survey research

Question 1

why are surveys useful?

Answer 1

• normative data often available allowing comparison
• used in experimental, correlational and qualitative research
• operationalise abstract constructs
• collect both qual and quan data
• can be used to gather retrospective data, present data, future research, all to collect demographic information on participants (e.g age etc)

Question 2

what are the main 2 purposes of surveys?

Answer 2

INFORMATION GATHERING - exploratory or descriptive
THEORY BUILDING AND TESTING- - exploratory or predictive

Question 3

when do researchers design a new questionnaire?

Answer 3

• When there is no established tool already existing to measure the phenomena of interest
• When the reliability or validity of other tool is limited
• Do the established measures already when we’re looking at? – to avoid ‘jangles’ (different labels for essentially the same thing)

Question 4

What is the purpose of this survey?
A mental health survey of prisoners entering a prison is conducted along with a subsequent health monitoring to identify prisoners at risk of suicide

Answer 4

the purpose of this survey is predictive

Question 5

What is the purpose of this survey?
A researcher conducts an IQ scale in school to determine levels of literacy

Answer 5

the purpose of this survey is descriptive

Question 6

What is the purpose of this survey?
A researcher administers a happiness survey and personality survey to examine the hypothesis that extroverts are happier than introverts

Answer 6

the purpose of this survey is exploratory

Question 7

What is the purpose of this survey?
A researcher interviews individual living in a religious commune in order to learn about the psychological characteristics of cults

Answer 7

the purpose of this survey is exploratory

Question 8

What will a good questionnaire include?

Answer 8

• clear instructions at the start - reliability purposes
• questions should have a logical order and be accessible to all
• screening - ppt should be eligible to the Qs
• should be concise
• should have appropriate response options

Question 9

what are the pros and cons of open questions?

Answer 9

PROS
more rich in detail
don’t impose assumptions
more useful for descriptive, exploratory work
CONS
longer and more difficult to complete
harder to analyse and subject to personal interpretation

Question 10

what are the pros and cons of closed questions?

Answer 10

PROS
quick
easy to analyse objectively
easy comparison
useful for exploratory or predictive work
CONS
can impose assumption - doesn’t capture diversity of opinion
oversimplify complex issues
response ppt wants to include may not be included

Question 11

what key things you should be avoided when writing questionnaire questions?

Answer 11

avoid double-barreled questions (address more than one topic)
avoid ambiguity
avoid negations/negative lang
avoid leading questions
avoid jargon or technical terms

Question 12

how can researchers control response bias in questionnaires?

Answer 12

• can identify social desirability bias was a lie or social desirability scale
• can control acquiescence by using both positively and negatively worded questions (forces reading and contradiction detection)

Question 13

what are the differences between dichotomous and continuous rating scales?

Answer 13

D - one response
A - multiple response options, usually have to choose one but sometimes have to choose multiple

Question 14

when are rating scales used in questionnaires?

Answer 14

to measure attitudes

Question 15

what should researchers take into consideration when designing a likert scale?

Answer 15

• ensure equal spacing of response options -i.e the two most extreme options on with end of the scale should be of the same strength
• response acquiescence risk
• Potential introduction of double negative when trying to control acquiescence
• should be there an inclusion of a neural response

Question 16

what is a non-verbal scale question and when are they useful?

Answer 16

• Point the face that shows your answer (scale which ranges from a happy face to a sad face)
• Useful for children or those with impairments

Question 17

what is a ranking scale question?

Answer 17

• Measures the relative importance of several items
  o Ppt have to rank options from most to least important to them in response to the Q

Question 18

what is a graphic rating scale question?

Answer 18

• Ps ask to mark along a continuous line how they feel about something
• Line is anchored at either end e.g ‘very happy’ to ‘not happy at all’

Question 19

what is a semantic differential scale question?

Answer 19

• More indirect measurement of attitude
  o Doesn’t assume attitude is a cognitive belief
• Respondents indicate thoughts and feelings by marking a response on scale between two opposite adjectives

Question 20

how can researchers ensure the highest response rates possible when designing questionnaires?

Answer 20

o keeping questionnaires short, simple and clear
o offering an incentive
o sending reminders

Question 21

what will happen if a questions has too few response options?

Answer 21

little data, low sensitivity

Question 22

what will happen if a questions has too many response options?

Answer 22

low reliability as people will get confused

Question 23

what are psychometrics?

Answer 23

science of measuring psychological constructions

Question 24

how is the reliability of a questionnaire assessed?

Answer 24

temporal consistency (extent to which our tool would give same results under same conditions) and internal consistency (extent the tool is measuring the construct we’re interested in)

Question 25

how is the validity of a questionnaire assessed?

Answer 25

construct validity - does the construct actually exists? - measured through cumulative research over time, convergent and discriminant validity
psychometric tests - standardised tests used to measure something, results published as an inventory for comparison