question

Surveys

answer

may be used for descriptive, explanatory and exploratory purposes

question

Respondents

answer

a person who provides data for analysis by responding to a survey questionnaire

question

Careful probability sampling

answer

provides a group of respondents whose characteristics may be taken to reflect those of the larger population, and carefully constructed standardized questionnaires provide data in the same form from all respondents

question

Survey Research

answer

best method available to the social scientist s interested in collecting original data for describing a population too large to observe directly

question

Questionnaire

answer

a document containing questions and other types of items designed to solicit information appropriate to analysis. Used primarily in survey research

question

Open ended questions

answer

questions to which respondents are asked to provide their own answers. Qualitative in depth interviewing heavily relies on these, but they are sometimes used in other forms of data collections such as telephone surveys and self administered questionnaires

question

Close ended questions

answer

questions to which the respondent is asked to select an answer from among a list provided by the researcher. These are popular in research because they provide greater uniformity of responses and are more easily processed than open ended questions

question

Open ended questions must

answer

must be coded before they can be processed for computer analysis

question

Open ended question responses

answer

must be interpreted by the researcher, opening the possibility of misunderstanding and researcher bias, another danger is that some respondents will give answers irrelevant to the researchers intent

question

Close ended responses

answer

can be directly transmitted into a computer format

question

Chief shortcoming of close ended questions

answer

lies in researchers structuring of responses. When the relevant answer to a given question are relatively clear, there should be no problem. In other case, however, the researchers structuring of responses may overlook some important responses

question

Structural Requirements for close ended questions

answer

response categories provided should be exhaustive: they should include all possible responses that might be expected (ensured by other: please specify). The answer categories must be mutually exclusive: the respondent should not be compelled to select more than one

question

Avoid Double Barreled Questions

answer

researchers must not ask for a single answer to a question that has multiple parts

question

Respondent Requirements

answer

must answer reliably, must be willing to answer

question

Questions

answer

should be relevant, ideally we would like respondents to simply report that they do not know, have no opinion or are undecided in instances where that is the case

question

Short Items are best

answer

long and complicated items should be avoided, should be able to read them quickly, understand the intent and select or provide an answer without full difficulty

question

Negative Items

answer

the appearance of negation in a questionnaire item paves the way for easy misinterpretation

question

Loaded Questions or Leading Questions

answer

questions containing bias, the use of certain wording can affect the outcome of responses, the true meaning of ones responses to a question depends in large part on its wording

question

Bias

answer

refers to any property of questions that encourages respondents to answer in a particular way. The quality of a measurement device that tends to result in a misinterpretation of what is being measured in a particular direction

question

Social Desirability

answer

answering a question that will make one look good, especially if interviewed face to face

question

General Questionnaire Format

answer

should be spread out and uncluttered

question

Inexperienced Researchers

answer

worry that their survey will be too long, as a result, squeeze several questions into a single line, abbreviate questions, and try to use as few pages as possible

question

Formats for Respondents

answer

boxes adequately spaced apart are the best format

question

Contingency questions

answer

a survey question, only intended for some respondents, determined by their responses to some other question, arises when researchers wish to ask a series of questions about a specific topic

question

Advantages of Matrix Questions

answer

it uses space efficiently, respondents will probably find it faster to complete a set of questions presented in this fashion

question

Ordering Items in a Questionnaire

answer

can affect responses, the appearance of one question can affect the answers given in later ones

question

Prevented by randomization

answer

the effort is usually futile. Int he first place, a randomized set of items will probably strike respondents to answer because they must continually switch their attention from one topic to another

question

Questionnaire Instructions

answer

should contain clear instructions and introductory comment where appropriate, useful to begin with basic instructions

question

Pretesting the questionnaire

answer

pretest the questionnaire in full or in part, give questionnaire to a diverse set of ten people, it is not usually essential that the pretest subjects comprise of representative sample, although you should use people to whom the questionnaire is least relevant

question

Precoding

answer

because the information collected by questionnaires is generally transformed into some sort of computer format, it is usually appropriate to include data processing instructions on the questionnaire itself, these instructions indicate where specific pieces of information will be store in the machine readable data files

question

Basic Method of Mail Distribution and Return

answer

send questionnaire accompanied by a letter of explanation and a self-addressed, stamped envelope

question

Strategy for Easy Return

answer

self mailing questionnaire requires no return envelope: when the questionnaire is folded in a particular way, the return address appears to be on the outside, respondent does not need to worry about losing the envelope

question

Monitoring Survey Returns

answer

rate return graph: best to compile two graphs, one shows the number returned each day, the second reports the cumulative number or percentage

question

Returned Questionnaires

answer

opened, scanned and assigned an identification number. Numbers should be assigned serially as the questionnaires are returned.

question

Serialized ID numbers

answer

can be valuable in estimating nonresponse biases in the survey

question

Follow Up Mailings: simple

answer

non-respondents are sent a letter of additional encouragement to participate

question

Follow Up Mailings: better method

answer

send a new copy of the survey questionnaire with a follow up letter

question

Effects of follow up mailings

answer

seen in the response rate curves recorded during data collection. The initial mailings will be followed by a rise and subsequent subsiding of returns; the follow up mailings will spur a resurgence of returns; and more follow ups will do the same

question

Response rate

answer

the number of people participating in a survey divided by the number selected in the sample, in the form of percentage. This is also called the completion rate or, in self administered surveys, the return rate: the percentage of questionnaires sent out that are returned

question

Interview

answer

a data collection encounter in which one person asks questions of another

question

Advantages of questionnaire administered by Interviewer

answer

interview surveys typically obtain higher response rates than mail surveys, respondents more reluctant to turn down an interviewer, decreases \"I don't knows\"

question

Interviewer

answer

serves as a guard against confusing questionnaire items, if the respondent misunderstands the intent of the question or indicates that he/she does not understand, the interviewer can clarify matters, obtaining relevant responses

Surveys Survey Research Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards