Deck 9: Doing Survey Research

Question 1

In contrast to naturalistic observation, in a field survey, you:

A) simply observe the behaviors of your participants and take copious notes about them.
B) manipulate independent variables to see how they affect your participants' behaviors.
C) directly question your participants about their behavior and underlying attitudes, beliefs, and intentions.
D) are less concerned with experimenter bias.

Answer 1

directly question your participants about their behavior and underlying attitudes, beliefs, and intentions.

Question 2

A field survey can best be classified as a(n) _____ research strategy.

A) experimental
B) correlational
C) quasi-experimental
D) developmental

Answer 2

correlational

Question 3

The inferences you can draw from a field survey about the factors underlying behavior are limited by the fact that:

A) you are able to manipulate only a limited number of independent variables.
B) extraneous variables are too rigidly controlled, thus limiting external validity.
C) you do not manipulate independent variables.
D) you cannot use the data to evaluate specific attitudes.

Answer 3

you do not manipulate independent variables.

Question 4

When you conduct survey research, _____.

A) you must ensure that your participants are treated ethically
B) you do not have to worry about ethics as much as you do when conducting experiments
C) the data you collect from your participants must always remain confidential
D) as the researcher, you must ensure that you can never match up a participant's name with his or her responses

Question 5

If you promise your survey participants that you will maintain their anonymity, this means you will:

A) make sure that only the participants' names are associated with their specific responses.
B) take steps to make sure that only authorized personnel can gain access to any codes used to associate the participants' names and responses.
C) ensure that only aggregate results are reported.
D) disclose any data in individual form, even if you know which participants filled out which questionnaires.

Question 6

The first step in designing a questionnaire is to:

A) write the questions.
B) decide which demographic measures to include.
C) settle on a sampling strategy.
D) clearly define the topic of your study.

Question 7

You should avoid the temptation to do too much in a single survey, because:

A) this leads to an inordinately long questionnaire that may confuse or overburden your participants.
B) it may make it more difficult for you to summarize and analyze your data.
C) it leads to an extremely long questionnaire that may confuse participants and make it difficult to summarize and analyze data.
D) you will not have enough time left for coffee breaks.

Question 8

Characteristics such as a participant's age, sex, and income level are classified as:

A) criterion variables.
B) causal variables.
C) demographics.
D) quasi-independent variables.

Question 9

Demographic variables are often used as _____ variables.

A) criterion
B) independent
C) causal
D) predictor

Question 10

A criterion variable:

A) is used to assess a behavior of interest.
B) is used to predict variation in some other variable.
C) should be eliminated from questionnaires because it may confound results.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 11

On a questionnaire, Dr. Jones asks participants to answer the following question: "What do you think about the genetic engineering of food crops?" This question is an example of a(n) _____ item.

A) restricted
B) partially restricted
C) free response
D) open-ended

Question 12

In the context of writing questionnaire items, which of the following statements is true of an open-ended item?

A) It allows a participant to answer a question in his or her own words.
B) It makes summarizing data results easy.
C) It lacks the richness of information that is possible from a restricted item.
D) It provides a limited number of response alternatives.

Question 13

A drawback to an open-ended item is that:

A) the responses obtained may be difficult to code and analyze.
B) it may place too many restrictions on a participant's potential response.
C) it is more difficult to construct than other types of items.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 14

The multiple-choice questions on this exam are _____ items.

A) open-ended
B) restricted
C) partially open-ended
D) partially restricted

Question 15

The following item from a questionnaire is an example of a(n) _____ item:
The next car that I buy is most likely to be made by:
___Ford
___General Motors
___Chrysler
___Toyota
___Nissan
___Other (Specify _____)

A) closed-ended
B) open-ended
C) partially open-ended
D) partially restricted

Question 16

An advantage of restricted items over open-ended items is that:

A) restricted items control a participant's range of responses.
B) restricted items give a participant the opportunity to answer completely in his or her own words.
C) restricted items are easier to construct than open-ended items.
D) you do not have to be as concerned with the format of the items.

Question 17

A drawback of restricted items is that:

A) the data are difficult to code and analyze.
B) the information obtained is not as "rich" as the information obtained from an open-ended item.
C) they are too often vague and leave participants wondering what to respond.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 18

Partially open-ended items represent an improvement over restricted items in that the former provide:

A) a larger number of highly specific response alternatives.
B) a continuous scale along which participants' responses can be entered.
C) only half as many specific response alternatives, making them easier to answer.
D) an "other" category that gives a participant an opportunity to give an answer not listed among the specific alternatives.

Question 19

Identify a true statement about a rating scale.

A) A rating scale provides a graded response to a question.
B) Participants' responses are unaffected by the numbers on a rating scale.
C) Rating scales commonly exceed 10 points.
D) A rating scale must have a set number of points.

Question 20

According to the text, a rating scale should not include fewer than _____ points.

A) 3
B) 5
C) 7
D) 10

Question 21

Labeling each point on a scale versus labeling only the end points:

A) significantly alters the responses participants give to a question.
B) allows participants to give more accurate information.
C) may confuse participants, so the practice should be avoided.
D) changes the underlying psychological dimension being measured.

Question 22

Labeled points on a rating scale are called _____.

A) pivots
B) pegs
C) weights
D) anchors

Question 23

A type of rating scale widely used in attitude research is the:

A) unnumbered rating scale.
B) restricted rating scale.
C) Likert scale.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 24

On a Likert scale, participants are required to:

A) circle a number on a 10-point scale that best reflects how much they agree with a statement.
B) check one of five alternatives indicating various degrees of agreement or disagreement with a statement.
C) place a check along an unnumbered line to indicate the degree of disagreement with a statement.
D) choose the upper and lower limits of a rating scale.

Question 25

To write good survey items, you should:

A) use simple words rather than complex words.
B) make the stem of a question short and easy to understand but use complete sentences.
C) avoid vague questions in favor of more precise ones.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 26

To keep a questionnaire from appearing boring, Dillman (2000) suggests:

A) placing demographic items right at the beginning of the questionnaire.
B) including many sensitive questions at the beginning of the questionnaire.
C) attacking several different issues with the same questionnaire.
D) making the first question interesting and engaging so that the participants are motivated to continue.

Question 27

Keeping related items together on a questionnaire contributes to the _____ of the questionnaire.

A) internal consistency
B) reliability
C) continuity
D) external consistency

Question 28

A technique used to handle questions asking for sensitive information is to:

A) ask those questions first.
B) save all your objectionable questions for last.
C) not ask them at all.
D) place objectionable questions after less objectionable ones, perhaps even at the end of the questionnaire.

Question 29

Although mail surveys are convenient, they do have drawbacks. Which of the following is a drawback of mail surveys?

A) Nonresponse bias
B) Overresponse bias
C) Random response bias
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 30

In the context of mail surveys, _____ is a serious problem that occurs when a large proportion of participants fail to complete and return a questionnaire.

A) participation bias
B) nonresponse bias
C) self-selection bias
D) response bias

Question 31

The most important strategy for increasing the return rate of questionnaires in a mail survey is to:

A) have a cover letter that is forceful and intimidating to participants.
B) have a cover letter that pleads with participants to return the questionnaire.
C) make multiple contacts with respondents.
D) offer a small token of your appreciation.

Question 32

Including a small token of your appreciation with a mailed questionnaire (for example, a single dollar) has been found to:

A) increase the return rate of mail surveys somewhat.
B) actually decrease the return rate of mail surveys.
C) increase the return rate of mail surveys only for women.
D) not significantly affect the return rate of mail surveys.

Question 33

When conducting an Internet survey, e-mail surveys are best for:

A) questionnaires that make use of complex navigational designs.
B) relatively short, simple questionnaires.
C) complex questionnaires involving multiple pages.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 34

Conducting a survey by administering your questionnaire on the Internet:

A) allows you to reach a large body of potential participants with relative ease.
B) may produce a sample of respondents that is not representative of the general population.
C) requires that you have the resources to post your survey on the Internet.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 35

Telephone surveys:

A) offer a way to gather a large amount of data in a very short time.
B) are currently the most popular method of conducting surveys.
C) may not be the best way to administer a questionnaire, owing to the backlash against telephone intrusions and new laws protecting people from unwanted calls.
D) using live interviewers have gained popularity since the invention of interactive voice response (IVR) technology.

Question 36

In a(n) _____ interview, the same questions are asked of participants in the same order.

A) unstructured
B) structured
C) directed
D) undirected

Question 37

An advantage of group-administered surveys is that:

A) participants treat the questionnaire more seriously when they fill it out as a group than when they fill it out alone.
B) it is easier to ensure anonymity when participants fill out the questionnaire as a group.
C) you do not have to worry about participants misplacing or forgetting about your questionnaire.
D) participants are likely to be more honest in their responses.

Question 38

When using face-to-face interviews, you should:

A) train interviewers to ask questions in the same way for each participant.
B) train interviewers not to emphasize any particular words in the stem of a question or in a response list.
C) try to anticipate any questions participants may have and provide your interviewers with standardized responses.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 39

Using a mixed-mode survey method has the possible advantage of:

A) increasing the "coverage" area for potential respondents.
B) reducing nonresponse bias.
C) reducing the cost of administering the survey.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 40

The _____ of a questionnaire refers to its ability to produce highly similar results on repeated administrations of the questionnaire.

A) reliability
B) continuity
C) validity
D) organization

Question 41

Which of the following is a valid way of assessing the reliability of a questionnaire?

A) Administering the same questionnaire (or a parallel form) to the same participants more than once
B) Administering the questionnaire once and assessing its internal consistency
C) Evaluating whether related items on the questionnaire are grouped
D) Either by administering the same questionnaire to the same participants more than once or by administering the questionnaire once and assessing its internal consistency

Question 42

Before using test-retest reliability, you must consider:

A) how long your questionnaire is.
B) how long to wait between administrations of a questionnaire.
C) how many participants completed the test.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 43

Using test-retest reliability to assess the reliability of a questionnaire is especially problematic if:

A) there are fewer than 100 participants who completed the questionnaire.
B) participants are likely to remember their answers on the first administration of the questionnaire.
C) the ideas being tested are stable over time.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 44

Dr. Loo administers a long and boring questionnaire concerning attitudes that tend to fluctuate over time. When assessing the reliability of his questionnaire, Dr. Loo should:

A) consider only test-retest reliability.
B) not worry about reliability at all.
C) avoid using test-retest reliability.
D) ignore reliability but pay special attention to validity.

Question 45

If you decide to assess reliability with multiple tests and use alternate forms of your questionnaire, you would then use _____ to assess reliability.

A) internal consistency
B) Cohen's Kappa
C) multiple-forms reliability
D) parallel-forms reliability

Question 46

Identify a true statement about using the alternate forms method for establishing reliability.

A) The technique eliminates all the problems associated with assessing reliability with multiple testing.
B) The technique requires that the parallel forms of a questionnaire be equivalent so that direct comparison is meaningful for assessing reliability.
C) The alternate forms should have different number of items and different response formats.
D) The technique is inferior to the test-retest method for establishing reliability of a questionnaire.

Question 47

_____ reliability involves dividing a test in half and correlating the items from one half with the items from the other half.

A) Split-half
B) Test-retest
C) Parallel-forms
D) Split-form

Question 48

The best way to divide items on a questionnaire for split-half reliability is:

A) to use a first-half/second-half split.
B) to randomly select items for inclusion in each half.
C) to use an odd-even split.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 49

Perhaps the most desirable way to assess the split-half reliability of a questionnaire is to apply:

A) Pearson r.
B) Cohen's Kappa.
C) the Kuder-Richardson formula.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 50

The Kuder-Richardson formula is the best way to assess the reliability of a questionnaire:

A) via the test-retest method.
B) that was administered only once.
C) that was administered several times.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 51

You can increase the reliability of your questionnaire by:

A) increasing the number of items on the questionnaire.
B) standardizing administration procedures.
C) writing clear, appropriate questions.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 52

If the questions in your questionnaire cover the range of behaviors normally considered to be part of the dimension you are assessing, your questionnaire has:

A) content validity.
B) construct validity.
C) criterion-related validity.
D) sex appeal.

Question 53

You establish the _____ validity of a questionnaire by showing that the questionnaire's results agree with predictions based on theory.

A) content
B) construct
C) criterion-related
D) predictive

Question 54

If you correlate your questionnaire's results with those from another established measure, you are establishing the questionnaire's _____ validity.

A) content
B) construct
C) criterion-related
D) predictive

Question 55

You establish your questionnaire's _____ validity by correlating its results with some behavior that would be expected to occur, given the results.

A) content
B) construct
C) criterion-related
D) predictive

Question 56

You establish your questionnaire's concurrent validity by correlating its results with:

A) predictions based on theory.
B) the results of another measure of the same dimension administered at the same time.
C) the results of an established measure.
D) some behavior that would be expected to occur, given the results.

Question 57

A sample consisting of participants whose characteristics closely match the characteristics of the population is a _____ sample.

A) systematic
B) balanced
C) random
D) representative

Question 58

A sample consisting of participants who are not representative of a population is a(n) _____ sample.

A) biased
B) nonrandom
C) stratified
D) unbalanced

Question 59

According to the text, the failure of the Literary Digest survey to accurately project the winner of the Landon versus Roosevelt election was the result of:

A) nonresponse bias.
B) a poorly designed questionnaire.
C) a biased sample.
D) using stratified sampling instead of simple random sampling.

Question 60

In _____ sampling, each member of a population has an equal chance of appearing in your sample.

A) stratified
B) cluster
C) matched
D) simple random

Question 61

_____ is a technique that can be used in a telephone survey to ensure random sampling.

A) Cluster sampling
B) Multistage sampling
C) Random digit dialing
D) Sequential digit dialing

Question 62

Dr. Myers is conducting a survey of attitudes toward social programs. He wants to be sure that he has White and non-White participants in his sample. Consequently, he divides his population into groups according to race and then randomly samples from each group. This is an example of _____ sampling.

A) simple random
B) stratified
C) cluster
D) multistage

Question 63

Simple random sampling:

A) guarantees that your sample will be representative of the population.
B) does not guarantee that your sample will be representative of the population.
C) works better than more sophisticated sampling techniques to help ensure a representative sample.
D) is more difficult to carryout than more sophisticated sampling techniques.

Question 64

A technique you can use to ensure that your stratified sampling retains the character of the population (in terms of the proportion of the sample represented by each group) is:

A) proportionate sampling.
B) simple random sampling within strata.
C) multistage sampling.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 65

In _____, you select every k^th element after a random start.

A) proportionate sampling
B) random digit dialing
C) stratified sampling
D) systematic sampling

Question 66

In _____ sampling, you identify naturally occurring groups (for example, classes in a school) and sample some of those groups.

A) modified stratified
B) systematic
C) cluster
D) multistage

Question 67

Using a nonrandom sample, such as a convenience sample, in your research:

A) limits the generality of your results.
B) may be necessary as a practical matter.
C) is perfectly acceptable for most interests in psychology.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 68

A sample that includes enough participants to ensure a valid survey and no more is a(n) _____ sample.

A) stratified
B) limited
C) economic
D) frugal

Question 69

When determining a sample size needed for a valid survey, you must take into account the:

A) size of the population.
B) amount of acceptable error and the expected magnitude of the population proportions.
C) size of the population and the amount of acceptable sampling error.
D) amount of sampling error only.

Question 70

Sampling error:

A) is the deviation of sample characteristics from those of a population.
B) is not a major problem in most surveys.
C) cannot be effectively reduced.
D) None of the answers is correct.

Question 71

Which of the following statements is true of random sampling?

A) It requires that a participant be included in a sample based on chance alone.
B) It leads to certain members of a population having a biased chance of appearing in a sample.
C) It mandates that samples of members be chosen with replacement.
D) It increases the possibility that a sample is biased by the preferences of the person selecting the sample.

Question 72

In the context of writing questionnaire items, which of the following is a general guideline that should be followed when writing restricted items?

A) When asking either/or questions, either the positive or the negative pole should be included in the question.
B) Items on a list should be mutually inclusive.
C) If respondents need to choose from a list of items, all options must be included.
D) If respondents are asked to rank alternatives, the list should be relatively long.

Question 73

Identify a true statement about stratified sampling.

A) The basic sampling unit is a group of participants, not individual participants.
B) The technique guarantees that each segment of a population is represented in the sample.
C) The proportions of people in a population are reflected in the sample.
D) The technique limits a sample to participants found in certain chosen clusters.

Question 74

_____ provides a way of obtaining a representative sample where a researcher begins by dividing a population into segments.

A) Cluster sampling
B) Multistage sampling
C) Stratified sampling
D) Systematic sampling

Question 75

_____ is a variant of cluster sampling where a researcher begins by identifying large clusters and randomly selecting from among them.

A) Multistage sampling
B) Stratified sampling
C) Proportionate sampling
D) Systematic sampling

Question 76

Which of the following significantly affects the response rate of a mail survey?

A) Questionnaire length
B) Inclusion of a deadline
C) Monetary incentives
D) Promise of anonymity

Question 77

Field surveys are used to establish causal relationships among variables.

Question 78

The first step in designing a questionnaire is to clearly define the topic of study.

Question 79

Open-ended items elicit more complete and accurate information than do restricted items.

Question 80

The data obtained from an open-ended item are easier to analyze than the data obtained from a restricted item.