Deck 13: Surveys

Question 1

A survey is an instrument of data collection mostly used by …

A) Social scientific researchers
B) Interpretive researchers
C) Critical/cultural researchers

Answer 1

Social scientific researchers

Question 2

In which cases are surveys the most appropriate instrument to use?

A) When you study historical topics
B) When the population is accessible
C) When new data is needed
D) A and C
E) All of the above

Answer 2

A and C

Question 3

What are some of the main benefits of using surveys?

A) A large number of participants can answer
B) It does not need many participants to be reliable
C) Surveys take into account contextual cues
D) All of the above

Answer 3

A large number of participants can answer

Question 4

For which of the following research topic is a survey appropriate?

A) Students' opinions on university cafeteria menus
B) Individuals' level of self-perceived communication competence
C) Voters' attitudes towards media coverage of mid-terms elections
D) All of the above

Question 5

What types of topic can be examined using surveys?

A) Attitudes/Beliefs
B) Values
C) Behaviors
D) All of the above

Question 6

Survey research is deductive research. What does that mean?

A) You first collect data and then see to which theory(ies) results may be related
B) You first choose a theoretical framework that will guide your study
C) You propose research questions/hypotheses before collecting data
D) B and C

Question 7

Which of the following are steps in survey creation?

A) Choosing a theoretical framework(s)
B) Choosing a type of survey
C) Pilot testing the survey
D) All of the above

Question 8

To what type of question does the following one belong: "How many siblings do you have?"

A) Ordinal
B) Nominal
C) Interval-level
D) None of the above

Question 9

To what type of question does the following one belong: "How pleasant is it to spend time with your family?" Please rate this question on a scale of 1 to 7, 1 = not pleasant, 7 = very pleasant.

A) Nominal
B) Interval-level
C) Ordinal
D) None of the above

Question 10

Participants may over/under-estimate their answers in self-report surveys. How is it possible to deal with this issue?

A) You can warn participants against over-under-estimation with a quick note at the beginning of the survey
B) You can use other-reports in addition to self-reports
C) You can run statistical tests to account for the level of over/under-estimation

Question 11

Which of the following aspects of surveys should you avoid when designing a survey?

A) Including different types of questions
B) Including leading questions
C) Avoiding double negatives
D) Using simple language

Question 12

What elements of language are best to avoid in surveys?

A) Specialized vocabulary
B) Abbreviations
C) Slang
D) All of the above

Question 13

Which of the following questions would be best to include in a survey?

A) Did you like today's food?
B) Did you like today's and yesterday's food?
C) Do you think it is good not to be unfriendly?
D) All are appropriate

Question 14

Which of the following categories are NOT good to insert in surveys?

A) Overlapping categories
B) Exhaustive categories
C) Mutually exhaustive categories
D) Balanced categories

Question 15

Which of the following categories could be problematic in a survey?

A) Choose your marital status: Single or Married
B) How many movies do you watch per year: 0-5; 6-15; 16-20; more than 20
C) What is your nationality (fill in the answer)
D) None are problematic

Question 16

How is pilot testing useful to a survey study?

A) It shows whether the survey has validity/reliability
B) It gives researcher a chance to improve the survey before collecting the actual data
C) Neither A nor B
D) Both A and B

Question 17

What is called when you distribute a survey only once?

A) A cross-sectional design
B) A longitudinal design
C) A random design

Question 18

What are some steps necessary to take when analyzing survey data?

A) Checking survey for errors
B) Entering the data
C) Checking for errors in the data you entered
D) All of the above

Question 19

What is considered "error" when using surveys?

A) Returned surveys with unanswered questions
B) Grammatical mistakes in the survey
C) Surveys that have been randomly filled
D) All can be considered "error"

Question 20

In which debatable way can surveys be limited?

A) They give participants too much room for free expression
B) Using self-report surveys can lead to biased results
C) They do not provide generalize results
D) All of the above

Question 21

What are the pros and cons of creating a new scale to measure a phenomenon of interest?

Question 22

What are the advantages of using web-based surveys instead of paper-based surveys?

Question 23

What are the main advantages of using surveys?

Question 24

In which cases is a longitudinal survey more appropriate to use?

Question 25

What does "standardization" mean?

Question 26

You hesitate between using surveys or structured interviews for your own study. Weigh the pros and cons of each instrument. Discuss the reasons why you would choose one over the other.

Question 27

You are studying self-perception of beauty. Discuss the limitations of using self-report surveys for this topic. Suggest ways in which to combine self- and other reports.