Lecture 9 Flashcards
Open ended questions are more frequently used in
qualitative or quantitative studies?
qualitative
These questions are useful in gathering data and standardizing responses, but there is a danger that none of the choice responses really applies to the respondent. In addition, the researcher’s own prejudices may be imposed on the respondent.
closed-ended
“The state should abandon its community based
services and spend the money on improving institutional care” is an example of which type of question?
Double-barreled: There are two unstated assumptions behind this question
Respondents must be ________ and ________ to answer, otherwise the random error will increase and also because anonymity may produce better results for certain questions
competent; willing
Answers to the question should be exclusive (ie; two options should not be similar). Give an of a type of question where that isn’t the case:
Example:
Choosing the name for the city when Port Arthur and Fort William amalgamated. Options were:
- Lakehead
- The Lakehead
- Thunder Bay
30% of respondents voted for 1), 30% of respondents voted for 2) and 40% voted for Thunder Bay. Essentially, more voters preferred a name closer to (the) Lakehead than the one that was ultimately chosen.
Why are short items best?
In general, you should assume that respondents will read items quickly and give quick answers (from textbook)
Why should we avoid negatively worded items?
The appearance of the word no or not in a questionnaire item paves the way for easy misinterpretation.
Textbook example:
“Engaging in the EBP process will not improve one’s practice.” should instead be worded as “Engaging in the EBP process hinders the
practitioner-client relationship.”
See also: acquiescent response set (Chapter 8). The acquiescent response set is the tendency of a responder to agree or say ‘yes’ to the presented items
From textbook: in assessing the attitudes of community residents about a halfway house proposed for their neighborhood, we would not ask if residents agreed with prominent clergy in supporting the facility. Likewise, we would not ask whether they endorsed “humanitarian” proposals to care for the needy in the community. What would this be an example of?
Questions that encourage respondents to answer in a particular way are called biased. Biased items and terms must be avoided
items that are clear in one culture may not be clear in another; we cannot assume that they will be reliable and valid when used with other cultures.
what is cultural sensitivity
These types of questions have two attributes such as ”Male” and “Female”; “Yes” or “No”.
Binomial questions (variables)
Define multinomial questions (also called categorical variables)
more than two attributes, such as “Low income”,
“Middle income” and “High income”.
Continuous variables contain more information
than categorical variables (multinomial) and can be recoded into other types of variables. Give some examples:
age, income, distance
A _________ is a research instrument with a
series of questions for gathering information
from respondents
questionnaire
What is a contingency question?
a question that is answered only if the respondent gives a particular response to a previous question. Example: If [yes] to owning a car, do you pay for a parking permit on campus?
Describe matrix questions
“Identical response categories are placed to
multiple questions. This questions are positioned
one under the other, forming a matrix with
response categories on the top and a list of
questions down the side. This is an efficient use
of space and respondents’ time.”
