week 3

Question 1

What are psychological constructs

Answer 1

ideas, attitudes, concepts that are assumed to exist, at the theoretical level. often involve internal processes and states

Question 2

what are the things to consider when designing questionnaire

Answer 2

quantitative vs qualitative approach
the overall structure of the questionnaire
whether to use open-closed-ended question formats, or a mixture
How to phrase questions
what kind of response scale to use

Question 3

what is the overall structure

Answer 3

short and meaningful title
explain why questions are being asked
provide clear instructions at the start
Don’t being with more sensitive questions
questions on same topic grouped together
straightforward and uncluttered format
consider the complexity of the questions and response options
consider how long it will take to complete

Question 4

Question order recommendations

Answer 4

specific questions should follow on from general
questions should be ordered from easy to difficult
relevant questions should be placed to the front of the questionnaire and sensitive questions should not be among the first few.
demographic questions should be placed at the end of the questionnaire

Question 5

What is priming

Answer 5

responses to later questions can be influenced by earlier questions

Question 6

What is open-ended formats

Answer 6

do not provide participants with predetermined set of answer choices, face-to-face, often one to one, provide qualitative data but could be coded into quantitative data

Question 7

open ended questions advantages and disadvantages

Answer 7

Participant id free to respond as they want; more representative of true opinions, allows for unexpected responses, higher ecological validity
But
sometimes take longer to complete; not suitable for less articulate/tired participants. Difficult to decide where category boundaries should be, difficult to score and therefore compare responses

Question 8

closed-ended formats

Answer 8

Likert items- arranged horizontally, response levels anchored, the labels are symmetrical around a neutral middle, so there is an odd number, typically the number is 5 though sometimes 7, 9, 11 levels used

Question 9

closed-ended questions advantages and disadvantages

Answer 9

easy to complete, easier to compare, score and analyse, forced-choice format reduces ambiguity, less ambiguous answers, fewer coding error
But
more susceptible to design bias, there may be no option for what the participant really thinks, the participant doesn’t have a way to say how they interpret the question

Question 10

Question wording recommendations

Answer 10

use simple language, avoid the use of technical terms
avoid ambiguity
keep the maximum number of words in a question to approximately 20
avoid assumptions
avoid double-barrelled questions
avoid leading questions