Deck 8: How Do Researchers Study Patterns That Span Populations and Categories of Experience Questionnaires and Structured Interviews

Question 1

A study design where researchers collect data through structured interviews or questionnaires is known as ______________.

A) Qualitative research
B) Quantitative research
C) Survey research
D) Secondary analysis

Answer 1

C

Question 2

How do survey researchers introduce controls in their research process?

A) Asking different questions of different types of groups.
B) Asking each respondent the same questions in the same way
C) Probing for more information when information is not clear
D) Asking questions about social characteristics

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which type of survey question asks respondents to act as informants?

A) Personal, factual questions
B) Questions about attitudes and beliefs
C) Factual questions about an entity or event
D) Questions about knowledge

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A survey question that assesses a respondent's grasp of information about a specific topic is a ___________________________

A) Question about knowledge
B) Question about attitudes and beliefs
C) Factual question about an entity or event
D) Question about others

Question 5

Which type of survey question is featured predominately in the General Social Survey?

A) Factual questions about an entity or event
B) Questions about attitudes and beliefs
C) Questions about knowledge
D) Personal, factual questions

Question 6

A researcher wants to understand how much respondents understand about the COVID-19 vaccine. What type of question should they focus on in their survey research?

A) Factual questions about an entity or event
B) Questions about attitudes and beliefs
C) Questions about knowledge
D) Personal, factual questions

Question 7

A data collection method where respondents complete questions and response items without the aid of an interviewer is called a ___________.

A) Questionnaire
B) Structured interview
C) Survey research
D) Analysis of existing data

Question 8

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a structured interview?

A) Interviewer asks questions
B) Questions are closed-ended
C) Questions are asked in the same order
D) All respondents are asked the same questions

Question 9

What types of data collection did Williams use in his study of massively multiplayer online gamers?

A) Structured interviews and questionnaires
B) Participant observation and an online survey
C) Online survey and unobtrusive methods
D) Content analysis

Question 10

Which of the following is not a finding from Williams study of MMOG players.

A) Men and boys were more likely to overreport the hours they spent playing.
B) All players underreported the number of hours they played.
C) Women and girls were more likely to underreport the amount of time they spent playing
D) Girls and women were among the most engaged players.

Question 11

How did Williams measure the number of hours that gamers spent playing?

A) Self-reported questionnaires
B) Playing time recorded by the game
C) Researcher observation of the hours spent in the game and self-report
D) Self-report questionnaires and the hours logged in the game

Question 12

Which of the following is not an advantage of using questionnaires?

A) Low cost to administer
B) Reduced influence of the researcher
C) Appropriate for all participants
D) Quick and convenient

Question 13

Data variations introduced by the interviewer's presence are known as ______________.

A) Interviewer effects
B) Response bias
C) Probing
D) Social desirability

Question 14

Dr. Smith finds that when interviewing men about their views on sexual harassment, their answers are more brief with less detail than when she interviews women. She wonders if men are less forthcoming due to _____________.

A) None of these
B) Response bias
C) Interviewer effects
D) Question wording

Question 15

Which of the following is not a disadvantage of questionnaires for data collection?

A) Respondents are all asked the same questions in the same way
B) Questions and responses must be clear since there is no one to explain or clarify if the respondent doesn't understand
C) There is not an opportunity to probe for more information.
D) It is not always possible to verify who filled out the questionnaire

Question 16

When a respondent has diminishing interest or energy to participate in research this is called _____________.

A) Respondent fatigue
B) Interviewer effects
C) Response bias
D) Social desirability

Question 17

Dr. Silva notices that there are fewer responses and less detailed responses at the end of his questionnaire compared to questions asked earlier. This may be due to ______________.

A) Response bias
B) Question wording
C) Respondent fatigue
D) Social desirability

Question 18

A collection of questions asked during a structured interview with a specified order and consistent wording is called a(n) ___________________.

A) Interview schedule
B) Questionnaire
C) Survey
D) None of these

Question 19

Errors and inaccuracies in data collecting resulting from question and survey design or concerns with social desirability is known as ____________.

A) Interviewer effects
B) Respondent fatigue
C) Poor question writing
D) Response bias

Question 20

Which of the following is not a way that an online format makes the survey experience better for the participants?

A) Showing one question at a time
B) Software packages are widely available
C) Prompting participants to answer questions they missed
D) Saving responses to finish the survey at their own pace

Question 21

The ease that online surveys can be dismissed is an example of

A) Respondent's paranoia about navigating the web
B) A drawback of online surveys
C) An advantage of using electronic software pacakges
D) None of these

Question 22

The response rates for online surveys are ______________.

A) Higher than mailed surveys
B) Lower than telephone and in-person interviews
C) Higher than telephone surveys
D) About the same as in-person interviews

Question 23

"Do you have children under 18" is an example of a __________question?

A) Open-ended
B) Filter
C) Double-barreled
D) Exhaustive

Question 24

How did Sudman and Bradburn describe the survey process?

A) A microsocial system
B) An interaction
C) Iterative
D) None of these

Question 25

The tendency to agree or disagree with a set of questions or items regardless of the content in order to please the researcher is known as

A) Social desirability
B) Response bias
C) Interviewer effects
D) Acquiescence

Question 26

What is method for a researcher to test for acquiescence?

A) Probe for more information
B) Ask questions in the same way for each item
C) Shift from questionnaire to structured interview
D) Include items that call for the opposite response

Question 27

Dr. McCarthy is doing research on people's view on racial discrimination. She notices that respondents seem to be answering in a way that makes them look good do not reflect their actual opinions. This is called _____________.

A) Acquiescence
B) Social desirability
C) Interviewer effects
D) Lack of interest

Question 28

Respondents appear to be rushing through answering survey without reading the questions thoroughly. This is an indication of ____________.

A) Social desirability
B) Interviewer effects
C) Lack of interest
D) Acquiescence

Question 29

Which is the best definition of response errors?

A) Respondents' tendency to align themselves with positive connotations through their responses.
B) Distortions in survey results caused by participants providing false or inaccurate information
C) Respondents' tendency to agree with researchers' questions and perspectives
D) Errors and inaccuracies in data collections resulting from question and survey design

Question 30

Leshem and team discovered an issue with social desirability in their study of political attitudes about the future, peace, and conflict among Israelis and Palestinians. How did they test for this?

A) They matched Palestinian participants with Israeli interviewers.
B) Half of the surveys were administered by an interviewer and half were self-administered.
C) All surveys were administered using an interviewer.
D) Half of the surveys were administered with CAI and half with an online survey.

Question 31

Leshem and team found that when self-administered ____________.

A) Participants expressed a greater willingness to work with Israelis
B) Participants were more committed to the ethos of conflict
C) Participants were less willing to collaborate with Israelis to move towards peace.
D) Participants were much more committed to Palestinian well-being and justice

Question 32

Interview or questionnaire items with a fixed set of possible answers to choose from are called___________________.

A) Closed-ended questions
B) Open-ended questions
C) Filter questions
D) All of these

Question 33

Interview or questionnaire items that allow respondents to formulate their own answers are called___________________.

A) Closed-ended questions
B) Open-ended questions
C) Filter questions
D) All of these

Question 34

"How do you feel about this class" is an example of which type of question?

A) Closed-ended questions
B) Open-ended questions
C) Filter questions
D) Contingent question

Question 35

What type of question is the following: "How satisfied are you with this class? A. Very Satisfied B. Satisfied C. Somewhat Satisfied D. Not Satisfied "

A) Closed-ended questions
B) Open-ended questions
C) Filter questions
D) Contingent question

Question 36

Which of the following is not an example of a benefit of using closed-ended questions?

A) Data collection is straightforward.
B) Closed-ended questions require less interpretation.
C) Preparation for analysis is easier
D) Questions do not vary

Question 37

Which of the following is not an example of a limitation of closed-ended question?

A) Questions may lack authenticity
B) Questions limit comparability
C) Answers may lack spontaneity
D) Fixed-choice categories may be limited

Question 38

A researcher creates the following fixed-response categories for the question "What is your preferred political party?": Republican and Democrat. What is problematic about this question?

A) It is not mutually exclusive
B) It is closed-ended
C) It is not exhaustive
D) None of these

Question 39

A researcher creates the following categories for the question, "How many years have you worked full time? 0-2, 2-4, 4-6, 6-8, 8 or more" What is problematic about this question?

A) It is not mutually exclusive
B) It is closed-ended
C) It is not exhaustive
D) All of these

Question 40

Which of the following is not an advantage of open-ended questions?

A) Open-ended questions allow unexpected responses.
B) Researchers can tap into participants' understanding of issues.
C) Respondents have longer answers.
D) Open-ended questions allow for exploration of a topic.

Question 41

What is problematic about the following question: "Do you agree that welfare payments for the neediest sections of the population are a waste of money?"

A) Double-barreled question
B) Overstretches respondent's memory
C) Confusing phrasing
D) Leading question

Question 42

A respondent who holds an opinion on a topic but select a neutral answer are called ____________.

A) Fence-sitters
B) Non-responders
C) True neutralss
D) Floaters

Question 43

Contrast effects and assimilation effects outcomes of __________.

A) Question order
B) Interviewer effects
C) Statistical analysis
D) Poorly worded questions

Question 44

Which of the following is not true about question ordering?

A) Early questions should be important to participants.
B) Questions that may cause embarrassment should be last in the questionnaire.
C) Questions should be logically grouped together.
D) Respondents should receive the questions in the same order.

Question 45

Data that are not available because a respondent did not answer a question is called ___________.

A) Missing data
B) Response bias
C) Horizontal answers
D) Vertical answers

Question 46

What is not true about probing for more information during an interview?

A) If a participant doesn't understand a question, interviewers can offer clarity.
B) If an answer is incomplete, the interviewer can ask for more information.
C) Probing can introduce issues in the research process if interviewers approach them differently.
D) It is impossible for probes to be identical or standardized.

Question 47

Which of the following is a limitation of telephone interviewing?

A) They can be inaccessible for some respondents or households.
B) Telephone interviewing raises sampling bias.
C) Lack of respondents with any phone access.
D) Lack of response due to people not answering calls from unfamiliar numbers.

Question 48

Pew Research Center reports a decline in telephone response rates from ______ in 1997 to ______ in 2018.

A) 55%; 21%
B) 15%; 3%
C) 80%; 16%
D) 36%; 6%

Question 49

Which of the following is not an advantage of doing a pilot study?

A) Gathering data from a similar population
B) Identifying questions that make participants uncomfortable.
C) Tweak or delete questions that are difficult to understand
D) Gain confidence and experience with the interview schedule

Question 50

Survey research allows sociologists to identify patterns that extend across large populations and categories of people.

Question 51

An advantage of survey research is that you can efficiently collect data from a large number of people in a short amount of time.

Question 52

Because all respondents are asked the same set of questions, researchers can assume that the differences in responses reflect differences between people.

Question 53

A survey question about how much people know about the impact of mask wearing in curbing the spread of disease is an example of a question about attitudes and beliefs.

Question 54

A survey question asking how often people wear a mask in public is an example of a question about attitudes and beliefs.

Question 55

Williams and colleagues (2009) found in their study of 7000 MMOG players that respondents accurately reported the number of hours they were playing online.

Question 56

Williams (2009) and colleagues found that men were more likely than women to underreport their actually number of hours of online gaming.

Question 57

Questionnaires are not impacted by interviewer effects because respondents answers questions on their own.

Question 58

Interviewer effects occur when respondents act or respond differently than they would normally because they are being interviewed.

Question 59

It is generally not a problem for the respondent to answer questions in the wrong order.

Question 60

Respondent fatigue occurs when a participant has diminishing interest or energy in participating in the research study.

Question 61

In a structured interview, researchers can probe for more information if an answer is not clear or rephrase a question if the respondent does not understand.

Question 62

Because they are highly structured and scripted, structured interviews are unlikely to be impacted by interviewer error.

Question 63

Online surveys both provide access to unique populations to study and can exclude some populations who do not have access to the internet.

Question 64

Online surveys have about the same response rate as in-person interviews.

Question 65

Because respondents fill out a questionnaire on their own, there is no social interaction between the researcher and the respondent.

Question 66

Acquiescence occurs when participants provide replies that are insincere but make them appear likeable.

Question 67

To avoid the issue of lack of interest, researchers may include a set of questions that cannot be answered truthfully by selecting the same response for each question.

Question 68

Leshem and colleague's study found that social desirability was a factor in how the participants responded to questions about political self-determination regardless of how the questions were administered.

Question 69

Coding is the process of labelling, categorizing, and organizing data collected in order to analyse it.

Question 70

To avoid response bias, it is a good idea to keep survey questions as general as possible.

Question 71

The question "How satisfied are you with your classes and your experiences outside of class" is an example of a double-barreled question.

Question 72

Closed-Ended questions are always preferable to open-ended questions in survey design.

Question 73

A fence-sitter is someone chooses a neutral response even though they do have a stronger opinion on a topic.

Question 74

When considering the order of questions, it is better to ask questions that may be sensitive in nature or embarrassing later in the survey.

Question 75

What sorts of information can be gathered using questionnaires or structured interviews? Give an example of each type of question focused on a research topic of your choice.

Question 76

What are the advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires?

Question 77

Why was it important that Williams and colleagues used a mixed-method approach in their study of gamers?

Question 78

Explain the impacts of interviewer effects, respondent fatigue, and response bias on data collection. How do researchers try to avoid these issues?

Question 79

What are the advantages and disadvantages of structured interviews?

Question 80

What are some of the advantages and disadvantage of online surveys over traditional survey research?