Deck 13: Designing the Data Collection Form

Question 1

A person's ability to remember an event is NOT influenced by the

A) length of time since the event.
B) the event itself.
C) stimulus used to facilitate recall.
D) the importance attached to the event.
E) the gender of the respondent.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

For long reference periods, which of the following is FALSE?

A) Telescoping error is relatively small.
B) Recall loss is relatively large.
C) Telescoping error may outweigh recall loss.
D) The two effects -- recall loss and telescoping error -- counterbalance each other.
E) Recall loss may outweigh telescoping error.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following is(are) useful in deciding what information will be sought in the development of a questionnaire?

A) Randomized response model
B) "Dummy tables" used to structure data analysis
C) The hypotheses
D) Both a and b above.
E) Both b and c above.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Which of the following does NOT affect a respondent's willingness to produce a response?

A) Amount of work involved.
B) The person's ability to articulate an answer.
C) The sensitivity of the issue.
D) The individual's ability to remember the event.
E) All of the above affect a respondent's willingness to provide a response.

Question 5

A researcher is interested in obtaining information from a respondent about a purchase event that occurred recently. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) The telescoping effect is larger while recall loss effect is smaller.
B) The recall loss effect is larger while the telescoping effect is smaller.
C) The telescoping effect and recall loss effect are about the same.
D) Both a and c are false.
E) Both b and c are false.

Question 6

"Did you vote in the last presidential election?" is an example of which of the following question types?

A) Filter question
B) Leading question
C) Multichotomous question
D) Double-barreled question
E) Telescoping question

Question 7

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) In forming a question for a questionnaire, a question should be worded so as to secure an answer with only the required detail, not so as to generate additional information.
B) It is wise to break one question into two when different frames of reference could be used by the respondent.
C) The open-ended question is often employed as the beginning question in that it can provide insight into the respondent's frame of reference.
D) When determining if the individual has the necessary information, the researcher should take into account how important the event was likely to be to the individual and how long ago it took place.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 8

When determining the method of administration, it's important to remember that choice of method will influence

A) number and type of questions.
B) question sequencing.
C) wording of questions.
D) response categories.
E) All of the above.

Question 9

When determining content of individual questions, in general you want to capture the needed data using

A) the same question multiple times, but worded differently.
B) as few questions as possible.
C) generalizations and estimates.
D) sophisticated language, words and phrases.
E) All of the above.

Question 10

You have a need to determine if a respondent is actually a member of the population being studied. Which type of question would you use to do that?

A) Open-ended question
B) Leading question
C) Filter question
D) Dichotomous question
E) Double-barreled question

Question 11

The first step in designing a questionnaire is to

A) determine the type of questionnaire and method of administration.
B) specify what information will be sought.
C) determine the content of individual questions.
D) determine the form of response to each question.
E) determine the wording of each question.

Question 12

Which of the following would NOT be an appropriate technique to use when asking sensitive questions?

A) Hide the question in a group of more innocuous questions.
B) Alert the respondent by stating clearly that the subsequent question is of a sensitive nature.
C) Phrase the question in terms of other people and how they may feel or act.
D) Leave sensitive questions until the end of the questionnaire.
E) Maintain the security of the information you collect.

Question 13

Which of the following is FALSE?

A) Respondents tend to answer questions even when they do not possess the necessary information to give reasonable answers.
B) Some questionnaire studies fail because the respondent is willing but unable to provide the information needed.
C) A respondent may be more willing to provide information to a researcher if he or she is capable of articulating answers to the researcher's questions.
D) Any response given by the respondent is good.
E) Offering an incentive often affects the respondent's willingness to participate.

Question 14

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) In the randomized response model, the interviewer must know which question is being answered to determine how many people answered the sensitive question in the affirmative.
B) Behavior can be linked to demographic characteristics when using the randomized response model.
C) Recall loss is a term used to describe the situation in which respondents, for whatever reasons, forget important events that have occurred recently.
D) Generally speaking, the more a respondent has to work to provide an answer to a researcher's question, the higher the quality of the answer.
E) All of the above are false.

Question 15

Which of the following is FALSE?

A) There is a definite increase in claimed awareness when a respondent's memory is jogged using a recognition measure rather than an aided recall measure.
B) One thing that affects a respondent's willingness to provide an answer is the amount of work involved in producing it.
C) The only historically successful way of asking about a sensitive issue is to state that the behavior or attitude is not unusual before asking the specific questions of the respondent.
D) In general it is better to address sensitive issues later, rather than earlier, in the survey.
E) The randomized response model is sometimes used to secure sensitive information.

Question 16

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) A "filter" question can be used to determine if a questionnaire respondent is familiar with a certain topic.
B) Any questionnaire response is a good response.
C) Telescoping error refers to the fact that people tend to remember only events that have occurred rather recently.
D) An optimal reference period used for framing questions is about one year.
E) All of the above are false.

Question 17

John thought his exam was last week when it was actually three weeks ago. This is an example of

A) implicit alternatives.
B) funnel error.
C) response latency.
D) telescoping error.
E) recall loss.

Question 18

In determining the type of questionnaire and the method of administration the researcher need not specify

A) precisely what primary data are needed.
B) how these data might be collected.
C) what degree of structure will be used.
D) what degree of disguise is warranted.
E) the method of statistical analysis to be used.

Question 19

Information that the respondent has forgotten creates a type of error called

A) telescoping.
B) response latency.
C) recall loss.
D) systematic error.
E) random error.

Question 20

A researcher developing a questionnaire becomes aware of an interesting additional relationship that could be investigated at very little cost and effort by adding an additional item to the questionnaire. He knows that this is not vital to his present research purpose. He should

A) investigate it to a limited extent.
B) forget it.
C) evaluate the cost.
D) investigate it carefully.
E) investigate it, as this is likely to reduce sampling error.

Question 21

One method of handling potentially embarrassing questions uses

A) branching questions.
B) the telescoping technique.
C) fixed alternatives.
D) item nonresponse.
E) the randomized-response model.

Question 22

"Order bias" refers to the

A) potential for responses to be affected by the sequence in which the response alternatives are presented.
B) tendency of individuals to order their thoughts in a chronological manner.
C) desire of individuals to live in an "ordered world."
D) tendency of respondents to follow literally the instructions given by an interviewer.
E) tendency of respondents to complete questions in the order they are presented by an interviewer.

Question 23

An open-ended question can be used to

A) seek factual information from a respondent.
B) allow respondents to reply in their own words.
C) uncover motivations and rich descriptions of feelings and attitudes.
D) All of the above.
E) a and c

Question 24

The following is an example of a(n)______________.

A) double-barreled question
B) leading question
C) ambiguous question
D) implied alternative
E) fixed-alternative response

Question 25

A question that cues the respondent to the desired answer is

A) leading.
B) double-barreled.
C) multichotomous.
D) dichotomous.
E) open-ended.

Question 26

The question, "Are you in favor of the free-choice policy for determining which school your child attends?" is an example of a(n)

A) explicit alternative.
B) double-barreled question.
C) implicit assumption.
D) leading question.
E) classification question.

Question 27

The most versatile type of question format to obtain answers from respondents is the

A) dichotomous question.
B) multiple-choice question.
C) open-ended question.
D) true-false question.
E) multichotomous question.

Question 28

Some of the problems with using close-ended questions include which of the following?

A) None of the possible response alternatives may capture the respondent's true beliefs.
B) Response categories must be truly exhaustive.
C) Response categories must be mutually exclusive.
D) Some respondents may not have an opinion.
E) All of the above.

Question 29

A split-ballot refers to

A) the practice of using different phrasing or different orders for the alternatives on subsets of questionnaires to combat order bias.
B) the practice of splitting the questionnaire responses in half for more accurate analysis.
C) an administrative procedure in state elections.
D) averaging in scale construction.
E) None of the above.

Question 30

Which of the following is FALSE?

A) The order in which response alternatives appear can change the results on a survey question.
B) Item nonresponse invalidates the results of a research project.
C) When designing questionnaires it is good to keep in mind that many people have difficulty with relatively simple tasks.
D) A leading question is one formed so as to give the respondent a clue as to how he or she should answer.
E) Just about any kind of information can be gathered using open-ended questions.

Question 31

The best way to insure that the response categories offered in a fixed-alternative question are exhaustive is to

A) provide an "other" category.
B) provide a space for respondents to write in their answer, such as "e. ."
C) use at least ten categories.
D) use at least fifteen categories.
E) do extensive prior research before formulating the response categories.

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT true about the randomized-response model?

A) The particular question asked is selected at random.
B) The interviewer does not know which question the respondent is answering.
C) The probability of the sensitive question asked is not known.
D) The probability of the "innocuous" event occurring is known.
E) It uses quantitative analysis.

Question 33

The question, "Do you exercise often? seldom? sometimes?" is

A) leading.
B) concrete.
C) ambiguous.
D) contains an implied alternative.
E) contains an implied assumption.

Question 34

Which of the following statements is INCORRECT with respect to the randomized-response model?

A) The respondent answers one of several paired questions at random.
B) The interviewer knows which question is being answered by the respondent.
C) It is not possible to link responses to the paired questions with other responses such as demographic characteristics.
D) The respondent is less likely to refuse to answer or to answer untruthfully if the randomized-response model is used.
E) Answers to sensitive questions are more likely to be truthful.

Question 35

Which of the following are potential causes of item nonresponse?

A) Poorly worded questions
B) Questions that are misunderstood
C) Sensitive questions
D) Questions that are misinterpreted
E) All of the above.

Question 36

The best type of question to use to uncover motivations and rich descriptions of feelings and attitudes is

A) leading.
B) closed-ended.
C) fixed-alternative.
D) open-ended.
E) projective.

Question 37

The use of a "no opinion" option in fixed-alternative response questions is

A) not necessary, because individuals will always express an opinion.
B) recommended by all leading authorities on questionnaire design.
C) not recommended since it allows individuals to "take the easy way out."
D) appropriate if pretesting or exploratory research reveals that 20-25% of the respondents either don't know or don't hold an opinion.
E) not likely to affect the results of the survey.

Question 38

In the randomized response model, which of the following questions would NOT be appropriate for pairing with this question: "Have you ever shoplifted?"

A) "Were you born prior to 1960?"
B) "Do you cheat on your income taxes?"
C) "Is your birthday in September?"
D) "Are you male or female?"
E) All of the above could be paired with the question.

Question 39

Item nonresponse refers to

A) deception on the part of a respondent.
B) respondent refusing to answer a question.
C) respondent incorrectly answering a question.
D) deception on the part of the researcher.
E) poor phrasing of a question.

Question 40

What is wrong with this question? "What is your annual income?" (please check)
$10,000-$25,000
$25,000-$40,000
$40,000-$55,000
$55,000-$70,000

A) The categories are not of equal ranges.
B) The alternatives are not realistic.
C) The categories are not mutually exclusive.
D) The categories are too broad.
E) The categories are too narrow.

Question 41

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) Branching questions are easy to develop for a mail questionnaire.
B) Sequence bias is potentially more of a problem in telephone interviews than in mail questionnaires.
C) With the exception of mail surveys, it is generally appropriate to number the questions on a questionnaire.
D) The physical appearance of a questionnaire is especially influential in securing cooperation to studies done by mail.
E) All of the above are false.

Question 42

"Please indicate your opinion on congressional spending and tax reform." This question

A) would be a good opening question for a survey.
B) uses the funnel approach.
C) contains an implicit assumption.
D) is double-barreled.
E) is dichotomous.

Question 43

Which of the following is FALSE?

A) When using the funnel approach to questionnaire design, the researcher will start with broad questions and progressively narrow the scope of further questions.
B) Classification information is the heart of the survey and is so called because it will be classified into the appropriate categories of the dummy tables.
C) Target information should be secured first and classification information last.
D) In dealing with sensitive issues when designing a questionnaire, the preferred alternative is to avoid these types of questions altogether, if at all possible.
E) One way of dealing with sensitive questions is to hide them in a group of more innocuous questions.

Question 44

The "funnel approach" refers to

A) asking simple questions first.
B) a method of data analysis.
C) successively narrowing the focus of related questions.
D) using a funnel as a visual aid when asking sensitive questions in a personal interview.
E) successively broadening the scope of related questions.

Question 45

Which of the following about observational forms is FALSE?

A) When using observational forms, interviewer/observer bias may still be a problem.
B) When constructing an observational form, it is best to loosely define what is to be observed so the observer is free to react to each individual situation.
C) One of the most critical things in designing an observational form is to determine which aspects of the behavior are relevant.
D) A paper-and-pencil observation form assessing purchasing behavior should parallel the logical sequence of the purchase act.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 46

A questionnaire using quality paper and printing techniques

A) is an unnecessary expense.
B) reflects the importance of the study.
C) is unimportant in gaining respondent cooperation.
D) is unimportant to questionnaire design.
E) causes mistrust in the respondent.

Question 47

The purpose of a dummy table is to

A) create a place to store data collected during the study.
B) make sure that the study questionnaire is so simple to understand that even a "dummy" could respond.
C) show how the results of the analysis will be presented.
D) predict the outcome of the study.
E) All of the above.

Question 48

Which of the following is NOT included in the recruiting message?

A) Who you are.
B) Your request for help.
C) How long the survey will take.
D) Demographic questions.
E) Any incentives the respondent may receive.

Question 49

The question in a restaurant survey, "What is your evaluation of the speed and courtesy of your waitperson?" is an example of a(n)

A) unambiguous question.
B) branching question.
C) double-barreled question.
D) generalization.
E) redundant question.

Question 50

What type of question is the following: "Do you feel that the quality of electronics manufactured in America are as good as those manufactured in Japan?"

A) Double-barreled question
B) Leading question
C) Ambiguous question
D) Sensitive question
E) All of the above.

Question 51

In general, it is ideal to capture the needed data using as few questions as possible.

Question 52

When utilizing observational methods of data collection, which of the following should be specified by the researcher?

A) Who should be observed?
B) What aspects of the purchase should be reported?
C) When should the observations be made?
D) Where should the observations be made?
E) All of the above.

Question 53

The question "How much was the price per gallon of gasoline when you last purchased it at a full-service service station?" should be avoided because it

A) is beyond the respondent's ability or experience.
B) uses a specific example to represent a general case.
C) asks respondents for specifics when only generalities are likely to be remembered.
D) is a double barreled question.
E) There is nothing wrong with the question.

Question 54

The question, "How would you judge the price and quality of this product?" is

A) double-barreled.
B) leading.
C) contains an implied alternative.
D) contains an implied assumption.
E) forces generalization on the part of the respondent.

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT true about question sequencing?

A) The first few questions should be simple and interesting to respondents.
B) Narrow questions should be asked first and the questions should get progressively broader.
C) Classification information should be asked last.
D) Target information, which deal with the topic of the study, should be asked first.
E) Questions on sensitive issues should be asked later.

Question 56

Which of the following statements about leading questions is NOT true?

A) They can result from accidents by careless researchers.
B) They can be an indicator of advocacy research.
C) They can represent an intentional attempt to manipulate a study's results.
D) When used intentionally, they are excellent filter questions.
E) They are written in such a way that they basically tell respondents what answer to provide.

Question 57

A pretest of the questionnaire is useful for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

A) to assess individual questions.
B) to assess sequence of questions.
C) to determine interviewer problems with questions.
D) to determine if data collected are suitable for analysis.
E) a pretest is useful for all of the above reasons.

Question 58

Observation forms are generally easier to construct because

A) they need not follow a logical pattern.
B) they rely on observer judgment to determine response categories.
C) response categories need not be exhaustive.
D) the question and the way it is asked will not influence the respondent's actions.
E) response categories need not be multichotomous in nature.

Question 59

Which of the following is TRUE when it comes to best practices for determining wording of questions?

A) Use simple words
B) Use leading questions
C) Use unstated alternatives
D) Use assumed consequences
E) Use generalizations and estimates

Question 60

It's important to decide on a method of administration as early as possible, because choice of method will influence
the number and types of questions, wording and response categories, question sequencing and so forth.

Question 61

Telescoping error is the tendency to remember an event as having occurred more recently than it did.

Question 62

The tendency for earlier questions to affect respondent's answers to later questions is called question order bias.

Question 63

There is nothing wrong with the following question: "Do you believe McDonald's has fair prices, quality food, and excellent service?"

Question 64

For many events and behaviors, the best reference time frame to avoid recall loss seems to be between two months to one half year.

Question 65

The______________question doesn't permit individuals to explain their true position.

Question 66

The questionnaire pretest serves the same role in a questionnaire design that test marketing serves in new product development.

Question 67

______________ questions are regularly used at the start of interviews or questionnaires to determine whether the respondent is actually a member of the population being studied.

Question 68

There is nothing wrong with the following question: "Do you favor or disapprove of increased military spending next year, which, as you know, can protect our interests abroad and help us fight the war on terrorism."

Question 69

Information that the respondent has forgotten creates a type of error called______________.

Question 70

The______________technique is the recommended procedure for dealing with response order bias.

Question 71

______________ refers to the potential for responses to be affected by the sequence in which alternatives are presented.

Question 72

Open-ended questions are generally used only at the end of the questionnaire.

Question 73

The words occasionally, sometimes, regularly and often are considered ambiguous.

Question 74

There is nothing wrong with the following question: "How much do you think you would pay for a pair of sunglasses that will protect your eyes from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, which are known to cause blindness?"

Question 75

Words like any, anybody, best, could, and ever are good words to use in a questionnaire.

Question 76

Data collection should never begin until you have pre-tested the questionnaire.

Question 77

Sensitive questions should always be put first in a questionnaire.

Question 78

A question that calls for two responses and creates confusion for the respondent is called a(n)
____________________ question.

Question 79

The most versatile type of question format used by researchers is the______________question.

Question 80

A(n)______________question is framed so as to give the respondent a clue as to how he or she should answer.