Deck 5: Descriptive and Causal Research Designs

Question 1

Which of the following is a disadvantage associated with quantitative survey research designs?

A) Concepts and relationships that are not directly measurable cannot be studied using quantitative survey designs.
B) It is difficult to attain in-depth data with quantitative survey designs.
C) They cannot identify small differences.
D) Producing precise estimates can be a problem.
E) They do not facilitate advanced statistical analysis.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is a disadvantage of telephone interviews?

A) They make the supervision of interviewers difficult.
B) They are more time consuming than in-home interviews.
C) They result in high refusal rates.
D) They are more expensive than in-home interviews.
E) They use random digit dialing, which adversely affects the ability to generalize survey results.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following is an advantage of self-administered surveys?

A) They allow researchers to obtain additional in-depth data.
B) They eliminate interviewer-respondent bias.
C) They eliminate potential response errors.
D) They result in high response rates.
E) They are quicker in obtaining data than other data collection methods.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Data generalizability is the:

A) extent to which the data is an accurate portrait of a defined target population.
B) degree to which a specific question or an investigated issue leads a respondent to give a socially expected response.
C) level of preparation required to create an appropriate environment for a respondent.
D) degree to which respondents share certain similarities.
E) percentage of the general population that is the subject of a market research survey.

Question 5

Which of the following statements is True of mail panel surveys?

A) They usually result in low response rates.
B) They can be used for longitudinal research.
C) The panel cannot be tested prior to a survey.
D) They ensure that participants are representative of the target population at large.
E) They are person-administered surveys.

Question 6

Which of the following is True about sampling errors?

A) They are caused by the size of the sample.
B) They can be reduced by decreasing the sample volume.
C) They cannot be measured statistically.
D) They cannot be measured directly.
E) They occur when the findings based on the sample and the True values for a population overlap.

Question 7

_____ is the degree to which a specific survey question leads a respondent to give a socially acceptable response.

A) Incidence rate
B) Response rate
C) Data generalizability
D) Data precision
E) Topic sensitivity

Question 8

Which of the following is True about nonsampling errors?

A) They are not controllable.
B) They can be directly measured.
C) They can be minimized by increasing the sample size.
D) They occur as a result of the difference between the findings based on the sample and the True values for a population.
E) They cannot be statistically measured.

Question 9

Computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) refers to interviews in which:

A) the interviewer reads questions from a computer screen to the respondent and directly keys in the responses.
B) the interviewer calls up respondents, sends them an electronic survey, and assists them in completing the form. The respondents return the survey via e-mail.
C) computer disks (CDs) are sent to respondents through mail. The respondents complete the survey on their own personal computers and return the CDs to the researcher through mail.
D) a computer is used to dial and send a survey to potential respondents through fax. The respondents return the survey via fax or mail.
E) the respondents are asked questions through mails.

Question 10

Data precision is the:

A) degree to which a specific question or an investigated issue leads a respondent to give a socially expected response.
B) level of preparation required to create an appropriate environment for a respondent.
C) degree to which respondents share certain similarities.
D) percentage of the general population that is the subject of a market research survey.
E) degree of accuracy of a response in relation to some other possible answer.

Question 11

Which of the following is True about quantitative survey research designs?

A) They have high response rates.
B) Concepts and relationships that are not directly measurable cannot be studied using quantitative research designs.
C) It is easy to collect in-depth data using quantitative research designs.
D) They facilitate advanced statistical analysis.
E) They cannot produce precise estimates to identify small differences.

Question 12

Which of the following is a disadvantage of the mall-intercept interview method?

A) It is more expensive than an in-home interview.
B) It is more time consuming than an in-home interview.
C) Mall patrons are less likely to be representative of the target population.
D) It is relatively less convenient for a researcher.
E) Mall-intercept interviews require researchers to spend a lot of time securing a person's agreement to participate in interviews.

Question 13

Which of the following is an advantage of person-administered survey methods?

A) They eliminate the possibility of the interviewer-respondent interaction error.
B) They ensure that there are no recording errors.
C) Overall cost of data collection using an interviewer is lower than other data collection methods.
D) Interviewers can help ensure respondents are screened to represent the target population.
E) In-home and in-office interviews are less time consuming.

Question 14

When compared with mall-intercept interviews, in-house interviews:

A) are person-administered surveys.
B) are face-to-face interviews.
C) are conducted in environments that are unfamiliar to respondents.
D) are less expensive.
E) are less convenient for researchers.

Question 15

Assume that respondents aged 70 or older are only one-third as likely to be in an Internet sample as their actual incidence in the population. Using the propensity scoring method, their responses would be:

A) excluded from the sample to avoid any potential bias.
B) included as is (only once) to keep the data truly representative.
C) counted three times in the sample.
D) included selectively (about one-third of the time) in the sample.
E) included alternatively.

Question 16

In the context of a drop-off survey, which of the following is True?

A) It is a face-to-face personal interview that takes place in a shopping mall.
B) It is a face-to-face structured question-and-answer exchange conducted in a respondent's home or at times in an office environment.
C) In this survey, a representative of the researcher hand-delivers a self-administered questionnaire to selected respondents.
D) FCC regulations prevent the use of drop-off surveys.
E) In this survey, the researcher arranges for a computer-assisted telephone interview with the respondents.

Question 17

Which of the following is a disadvantage of online surveys?

A) They result in high nonresponse bias.
B) They result in high cost per completed interview.
C) They involve slow data acquisition.
D) They prevent the use of visual stimuli.
E) They require coding.

Question 18

Incidence rate is the:

A) degree to which a specific question or an investigated issue leads a respondent to give a socially expected response.
B) level of preparation required to create an appropriate environment for a respondent.
C) degree to which respondents share certain similarities.
D) percentage of the general population that is the subject of a market research study.
E) degree of accuracy of a response in relation to some other possible answer.

Question 19

Jenna participates in a face-to-face interview, which is part of a research study on sexually transmitted diseases. When the interviewer asks Jenna if she had any extramarital relationship in the last three years, Jenna lies to the interviewer saying that she does not engage in such relationships. In the context of survey research methods, which of the following characteristics is best exemplified in this scenario?

A) Knowledge level
B) Diversity
C) Topic sensitivity
D) Incidence rate
E) Ability to participate

Question 20

Which of the following is an advantage of conducting a wireless phone survey?

A) It allows researchers to use the autodialing feature.
B) It ensures that there is no time delay between questions and receipt of responses.
C) It provides relatively large sample sizes.
D) It is most suitable for research involving long and complex questions.
E) It allows researchers to obtain representative samples.

Question 21

Telephone surveys are not limited by national borders.

Question 22

Neptune Inc., a cosmetics company, has come up with a new bodywash. The marketing department of Neptune conducts market research to determine an appropriate price for the product. The representatives of the company go to various malls and sell the product at different prices. The sales volume for each price is measured, and they are compared to determine the optimal price. This is an example of:

A) laboratory experimentation.
B) a drop-off survey.
C) test marketing.
D) a mail panel survey.
E) a wireless phone survey.

Question 23

In the context of experimental research, _____ refers to the extent to which a research design accurately identifies causal relationships.

A) incidence rate
B) data generalizability
C) external reliability
D) topic sensitivity
E) internal validity

Question 24

Long time frames give researchers the luxury of selecting the method that will produce the highest quality data.

Question 25

Wireless phone surveys are declining in use due to the low percentage of wireless phone usage.

Question 26

Data that are generalizable cannot be accurately projected to a target population.

Question 27

If the research objective is to determine whether differences exist between groups, it is advisable to use descriptive research designs.

Question 28

Online surveys can eliminate the effects of question order on responses because of their ability to randomize the order of questions within a group.

Question 29

In low-incidence situations, personal interview surveys prove to be most effective.

Question 30

Sampling error can be reduced by decreasing sample size.

Question 31

Telephone interviews facilitate interviews with respondents across a wide geographic area.

Question 32

In-home interviewing may be completed through door-to-door canvassing of geographic areas.

Question 33

Which of the following is True of independent variables?

A) Their values are directly manipulated by a researcher.
B) Their values remain constant throughout an experiment.
C) They are also called criterion variables.
D) Their values change only with changes in the values of dependent variables.
E) They do not affect the outcome of an experiment.

Question 34

When respondents provide wrong answers due to impaired memory, then it leads to a nonresponse error.

Question 35

Nonresponse error is a systematic bias that occurs when the final sample differs from the planned sample.

Question 36

Person-administered surveys are less expensive than telephone-administered surveys.

Question 37

In the context of selecting the appropriate survey method, budget determinations are frequently much more arbitrary than researchers would prefer.

Question 38

Unlike descriptive research, causal research requires researchers to:

A) establish a negative relationship between two dependent variables X and Y.
B) collect data using experimental designs.
C) establish a positive relationship between two independent variables X and Y.
D) collect data using surveys.
E) frame broad research questions.

Question 39

Wireless phone surveys are most suitable for research that involves long and/or complex questions and responses.

Question 40

Compared to lab experiments, field experiments:

A) are less realistic.
B) are more controllable.
C) take lesser time to complete.
D) are more expensive to conduct.
E) are more effective in maintaining secrecy.

Question 41

What are the main objectives of test marketing?

Question 42

Discuss the drawbacks of wireless phone surveys.

Question 43

Discuss the types of errors in surveys.

Question 44

In the context of selecting the appropriate survey method, the less detailed the information needed, the higher respondents' knowledge level must be to get them to participate in a survey.

Question 45

Discuss some of the major advantages of online surveys.

Question 46

Test marketing is the most common type of field experiment.

Question 47

Experimental research is primarily a hypothesis-testing method.

Question 48

Field experiments are less expensive to conduct than laboratory experiments.

Question 49

Define independent variables, dependent variables, control variables, and extraneous variables.

Question 50

Questions examining causal relationships between variables are framed with the focus being on the specific impact one variable causes on another variable.