Options
Choosing a good set of options for closed-ended responses + adding an “Other: ___” option that is open-ended
Response Types:
Rating Scales
The measure used to quantify an answer on a scale
ie: Rate your hunger:
(low end) Not Hungry—————Extremely Hungry (high end)
Response Types:
Question Grouping
Decide order of questions/answers strategically
Response Types:
Labeling Responses
When using a Rating Scale, sometimes each level needs to be labeled, not just each end of the scale
ie: 1=Not Hungry, 2=Slightly Hungry, 3=hungry, 4=very hungry, 5=Extremely hungry
Accuracy of Self-report Measures
- Problems with the survey (ie: wording issues)
- Inattentive responses
- Memory inaccuracies: people may not remember the true answer
- Social-desirability bias: people may choose to respond in a way that makes them look better.
