Survey Design and Experiments Flashcards
T or F: sampling is an important part of quantitative research
True: especially important when conducting surveys
what is a survey?
a specific type of field study that involves the collection of data from a sample of elements drawn from a well-defined population through the use of a questionnaire
what is the purpose of surveys?
- allow for data collection from a large number of people
- allow for assessment of self-reported traits, attributes, and behaviors
- are reliable means of information gathering
T or F: surveys do not rely on self-report data
FALSE
what is self-report data?
data provided by a study respondent without inference on the part of the research
what is the process of conducting a survey?
1) specify the research problem
2) select a survey design
3) generate questionnaire
4) generate data
5) analyze data
T or F: survey questions should be easy to read and understandable
True
T or F: it’s important to think about “user experience” when designing surveys
True
T or F” a survey should take participants more than 10-12 minutes to complete
False: should not take more than 10-12 minutes to complete
T or F: personally sensitive questions and demographic questions should appear at the beginning of the survey
False: these questions should appear at the end of the survey
When is it acceptable to have personally sensitive question at the beginning of a survey?
when branching or eligibility questions are necessary
What do experiments do?
1) demonstrates whether something is true
2) examines the validity of a hypothesis or theory
3) attempts to discover new information
T or F: experiments are the means by which we detect cause and effect
True
What is a casual relationship between variables?
refers to the researcher’s attempts to determine that one or more variables (independent) have caused the changes in another variable (dependent)
What conditions allow for one variable to cause an effect in another variable?
1) Correlation
2) Time Order
3) Non-Spuriousness
what is correlation?
when variables A and B are related to one another
what is time order?
when changes to variable A result in changes to variable B
what is non-spuriousness?
the relationship between variable A and B must not be explained by a third variable (C)
what is spuriousness?
a relationship between variables that seems real, but is explained by the presence of another variable
what is causation?
states that A causes B