Exam 2 - Chapter 7 (Survey Research)

Question 1

Purposes of surveys

Answer 1

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!!

Question 2

3 Types of Survey Questions

Answer 2

1. **Facts and Demographics **(share personal knowledge abt self + world)
2. Attitudes and Beliefs: (these focus on the way people evaluate and think about issues)
3. Behaviors: (ask people about their past behaviors or their intended future behaviors).

Question 3

Why is Wording important in a questionnaire?

Answer 3

The validity of a questionnaire based experiment/study depends on the quality of the questions in the survey.

Question 4

Types if Wording Issues

Answer 4

1. Simplicity/complexity
2. Loaded Questions
3. Double-Barreled Questions
4. Negative Wording
5. “Yea-Saying” and “Nay-Saying”

Question 5

Wording Issues: Simplicity/complexity

Answer 5

Survey questions should be relatively simple and straightforward so people can respond to them easily.

Question 6

Wording Issues: Loaded Questions

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Wording Issues: Double-Barreled Questions

Answer 7

Questions that ask two things at once.

• Asking two questions at once may result in two separate attitudes/answers. So ask them separately

Question 8

Wording Issues: Negative wording

Answer 8

Negative wording can create confusion, and result in inaccurate answers.

Question 9

Wording Issues: “Yea-Saying” and “Nay-Saying”

Answer 9

**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

Question 10

EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.

“Professors should not be required to take daily attendance. 1 = (Strongly Disagree) and 5 = (Strongly Agree)

Answer 10

Answer: Negative Wording

Question 11

EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.

“I enjoy studying and spending time with friends on weekends.”

Answer 11

Answer: Double-Barreled Question

Question 12

EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue

“Do you support the legislation that would unfairly tax hard working farmers?”

Answer 12

Answer: Loaded Question

Question 13

EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.

“I would describe myself as attractive and intelligent.”

Answer 13

Answer: Double-Barreled Question

Question 14

EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.

“Do you believe the relationship between cell phone behavior and consumption of fast food is orthogonal?”

Answer 14

Answer: Simplicity/complexity

Question 15

EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.

“Restaurants should not have to be inspected each month.”

Answer 15

Answer: Negative Wording

Question 16

EXAMPLE QUESTION: Identify the wording issue.

“Are you in favor of the boss’s whim to cut lunchtime to 30 minutes”

Answer 16

Answer: Loaded Question

Question 17

What is a: Response Set

Answer 17

Anything that indicates inattentive responses (like a pattern that is unrelated to the questions).

• Example: “Yea-Saying” and “Nay-Saying”

Question 18

Survey Response Types:
(response = Qu format)

Answer 18

• Open-ended vs. Closed-ended responses
• Number of Response Options
• Rating Scales

Additional Textbook Terms:

• Question Grouping
• Labeling Responses

Question 19

Response Types:

Open-ended vs. Closed-ended rResponses

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Response Types:

Number of Response Options

Answer 20

Choosing a good set of options for closed-ended responses + adding an “Other: ___” option that is open-ended

Question 21

Response Types:

Rating Scales

Answer 21

The measure used to quantify an answer on a scale

ie: Rate your hunger:

(low end) Not Hungry—————Extremely Hungry (high end)

Question 22

Response Types:

Question Grouping

Answer 22

Decide order of questions/answers strategically

Question 23

Response Types:

Labeling Responses

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Accuracy of Self-report Measures

Answer 24

• 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.

Question 25

Solution to inaccuracies

Answer 25

• Psychometrics: constructing questionnaires that do what they intend to do
• Real-time questionnaires: Experience-Sampling Methods (ESM) help with memory issues
• Anonymous questionnaires: help with social-desirability
• Multiple items, asking from many angles