Deck 8: Designing the Data-Gathering Instrument

Question 1

The quality of the information gathered is directly proportional to the quality of the instrument designed to collect the data.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A questionnaire is the main type of data-gathering instrument in exploratory research designs.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Occupational jargon, cultural background, educational level, and regional differences have no impact on the effectiveness of a questionnaire.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Structure describes how evident the purpose of the questionnaire is.

Question 5

When a questionnaire is classified according to disguise, it depends on the degree to which the question and the responses are standardized at some point in the data- collection process.

Question 6

An undisguised questionnaire is one in which the purpose of the research is obvious to the interviewer.

Question 7

Structured-undisguised questions are the most commonly used in research today.

Question 8

The main disadvantage of structured-undisguised questions is the lack of flexibility in changing questions "on the fly".

Question 9

The main advantages of structured-disguised questions include ease of administration, coding, and tabulating.

Question 10

Unstructured-undisguised questions do not provide for in-depth and accurate responses or cooperation from the respondent.

Question 11

Unstructured-disguised questions are often used in motivation research to determine the "whys" of an individual's behavior.

Question 12

If a response does not fit any of the given response categories, the interviewer should ignore the response.

Question 13

The initial step to be taken in the design of a questionnaire is to identify the sources of the information requirements.

Question 14

One of the most common and costly errors of research is the omission of an important question on the data-gathering instrument.

Question 15

The intelligence, ethnic background, and frame of reference of the respondent are not important in determining the type and wording of the questionnaire.

Question 16

Cost and time constraints affect the choice of the questionnaire-administration method.

Question 17

"What did you like about the product?" is an open-ended question.

Question 18

Open-ended questions provide the respondent with maximum flexibility in answering questions.

Question 19

A weakness of dichotomous questions is that they can force a choice where none exists.

Question 20

Multichotomous questions provide exactly two alternatives to the respondent.

Question 21

The benefit of a scale is that it permits the subjective measurement of attitudes and feelings.

Question 22

Balanced scales have the same number of responses on the positive side of the scale as on the negative side of the scale.

Question 23

The "don't know" or "no opinion" response should always be available to respondents.

Question 24

The researcher should avoid asking leading or overly personal questions in most questionnaires.

Question 25

Excessive length is never a problem with questionnaires.

Question 26

Mail questionnaires lend themselves more to branching than personal and telephone surveys.

Question 27

The introduction of the questionnaire tells the respondent who the researcher is and why he is requesting the respondent's information.

Question 28

A general rule is to place questions that are personal or reflect a sensitive issue at the beginning of the body of the questionnaire.

Question 29

A questionnaire should be pretested before it is administered.

Question 30

The bottom line for an effective data-gathering instrument is the timeliness of the data collected.

Question 31

The steps used to design an effective data-gathering instrument need to be viewed as a sequential step-by-step process and not as a dynamic outline.

Question 32

Developing a good questionnaire requires both creativity and highly structured, disciplined thought.

Question 33

The quality of the information gathered is indirectly proportional to the quality of the instrument designed to collect the data.

Question 34

A questionnaire is the main type of data-gathering instrument in descriptive research designs.

Question 35

Occupational jargon, cultural background, educational level, and regional differences can alter the effectiveness of a questionnaire.

Question 36

Disguise describes how evident the purpose of the questionnaire is.

Question 37

When a questionnaire is classified according to structure, it depends on the degree to which the question and the responses are standardized at some point in the data- collection process.

Question 38

An undisguised questionnaire is one in which the purpose of the research is obvious to the respondent.

Question 39

Structured-undisguised questions are the least commonly used questions in research today.

Question 40

The main disadvantage of unstructured-undisguised questions is the lack of flexibility in changing questions "on the fly".

Question 41

The main advantages of unstructured-disguised questions include ease of administration, coding, and tabulating.

Question 42

Unstructured-undisguised questions provide for in-depth and accurate responses or cooperation from the respondent.

Question 43

Unstructured-undisguised questions cannot be used in motivation research to determine the "whys" of an individual's behavior.

Question 44

Descriptive research questionnaires largely consist of structured-undisguised questions.

Question 45

If a response does not fit any of the given response categories, the interviewer should record the verbatim response.

Question 46

If a response does not fit any of the given response categories, the interviewer should not discard it but record the response verbatim.

Question 47

The initial step to be taken in the design of a questionnaire is to determine the specific information needed to achieve the research objectives.

Question 48

The intelligence, ethnic background, and frame of reference of the respondent are important in determining the type and wording of the questionnaire.

Question 49

Cost and time constraints do not affect the choice of the questionnaire-administration method.

Question 50

Dichotomous questions provide the respondent with maximum flexibility in answering questions.

Question 51

A weakness of open-ended questions is that they can force a choice where none exists.

Question 52

Multichotomous questions provide several alternatives to the respondent.

Question 53

The benefit of a scale is that it permits the objective measurement of attitudes and feelings.

Question 54

Balanced scales have a greater number of responses on the positive side of the scale than on the negative side of the scale.

Question 55

The "don't know" or "no opinion" response should not always be available to respondents.

Question 56

The researcher should ask leading or overly personal questions in most questionnaires.

Question 57

Questions on the questionnaire should be kept short, simple and to the point.

Question 58

Personal and telephone surveys lend themselves more to branching than do mail questionnaires.

Question 59

The main content of the questionnaire tells the respondent who the researcher is and why he is requesting the respondent's information.

Question 60

A general rule is to place questions that are personal or reflect a sensitive issue at the end of the body of the questionnaire.

Question 61

It is not necessary to pretest a questionnaire before it is administered.

Question 62

The bottom line for an effective data-gathering instrument is the accuracy of the data collected.

Question 63

The steps used to design an effective data-gathering instrument need to be viewed as a dynamic outline and not a sequential step-by-step process.

Question 64

Answers to good questions may lack meaning for all of the following reasons except

A) respondents may not respond truthfully to the question
B) the respondent may answer the question honestly, but the answers are based on incomplete or faulty knowledge
C) the respondent provides meaningful answers, but only provides a piece of the total picture
D) respondents may not be able to read the question

Question 65

A good questionnaire should accomplish all of the following goals except

A) contextualize the information collected
B) express the study objectives in question form
C) provide a surplus of questions to ensure all objectives are met
D) create harmony and rapport with the respondent

Question 66

Creating harmony and rapport with the respondent is a goal of

A) the observation technique
B) a good questionnaire
C) choosing the right sample
D) data analysis

Question 67

In designing a questionnaire, basic mistakes include all of the following except

A) leaving an important question unasked
B) compiling an incomplete survey
C) asking too many questions
D) asking the wrong questions

Question 68

Questions can be classified in terms of their degree of

A) structure
B) design
C) structure and design
D) structure and disguise

Question 69

A(n) _____ questionnaire is one in which the purpose of the research is obvious to the respondent because of the questions asked.

A) undisguised
B) undesigned
C) disguised
D) designed

Question 70

A(n) _____ questionnaire obscures the purpose of the research and tries to indirectly get a respondent's point of view.

A) undisguised
B) undesigned
C) disguised
D) designed

Question 71

_____ questions are the most commonly used in research today.

A) Structured-undisguised
B) Structured-disguised
C) Unstructured-undisguised
D) Unstructured-disguised

Question 72

_____ questions are probably the least used questions in market research.

A) Structured-undisguised
B) Structured-disguised
C) Unstructured-undisguised
D) Unstructured-disguised

Question 73

The advantages of structured-undisguised questions include all of the following except

A) simplicity in administration
B) standardized data collection
C) flexibility
D) objectivity

Question 74

_____ questions are appropriate for in-depth interviews and focus group interviews.

A) Structured-undisguised
B) Structured-disguised
C) Unstructured-undisguised
D) Unstructured-disguised

Question 75

_____ interview is well-suited for exploratory research, gaining background, and generating and clarifying research questions.

A) Structured-undisguised
B) Structured-disguised
C) Unstructured-undisguised
D) Unstructured-disguised

Question 76

_____ are often used in motivation research to determine the "whys" of an individual's behavior.

A) Structured-undisguised
B) Structured-disguised
C) Unstructured-undisguised
D) Unstructured-disguised

Question 77

The _____ approach often uses projective methods to get at the subtle issues that are not easily explored by direct questioning.

A) Structured-undisguised
B) Structured-disguised
C) Unstructured-undisguised
D) Unstructured-disguised

Question 78

Projective methods used to try to gain information about a subject without revealing the actual purpose of the research include all of the following except

A) focus groups
B) word association
C) storytelling
D) sentence completion

Question 79

The first step in questionnaire design is to

A) choose the method of administration that suits the information required and the sources of information
B) determine the specific information needed to achieve the research objectives
C) identify the sources of the required information
D) predetermine the coding

Question 80

Designing the type of data-gathering instrument occurs during which stage of the Measurement Process?

A) Step 1: Determine the Construct of Interest
B) Step 2: Specify the Construct's Domain
C) Step 3: Establish Operational Definitions
D) Step 6: Conduct Validity Tests