Deck 9: Survey Research

Question 1

Any rating scale is a Likert scale.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Closed-ended items provide a set of response options for respondents to choose from.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Surveys cannot be experiments.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

True surveys must be conducted in person.

Question 5

Survey questionnaires should begin with demographic items.

Question 6

Survey researchers generally prefer to use large random samples.

Question 7

The National Comorbidity Survey used a form of cluster sampling.

Question 8

BRUSO is a model for writing effective questionnaire items.

Question 9

Survey researchers are more likely than other researchers in psychology to use probability sampling.

Question 10

The National Comorbidity Survey involved giving mental health interviews to thousands of respondents.

Question 11

Responses to open-ended items are generally easier to analyze than responses to closed-ended items.

Question 12

Most research in psychology is conducted using probability sampling.

Question 13

Stratified random sampling allows researchers to sample more individuals from smaller demographic groups.

Question 14

Surveys cannot be administered effectively over the telephone.

Question 15

There is no correlation between college students' dating frequency and their life satisfaction.

Question 16

The use of survey research was originated by psychologists studying attitudes.

Question 17

In survey questionnaires, demographic items are often presented last.

Question 18

Open-ended items are generally easier to write than closed-ended items.

Question 19

"Is there anything else you would like to tell us about?" is an example of an open-ended item.

Question 20

A researcher who stands in a shopping mall and approaches anyone who looks to him like they would complete a survey is using random sampling.

Question 21

Participants in survey research are often called _____.

A) clients
B) the "public"
C) subjects
D) respondents

Question 22

Survey research tends to use which of the following?

A) nonrepresentative sampling
B) convenience sampling
C) nonprobability sampling
D) probability sampling

Question 23

Which survey type generally has the highest response rate?

A) in person
B) telephone
C) mail
D) Internet

Question 24

What are the two main characteristics of survey research?

A) large random samples and self-report measures
B) self-report measures and face-to-face interviews
C) face-to-face interviews and statistical analysis
D) statistical analysis and large random samples

Question 25

Can a survey also be an experiment? Explain how.

Question 26

What are the two main functions of the introduction to a survey questionnaire?

A) to encourage participation and establish informed consent
B) to establish the legitimacy of the survey and put respondents at ease
C) to inform the respondents of their rights and protect the researcher from lawsuits
D) to hide the true purpose of the survey and to establish rapport with respondents

Question 27

Researchers are most likely to use open-ended items under which of the following conditions?

A) They have a specific construct that they want to measure.
B) They do not have preconceived ideas about how people will respond.
C) They want their data to be quick and easy to analyze.
D) They are conducting their survey over the Internet.

Question 28

In organizing the items on a survey questionnaire, it is generally best to start with which of the following?

A) the most important items for purposes of the research
B) the least important items for purposes of the research
C) demographic items
D) warm-up items

Question 29

For most purposes, which of the following would be the best response scale?

A) Disagree / Neutral / Somewhat Agree / Agree / Strongly Agree
B) Disagree / Neutral / Agree
C) Do Not Care / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Care Strongly
D) Strongly Disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly Agree

Question 30

A watershed event for survey research was when George Gallup used it to predict which of the following?

A) changing attitudes toward women in the workplace
B) the rise of rock and roll music
C) the outcome of the 1936 presidential election
D) the outbreak of World War I

Question 31

The BRUSO model is a model of which of the following?

A) how people respond to survey questionnaire items
B) the process of administering a survey
C) good survey questionnaire items
D) none of the above

Question 32

In reading about a new study, how would you be able to recognize it as survey research?

Question 33

Which of the following is generally an advantage of closed-ended items over open-ended items?

A) They get more directly at the specific variables the researcher is interested in.
B) People's responses are easier to analyze.
C) People can respond to them more quickly.
D) all of the above

Question 34

What is the best way to address the problem of nonresponse bias?

A) ignore the nonresponders when analyzing the data
B) force everyone to respond
C) do everything possible to maximize response rates
D) write unbiased questionnaire items

Question 35

Mail surveys typically have the lowest response rates.

Question 36

What are the pros and cons of closed-ended questionnaire items relative to open-ended questionnaire items?

Question 37

The National Comorbidity Survey has told us which of the following?

A) About 2.3% of the American population suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder at some point in their lives.
B) A low-fat diet is the best way to prevent heart disease.
C) People's attitudes toward death have changed dramatically since the middle of the twentieth century.
D) The most common causes of death are heart disease, cancer, and lung disease.

Question 38

A survey research randomly samples 500 white Americans and 500 black Americans. Which approach has the researcher used?

A) stratified random sampling
B) cluster sampling
C) nonprobability sampling
D) simple random sampling

Question 39

In the BRUSO model, the "O" stands for which of the following?

A) obvious
B) objective
C) oriented
D) obligatory

Question 40

What is the most common number of response options on a rating scale?

A) two
B) three
C) five to seven
D) ten to twenty

Question 41

How does the type of sampling used in survey research differ from the type of sampling generally used in psychological research?

Question 42

Explain the BRUSO model of questionnaire item writing.

Question 43

Imagine that you are conducting a survey. What are three things that you could do to maximize the response rate?