Deck 5: Survey Research

Question 1

Distinguish between probability sampling and nonprobability sampling.Name two types of probability samples and one type of nonprobability sample.

Answer 1

The distinguishing characteristic of probability sampling is that the researcher can specify,for each element of the population,the probability that it will be included in the sample.In nonprobability sampling there is no way to estimate the probability of each element being included in the sample.Probability sampling is much more likely than is nonprobability sampling to lead to a representative sample of the population.Two types of probability samples are simple random samples and stratified random samples.Nonprobability samples are often called convenience samples because they comprise elements (people)who are available and willing to participate.

Question 2

,separated by six months.At the second testing session she also administered a similar questionnaire called "Nice," which previous research has shown to be a valid measure of people's ability to get along with people and to make friends.She also administered a questionnaire designed to measure art ability,which she predicted to be unrelated to friendliness.She observed the following correlations among the measures: What correlation coefficient value indicates the "Friend" measure has good discriminant validity?

Answer 2

The correlation between Friend and Art Ability is .10.

Question 3

Suppose a researcher wishes to use stratified random sampling to select a representative sample of 100 people from a population that has the following characteristics: Describe the sample in terms of how many single and married women and men the researcher would need to represent the population.

Answer 3

Of the sample of 100,60 of the respondents should be women.Of these 60 women,30 should be married and 30 should be single.Forty of the respondents should be men; of these 40 men,10 should be married and 30 should be single.

Question 4

Identify the key features of a good questionnaire item.

Question 5

Why is a longitudinal design preferred over a study using successive independent samples to assess the direction and extent of attitude change for individual respondents?

Question 6

A professor wants to determine if students' final exam scores in a course can be predicted based on their scores on the first test.The quantitative index the professor is likely using in this situation is the

A) prediction product.
B) contingency score.
C) covariation cross product.
D) correlation coefficient.

Question 7

In sampling,the specific list of the elements of the population is called the

A) sample.
B) sampling frame.
C) survey set.
D) representative sample.

Question 8

The quantitative index of the direction and magnitude of a predictive relationship is called

A) a correlation coefficient.
B) convergent validity.
C) a contingency statistic.
D) a dependent variable.

Question 9

,separated by six months.At the second testing session she also administered a similar questionnaire called "Nice," which previous research has shown to be a valid measure of people's ability to get along with people and to make friends.She also administered a questionnaire designed to measure art ability,which she predicted to be unrelated to friendliness.She observed the following correlations among the measures: What correlation coefficient value indicates the "Friend" measure is reliable?

Question 10

An important goal of sampling is to identify a _______ that will be representative of the ________.

A) population; sample
B) sample; sampling frame
C) sampling frame; sample
D) sample; population

Question 11

Which of the following characteristics do most surveys have in common?

A) direct observation and coding
B) interviewing and the use of focus groups
C) limited scope and pragmatic purpose
D) sampling and a set of predetermined questions

Question 12

A sampling frame in survey research could be considered a(n)__________ of the population.

A) operational definition
B) biased sample
C) representative sample
D) probability sample

Question 13

Suppose a researcher wishes to use stratified random sampling to select a representative sample of 100 people from a population that has the following characteristics: Suppose the researcher mails the survey to the 100 people in the representative sample and only 50 of the people return a completed survey.Can you state that this sample of 50 represents the population? Why or why not?

Question 14

Surveys play an important role in a type of research that is intended to assess the covariation of naturally occurring variables with the goal of identifying predictive relationships.This general type of research is called

A) experimental research.
B) analytical research.
C) correlational research.
D) qualitative research.

Question 15

Self-report measures of people's attitudes and feelings are reliable if they consistently yield similar results.How do researchers typically assess reliability?

Question 16

,separated by six months.At the second testing session she also administered a similar questionnaire called "Nice," which previous research has shown to be a valid measure of people's ability to get along with people and to make friends.She also administered a questionnaire designed to measure art ability,which she predicted to be unrelated to friendliness.She observed the following correlations among the measures: Is the researcher able to conclude that she has developed a reliable and valid measure of friendliness?

Question 17

,separated by six months.At the second testing session she also administered a similar questionnaire called "Nice," which previous research has shown to be a valid measure of people's ability to get along with people and to make friends.She also administered a questionnaire designed to measure art ability,which she predicted to be unrelated to friendliness.She observed the following correlations among the measures: What correlation coefficient value indicates the "Friend" measure has good convergent validity?

Question 18

Survey researchers are most interested in

A) the responses of individuals in their sample.
B) obtaining a very large sample size.
C) generalizing responses from a sample to the population.
D) predicting the size of the sampling frame based on the sample.

Question 19

The ability to generalize the results from a survey sample to the population of interest depends most critically on the sample's

A) stratification.
B) representativeness.
C) homogeneity vs. heterogeneity.
D) correlations.

Question 20

When a survey has been created and administered by a sponsoring organization,such as a company or institution,we should

A) conclude the survey results will always be biased in favor of the sponsoring organization.
B) examine whether the survey data have been selectively analyzed or reported.
C) assume the research will be poor quality.
D) automatically ignore the survey results.

Question 21

The problem of selection bias in survey research is similar to the problem of ________ in research using archival data.

A) selection threat to internal validity
B) selective deposit
C) selective survival
D) spurious relationships

Question 22

Low response rates that result when respondents fail to return a completed mail survey are a major factor leading to response rate bias.These low response rates pose a potential problem because

A) a carefully selected convenience sample becomes a probability sample.
B) segments of the population may be overrepresented or underrepresented in the final sample.
C) only surveys with a 100% response rate can be interpreted.
D) the sample size becomes smaller than the researcher intended.

Question 23

Which of the following survey methods is best for dealing with highly personal or embarrassing topics,especially when the anonymity of respondents is preserved?

A) mail survey
B) personal interview
C) telephone interview
D) successive survey

Question 24

Stratified random sampling is especially useful when the researcher is interested in

A) making specific statements about individual respondents.
B) making general statements about the population as a whole.
C) making comparisons with previous studies that have used simple random sampling.
D) making general statements about specific portions of the population that has been sampled.

Question 25

Techniques to increase the return rate for a survey include

A) preserving a sense of confidentiality by addressing the survey to no one in particular ("Dear occupant").
B) making sure the survey requires minimal effort from the respondents.
C) making sure the respondents are not aware of the survey topic.
D) all of these

Question 26

The decision of how many people needed in a random sample to represent the population should be based on the

A) number of people available and willing to participate in the survey.
B) financial resources available to the researcher for completing the survey.
C) the availability of an adequate sampling frame.
D) degree of variability in the population.

Question 27

Suppose a recent issue of the campus newspaper reported a survey about students' attitudes toward proposed changes in the required curriculum.Which of the following would you need to focus on most to decide whether the survey results reported in the paper can be generalized to the entire population of students?

A) representativeness of the sample
B) distinctiveness of the sample
C) number of students in the sample
D) variability among students in the sample

Question 28

In a survey of 500 randomly selected respondents,360 respondents (72%)said they want the United Nations (U.N.)headquarters to remain in the United States.A TV news show conducted a call-in survey and asked the same question.Of the 186,000 who phoned in their response,124,620 people (67%)said they want the U.N.out of the United States.The most reasonable statement about these different findings is that

A) the call-in survey results should be believed because of the larger number of people who responded they want the U.N. out of the United States.
B) the large sample size for the call-in survey indicates it is a more representative sample.
C) the findings for the randomly selected sample more likely represent the views of the population.
D) call-in surveys lead to more reliable findings.

Question 29

A sample is said to be representative when

A) a sponsoring organization uses the sample data to sell a product.
B) researchers are interested only in the opinions of people in the sample.
C) it exhibits the same distribution of characteristics as the population from which it was drawn.
D) all of these

Question 30

In a simple random sample,every individual in the population

A) completes the survey.
B) has an equal chance of being selected to be in the sample.
C) decides to participate in the survey if it is convenient for them.
D) none of these

Question 31

A city used property tax records of homeowners to identify a sample of people to ask about recreational services at local parks.This survey would most likely be criticized for

A) population bias.
B) selection bias.
C) stratification bias.
D) response rate bias.

Question 32

A researcher conducts a survey using a randomly selected sample,but there is a low response rate for the survey.The researcher should

A) conclude that the original random sample did not represent the population.
B) conclude that the final survey sample does not represent the population.
C) examine the sampling frame for the original sample.
D) examine the survey data to determine whether the final sample represents the population.

Question 33

The best approach for obtaining a representative sample when using stratified random sampling is to

A) sample so that there is an equal number of respondents in the different strata.
B) use random-digit dialing.
C) sample so that the proportion of respondents in the different strata represents the proportions in the population.
D) eliminate people from the sampling frame who are unlikely to return a completed survey.

Question 34

A survey researcher chose to administer a survey using the Internet.This sample likely overrepresents people who own a computer and underrepresents people who don't own a computer.This problem in the researcher's survey is best described as

A) low response rate.
B) a stratified sample.
C) selection bias.
D) a spurious relationship.

Question 35

Which of the following samples would be representative of a population that is 75% women and 25% men?

A) 60 women, 20 men
B) 75 women, 25 men
C) 225 women, 75 men
D) all of these

Question 36

A TV reporter interviewed several dozen people at the scene of a political demonstration about their opinions regarding the demonstration.The reporter searched for people on both sides of the issue.In the terminology of survey research,the reporter has gathered a

A) convenience sample.
B) sampling frame of reference.
C) random sample.
D) stratified random sample.

Question 37

When selecting a sample to best represent the population,probability sampling is _________ than nonprobability sampling.

A) more convenient
B) more biased
C) far superior
D) far worse

Question 38

When the distribution of characteristics in a sample is systematically different from that of the target population,the sample is called a

A) biased sample.
B) stratified sample.
C) representative sample.
D) distorted sample.

Question 39

Mail surveys are particularly vulnerable to a problem that arises when not all respondents complete and return the survey.This problem is called

A) selection bias.
B) reactivity.
C) low response rate.
D) social undesirability.

Question 40

Which of the following samples would represent a biased sample if a population comprised 40% freshmen,20% sophomores,20% juniors,and 20% seniors?

A) 200 of each class year (a total sample of 800 students)
B) 80 freshmen, 40 sophomores, 40 juniors, 40 seniors
C) 40 freshmen, 20 sophomores, 20 juniors, 20 seniors
D) 8 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 4 juniors, 4 seniors

Question 41

In a nationwide study,samples of students were asked their opinions about the quality of their college education.The results of the survey were analyzed for differences among students at the various colleges and universities.What survey design was used in this study?

A) correlated samples design
B) cross-sectional design
C) successive independent samples design
D) longitudinal design

Question 42

A major threat to the interpretation of results from a successive independent samples design is

A) interviewer bias.
B) attrition from the study.
C) stratified random sampling from the population.
D) noncomparable successive samples.

Question 43

A university alumni office conducted a survey of their alumni to assess changes in attitudes toward the university over time.In the first year of the survey,the alumni office surveyed graduates from the year 2009.In the second and third years of the survey,graduates from the years 2011 and 2013 were surveyed,respectively.When examining the results of the survey to determine whether attitudes of the alumni changed over time,the alumni office should consider

A) the likely problem of attrition in their sample.
B) only the results of the 2013 sample.
C) the potential problem of noncomparable samples.
D) all of these

Question 44

A researcher uses random-digit dialing to conduct a survey using telephone interviews.Suppose that many people don't answer their phone for the survey because when they check the caller identification,they don't recognize the phone number.This represents the potential problem of

A) interviewer bias.
B) selection bias.
C) response rate bias.
D) nonprobability bias.

Question 45

A researcher adjusted the wording of a question to guide a respondent's answer and recorded only selected portions of a respondent's answers.What survey problem does this represent?

A) interviewer bias
B) response bias
C) selection bias
D) respondent bias

Question 46

Attrition in survey research corresponds most closely to which of the following problems in the use of unobtrusive measures (physical traces,archival records)?

A) selective survival
B) selective deposit
C) spurious relationships
D) natural treatments

Question 47

The distinguishing characteristic of the longitudinal design is that

A) samples from several population are tested once.
B) the same sample of respondents is surveyed more than once.
C) a sample of individuals is asked to complete an especially long survey.
D) different samples from a population are compared over time.

Question 48

The potential problem of noncomparable successive samples can arise in the successive independent samples design.Samples are considered noncomparable when

A) they are not representative of the same population.
B) they differ in sample size by more than 50 respondents.
C) there is a large difference among the samples on the average survey response.
D) there is no standard value in the population on which the different samples can be compared.

Question 49

Which of the following statements regarding Internet surveys is false?

A) Researchers have little control over the research environment when conducting Internet surveys.
B) Selection bias is less problematic for Internet surveys because of the large samples that are typically obtained.
C) Response rate bias due to nonresponding leads to relatively low response rates for Internet surveys.
D) Internet surveys represent a low-cost, efficient method for obtaining a large, potentially diverse sample of respondents.

Question 50

Reliability refers to the ______ of a measure,and validity refers to the ______ of a measure.

A) consistency; design
B) truthfulness; design
C) truthfulness; consistency
D) consistency; truthfulness

Question 51

Internet surveys are best characterized as

A) nonprobability (convenience) samples.
B) simple random samples of the population.
C) stratified random samples of the population.
D) selected samples.

Question 52

Which of the following is not a potential limitation of the longitudinal design?

A) It is difficult to pinpoint the exact causes for any changes in individuals' attitudes using a longitudinal design.
B) It can be difficult to obtain a sample of respondents willing to participate in a longitudinal design.
C) It is not possible to determine whether the final sample is comparable to the original sample in a longitudinal design.
D) It takes a massive effort to complete a longitudinal design successfully.

Question 53

A researcher wants to study the developmental changes in social and political attitudes that occur during the time a person is in college.The researcher is interested in both overall trends and in the changes that individual students undergo.Which survey research design will this researcher need to use?

A) observational design
B) cross-sectional design
C) successive independent samples design
D) longitudinal design

Question 54

Which of the following must be true for a test or questionnaire to be considered reliable as measured by the computation of test-retest reliability?

A) People would have to hold similar relative positions in the distributions for the two test times.
B) People would have to hold very different relative positions in the distributions for the two test times.
C) People would have to have identical scores on the two administrations of the test.
D) People would have to have scores on the two administrations of the test that were uncorrelated.

Question 55

Researchers have studied changes in the values and goals of college freshman from 1966 to the present by drawing random samples from each year's incoming class.Which survey research design describes this research?

A) stratified random sampling design
B) cross-sectional design
C) successive independent samples design
D) longitudinal design

Question 56

Students at a university volunteered to complete an online survey about the different attitudes men and women have about exclusive,serious dating relationships (e.g.,"going Facebook official").One criticism of this cross-sectional research likely concerns

A) attrition from the study over time.
B) noncomparable samples over time.
C) response rate bias.
D) the extent to which the findings can be generalized.

Question 57

A researcher decides to conduct a survey using telephone interviews and has access to random-digit dialing.Because some people have multiple phone numbers and therefore,a greater likelihood of being surveyed,the researcher should be aware of the potential problem of

A) response rate bias.
B) interviewer bias.
C) telephone bias.
D) selection bias.

Question 58

A survey researcher randomly selected individuals in Canada,Mexico,and the United States and mailed them a survey about North American trade policies.The researcher compared individuals' survey responses in these countries.This researcher used a

A) cross-sectional survey design.
B) successive independent samples design.
C) longitudinal survey design.
D) observational design.

Question 59

Unless all the respondents in the original sample complete all phases of a longitudinal design,there is a possible problem due to

A) selection bias.
B) attrition.
C) extrapolated data.
D) social desirability.

Question 60

In order to assess the test-retest reliability of a measure,the researcher should

A) administer the measure at two different times to different people and compute the correlation between the two sets of scores.
B) administer the measure at two different times to the same people and compute the correlation between the two sets of scores.
C) correlate individuals' scores on the measure with a different measure designed to measure the same construct.
D) ask two people to complete the measure several times and compute the correlations across the many time periods.

Question 61

A survey on consumer products asks questions regarding automobile repair,home electronics,and travel destinations.Allowing respondents to skip the section on automobile repair if they don't own a car is an example of using a

A) leading question.
B) loaded question.
C) funnel question.
D) filter question.

Question 62

The primary advantage of free-response compared to open-ended questions is that free-response questions

A) are easier to score and code.
B) offer the respondent greater flexibility.
C) minimize the problem of expressiveness and spontaneity.
D) provide greater comparability of answers across respondents.

Question 63

Research findings indicate that people's verbal reports of their behavior and observations of their actual behavior do not always match.These findings provide a good rationale for a(n)__________ approach to psychological research.

A) correlational
B) observational
C) survey
D) multimethod

Question 64

The reliability of a survey or test will likely be low when

A) asking people to answer a small number of questions about the concept of interest.
B) asking people to respond to a many questions about the concept of interest.
C) identifying a sample of individuals who are very different from each other in terms of the construct of interest.
D) none of these

Question 65

Survey questions that are ordered from the most general to the most specific are

A) filter questions.
B) funnel questions.
C) double-barreled questions.
D) leading questions.

Question 66

Construct validity can be assessed by determining the degree to which similar measures of a construct

A) demonstrate correlations near zero.
B) are correlated.
C) show consistency over time.
D) all of these

Question 67

A researcher wants to assess the construct validity of a measure of life satisfaction.Which of the following dimensions would likely be most useful to assess when determining the discriminant validity of the measure?

A) happiness
B) well-being
C) spatial reasoning ability
D) self-esteem

Question 68

When a questionnaire item implies a preferred response within the wording of the question,it is called

A) a loaded question.
B) a leading question.
C) a double-barreled question.
D) a filter question.

Question 69

An important initial step when developing a questionnaire is to

A) avoid "expert" opinions about the topic because they may bias the survey.
B) test only one or two items and then add more for the final survey.
C) pretest the questionnaire using a sample similar to the planned survey.
D) all of these

Question 70

A respondent completes items on a closed-response survey by agreeing with each statement on the survey.This might represent a problem of

A) loaded questions.
B) selection bias.
C) filter questions.
D) response bias.

Question 71

The primary disadvantage of closed-response questions is that

A) respondents may be forced to choose among response alternatives that don't describe their true opinion.
B) responses are very difficult to code and to summarize.
C) they allow respondents too much flexibility in their responses.
D) all of these

Question 72

When individuals report on a questionnaire that their behavior is more favorable than is actually true,researchers need to be concerned about the ______________ of the responses.

A) morality
B) selection bias
C) social desirability
D) reliability

Question 73

A researcher develops a measure of the "self-esteem" construct.One item on the questionnaire states,"I generally feel good about myself." Another item states,"I think I'm not a very good person." The researcher likely uses these two items to protect against possible problems associated with

A) response bias.
B) leading questions.
C) selection bias.
D) the order of questions.

Question 74

A student is asked in a survey question about whether he would help another person who is in trouble.The student thinks that he probably would not help because he would be hesitant to get involved in a potential dangerous situation.The student decides,however,to respond that he would help.The student is likely responding to the pressure of

A) social desirability.
B) convergent sensitivity.
C) response bias.
D) discriminant responding.

Question 75

One way to minimize the likelihood that respondents might view questions as "loaded" for a survey on controversial topics is to

A) use funnel questions to direct people to survey questions that are not controversial.
B) use leading questions first to make sure the respondents agree with the survey topic.
C) ask people with a range of perspectives on the topic to review and edit the questions for potentially offensive wording.
D) use emotional words that represent both sides of the controversial topic so that the survey is not biased.

Question 76

Which of the following standards is typically applied when judging the truthfulness of the responses people make to survey questions?

A) generally be skeptical of people's responses as probably not truthful unless there is strong evidence that they are truthful
B) generally be skeptical of people's responses as probably not truthful and statistically adjust the responses
C) generally accept people's responses as truthful unless there is reason to do otherwise
D) generally accept people's responses as not truthful

Question 77

A survey question that asks,"Are you worried about global climate change and nuclear weapons?" is an example of a

A) funnel question.
B) loaded question.
C) leading question.
D) double-barreled question.

Question 78

A researcher's new measure of "friendliness" correlates strongly with a measure of agreeableness,and demonstrates a very low correlation with a measure of intelligence.This pattern of correlations indicates the researcher's measure demonstrates good

A) reliability.
B) social desirability.
C) causal relationships.
D) construct validity.

Question 79

Which of the following factors is not likely to increase the reliability of a test or questionnaire?

A) a testing situation free of distractions
B) clear instructions for completing the test
C) Little variability among individuals on the factor being tested
D) more items on a test

Question 80

Convergent validity in survey research,used to establish the construct validity of a measure,is similar to the use of _________ to establish the validity of findings from research employing unobtrusive measures.

A) archival data
B) spurious relationships
C) natural treatments
D) converging evidence