Survey Research

Constructing Surveys
Measuring Responses
Important Considerations for Survey Items
Collecting Survey Data
Evaluating Surveys and Survey Data
Sampling
Probability Sampling
Nonprobability Sampling
 Describe survey research.

Survey research obtains data about opinions,

attitudes, preferences, and behaviors using
questionnaires or interviews.
The survey approach allows researchers to
study private experience, which cannot be
directly observed.

Survey Research
 What are the advantages of the survey approach?

We can efficiently collect large amounts of data.

Anonymous surveys can increase the accuracy
of answers to sensitive questions.
Surveys can allow us to draw inferences about
the causes of behavior and can complement
laboratory and field experiments.

Survey Research
 What is the most important limitation of the survey
approach?

The survey approach does not allow us to test

hypotheses about causal relationships because
we do not manipulate independent variables and
control extraneous variables.

Survey Research
 What are the major steps in constructing surveys?

1. Identify specific research objectives.

2. Decide on the degree of imposition of units
(degree of response restriction).
3. Decide how you will analyze the survey
data.

Constructing Surveys
 Describe the major question types.

Closed questions (structured questions)

can be answered using a limited number of
alternatives and have a high imposition of units.
For example, “How many songs did your
roommate illegally download this month?”

Constructing Surveys
 Describe the major question types.

Open-ended questions (open questions)

require that participants respond with more than
a yes or 1-10 rating and have a low imposition
of units.
For example, “Why did your choose your major?”

Constructing Surveys
 How do researchers analyze data from each
question type?

The number or percent of responses can be

reported for closed questions.
Open-ended questions can be analyzed using
content analysis, like Yepez’s INTERSECT, in
which responses are assigned to categories
using objective rules.

Constructing Surveys
 What are three concerns when constructing
questions?

1. Keep items simple and unambiguous, and

avoid double negatives.
2. Avoid double-barreled (compound)
questions that require responses about
two or more unrelated ideas.
3. Use exhaustive response choices.

Constructing Surveys
 Describe a nominal scale.

A nominal scale assigns items to two or more

distinct categories that can be named using a
shared feature, but does not measure their
magnitude.
For example, you can sort professors into
exciting and dull categories.

Measuring Responses
 Describe an ordinal scale.

An ordinal scale measures the magnitude of

the dependent variable using ranks, but does
not assign precise values.
For example, marathon contestants may finish
from first place to last place.

Measuring Responses
 Describe an interval scale.

An interval scale measures the magnitude

of the DV using equal intervals between values
with no absolute zero point.
For example, Fahrenheit or Centigrade
temperatures, and Sarnoff and Zimbardo’s
(1961) 0-100 scale.

Measuring Responses
 Describe a ratio scale.

A ratio scale measures the magnitude of

the dependent variable using equal intervals
between values and an absolute zero.
This scale allows us to state that a 2-meter
board is twice as long as a 1-meter board.
For example, distance in meters.

Measuring Responses
 How should we select measurement scales?

The best type of scale depends on the

variable you are studying and the level
of precision you desire.
Since psychological variables like traits,
attitudes, and preferences represent a
continuous dimension, several levels
of measurement “fit” equally well.

Measuring Responses
 How should we select measurement scales?

When working with variables like sociability,

psychologists often select the highest scale
since it provides more information and allows
analysis using more powerful statistics.

Measuring Responses
 What should you consider when creating survey
items?

Subjects decide to refuse to answer surveys

during the start or first few questions.
Engage subjects from the start by asking
interesting questions they will not mind
answering.

Important Considerations for Survey Items

 What should you consider when creating survey
items?

The first survey question should be:

1. relevant to the survey’s central topic
2. easy to answer
3. interesting
4. answerable by most respondents
5. closed format

Important Considerations for Survey Items

 What should you consider when creating survey
items?

Whenever possible, use commonly used

response options.
Avoid value-laden questions that might
make a response seem embarrassing.

Important Considerations for Survey Items

 What is a response style?

Response styles are tendencies to respond

to questions or test items without regard to their
actual wording.
People differ in their willingness to answer,
position preference, and yea-saying and nay-
saying.

Important Considerations for Survey Items

 Explain the willingness to answer response style.

Willingness to answer is the tendency to

guess or omit items when unsure.

Important Considerations for Survey Items

 Explain the position preference response style.

Position preference is selecting an answer

based on its position.
For example, students choosing “c" on multiple-
choice exams.

Important Considerations for Survey Items

 What is manifest content?

Manifest content is the plain meaning of the

words printed on the page.
While we expect subjects to respond to the
manifest content of questionnaires, they may
ignore it when answering questions about their
feelings or attitudes.

Important Considerations for Survey Items

 What are yea-saying and nay-saying?

Yea-saying is agreeing with an item

regardless of its manifest content.
Nay-saying is disagreeing with an item
regardless of its manifest content.

Important Considerations for Survey Items

 What are context effects?

Context effects are changes in question

interpretation due to their position within a
survey.
This problem is especially likely when two
questions are related and not separated by
buffer items (unrelated questions).

Important Considerations for Survey Items

 Explain the social desirability response set.

The social desirability response set is

representing ourselves in a socially appropriate
fashion when responding to a question’s latent
content (underlying meaning).

For example, you may dress formally for a job

interview instead of wearing your favorite jeans.

Collecting Survey Data

 Compare structured and unstructured interviews.

In structured interviews, questions are asked

the same way each time. This provides more
usable, quantifiable data.
In unstructured interviews, the interviewer can
explore interesting topics as they arise. These
data may not be usable for content analysis.

Collecting Survey Data

 What is the relationship of a sample to its
population?

A population consists of all people, animals, or

objects that share at least one characteristic.
A sample is a subset of the population of interest
(the population we are studying).

Sampling
 What are two advantages of probability sampling
over nonprobability sampling?

1. A probability sample is more likely to represent

the population (external validity) than a
nonprobability sample.
2. We know the exact odds of members of the
population being included in our sample. This
tells us whom the sample represents.

Probability Sampling
 Which are the main probability sampling methods?

The four main probability sampling methods are:

 simple random sampling
 systematic random sampling
 stratified random sampling
 cluster sampling

Probability Sampling
 Which are the main nonprobability sampling
methods?

The four main nonprobability sampling methods

include:
 quota sampling
 convenience sampling
 purposive sampling
 snowball sampling

Nonprobability Sampling