Deck 4: Survey Design

Question 1

A researcher creates an online survey to measure flaming (aggressive commentary)on the Internet.The survey is distributed by mailing a web link to randomly selected users of the largest social media service in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Israel.The survey is in English and is sent to 3200 users with a 25% return rate.The questions include "Are you a troll?" and "Do you flame people for the lulz or do they just deserve it?" as well as a standard inventory measuring aggression.The researchers conclude that flaming is higher in the United Kingdom but aggression is higher in Australia.Which of the following statements is true?

A)The study employs a double-barreled question in order to prevent social desirability effects.
B)The study employs a double-barreled question and that is a problem because it is difficult to interpret the answers to such questions.
C)The study employs a double-barreled question and that is a problem because it increases social desirability.
D)The study employs a double-barreled question and that is a problem because it increases non-response.
E)The study does not employ a double-barreled question.

Answer 1

The study employs a double-barreled question and that is a problem because it is difficult to interpret the answers to such questions.

Question 2

"A specified body of numerical information obtained from a given piece of research." What is this a glossary definition of?

A)A sampling distribution.
B)A descriptive summary.
C)A data file.
D)A data set.
E)A descriptive file.

Answer 2

A data set.

Question 3

"The failure to obtain responses in circumstances where a person is selected from the population but does not actually participate in the survey." What does this glossary entry define?

A)Random error.
B)Undersampling.
C)Missing data.
D)Non-response.
E)Non-specific withdrawal.

Answer 3

Non-response.

Question 4

"A scheme for converting responses into numerical values.This means is that, when describing results, numbers can be used rather than words." What is this a glossary definition of?

A)Code.
B)Numericalization.
C)Scoring.
D)Score.
E)Conversion.

Question 5

A television news programme conducts a poll in which it asks viewers to phone in and express their views about the current government environmental policy.The results of the survey show that 19% of the 6,000 viewers who ring in support the policy.Which of the following statements is true?

A)The results of this study can only be generalized to people who watch news programmes.
B)The results of this study can only be generalized to people who own a television.
C)The results of this study can only be generalized to people who care about the death penalty.
D)The results of this study can only be generalized to people who do not support the government.
E)None of the above.

Question 6

A forensic psychologist conducts a study of fear of crime and crime rates in a small city.His hypothesis is that fear of crime is high in areas with moderate crime rates and low in areas with low and high crime rates.Using a map of housing to create a sampling frame he mails a questionnaire to a random sample of 100 residents in six areas: two with moderate crime rates, two with low crime rates and two with high crime rates.Of the 600 questionnaires 350 are returned (180 in the low crime areas, 100 in the moderate crime areas, and 70 in the high crime areas).Which of the following statements is false?

A)The study uses a simple random sample.
B)The study uses a simple random sample because it uses probability sampling.
C)The study could be said to use a simple random sample if the areas had equal-size populations but even if they did the varying return rates complicate the matter.
D)The study uses a simple random sample especially because fear makes people behave erratically.
E)All of the above, except (d).

Question 7

In response to a wave of mass killings, a political psychologist sets up an online study to examine attitudes towards gun control in the United States.The study involves collecting a sample of 40,000 Internet users recruited throughout all 50 states using advertisements on political discussion and news sites and including an equal number of men and women and an equal number of supporters of the two main political parties.The survey shows that a large majority favour tighter gun controls.Which of the following statements is false?

A)This is a longitudinal study because it follows a wave of killings.
B)This study has some similar characteristics to the Literary Digest study conducted in the 1950s.
C)Although the study may not tell us what the level of support for gun control is it could still be useful for studying relationships between variables.
D)With a clear sampling frame this design could be adapted to use probability sampling.
E)It is not clear from the description what the independent variables are.

Question 8

"A survey research procedure whereby experimental manipulations are included.The most obvious form involves randomly selected participants receiving different questionnaires." What procedure is this a glossary definition of?

A)The split-ballot technique
B)Randomization.
C)Survey maniplation.
D)Experimental maniplation.
E)Matching.

Question 9

A forensic psychologist conducts a study of fear of crime and crime rates in a small city.His hypothesis is that fear of crime is high in areas with moderate crime rates and low in areas with low and high crime rates.Using a map of housing to create a sampling frame he mails a questionnaire to a random sample of 100 residents in six areas: two with moderate crime rates, two with low crime rates and two with high crime rates.Of the 600 questionnaires 350 are returned (180 in the low-crime areas, 100 in the moderate-crime areas, and 70 in the high-crime areas).Which of the following statements is true?

A)The study uses probability sampling.
B)The study uses convenience sampling.
C)The study uses quota sampling.
D)The study uses alpha sampling.
E)The study uses mean distribution sampling.

Question 10

A media psychologist conducts a study of adolescent television viewing and its effects on violent behaviour.He recruits a sample of 300 teenage males and measures their TV viewing behaviour over a period of six months by asking them to press a button on a device whenever they are watching TV (which automatically notes what the programme is).At the beginning, middle, and end of the study he brings the adolescents into the media laboratory and measures violent behaviour (the number of times they punch inflatable dolls that resemble members of a well-known "boy band").Which of the following statement is true?

A)The study is an experiment because it is conducted in a laboratory.
B)The study is not an experiment because even though it is conducted in a laboratory it is a "media" laboratory and media is not scientific.
C)The study is an experiment because it employs a repeated-measure design.
D)The study is an experiment because it has never been done before.
E)None of the above.

Question 11

In response to a wave of mass killings, a political psychologist sets up an online study to examine attitudes towards gun control in the United States.The study involves collecting a sample of 40,000 Internet users recruited throughout all 50 states using advertisements on political discussion and news sites and including an equal number of men and women and an equal number of supporters of the two main political parties.The survey shows that a large majority favour tighter gun controls.Which of the following statements is true?

A)The survey is biased because of the distorting effect of the mass killings on public opinion.
B)The survey is more valid than most national opinion polls that use samples of 1000 to 2000 people.
C)The survey is biased because the researcher appears to be biased in favour of gun control.
D)This type of survey is called a virtual survey because it is conducted on the Internet.
E)None of the above.

Question 12

"A sampling procedure where a sample is chosen from the people who are available to participate in research.Often just about any person who can understand the instructions and complete the task is acceptable.This is the technique used in many psychological experiments (often involving undergraduate students)." What sampling procedure is this a glossary definition of?

A)Independent sampling.
B)Casual sampling.
C)Random sampling.
D)Purposive sampling.
E)Convenience sampling.

Question 13

A researcher creates an online survey to measure flaming (aggressive commentary)on the Internet.The survey is distributed by mailing a web link to randomly selected users of the largest social media service in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Israel.The survey is in English and is sent to 3200 users with a 25% return rate.The questions include "Are you a troll?" and "Do you flame people for the lulz or do they just deserve it?" as well as a standard inventory measuring aggression.The researchers conclude that flaming is higher in the United Kingdom but aggression is higher in Australia.Which of the following statements is true?

A)The researcher should not use colloquial terms such as "troll" and "lulz" in scientific research.
B)The researcher can use colloquial terms such as "troll" and "lulz" in scientific research if the research is funded by social media companies.
C)Colloquial terms can be used in psychological research providing that the meaning of the questions is clear and is readily comprehensible to respondents.
D)None of the above.

Question 14

A forensic psychologist conducts a study of fear of crime and crime rates in a small city.His hypothesis is that fear of crime is high in areas with moderate crime rates and low in areas with low and high crime rates.Using a map of housing to create a sampling frame he mails a questionnaire to a random sample of 100 residents in six areas: two with moderate crime rates, two with low crime rates and two with high crime rates.Of the 600 questionnaires 350 are returned (180 in the low-crime areas, 100 in the moderate-crime areas, and 70 in the high-crime areas).Which of the following statements is false?

A)The study is an experiment because it has an independent variable.
B)The study does not have an independent variable.
C)The study has an independent and a dependent variable.
D)In this study the independent variable has not been manipulated.
E)Both (a)and (b).

Question 15

A forensic psychologist conducts a study of fear of crime and crime rates in a small city.His hypothesis is that fear of crime is high in areas with moderate crime rates and low in areas with low and high crime rates.Using a map of housing to create a sampling frame he mails a questionnaire to a random sample of 100 residents in six areas: two with moderate crime rates, two with low crime rates and two with high crime rates.Of the 600 questionnaires 350 are returned (180 in the low-crime areas, 100 in the moderate-crime areas, and 70 in the high-crime areas).Which of the following statements is true?

A)The low return rate in the high-crime area is not a concern as the questionnaires were probably stolen.
B)The low return rate in the high-crime area is a concern as the questionnaires were probably stolen and that violates the ethical principle of integrity.
C)The different return rates from the different areas could introduce bias into the results.
D)The different return rates represent a threat to the internal validity of the research.
E)Both (c)and (d).

Question 16

A forensic psychologist conducts a study of fear of crime and crime rates in a small city.His hypothesis is that fear of crime is high in areas with moderate crime rates and low in areas with low and high crime rates.Using a map of housing to create a sampling frame he mails a questionnaire to a random sample of 100 residents in six areas: two with moderate crime rates, two with low crime rates and two with high crime rates.Of the 600 questionnaires 350 are returned (180 in the low-crime areas, 100 in the moderate-crime areas, and 70 in the high-crime areas).Which of the following statements is true?

A)The study uses a split-ballot design.
B)The study is a quasi-experiment as it compares three different groups.
C)The study is an experiment because many crimes are random attacks.
D)The different return rates are worth considering closely.
E)None of the above.

Question 17

Which of the following is a common reason for administering surveys in certain areas of psychology?

A)The allow researchers to gather data in a range of contexts (including on-line).
B)They allow researchers to examine relationships between variables.
C)They can be used to examine the causal relationship between variables.
D)Both (a)and (b)
E)All of the above.

Question 18

A researcher creates an online survey to measure flaming (aggressive commentary)on the Internet.The survey is distributed by mailing a web link to randomly selected users of the largest social media service in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Israel.The survey is in English and is sent to 3200 users with a 25% return rate.The questions include "Are you a troll?" and "Do you flame people for fun or do they just deserve it?" as well as a standard inventory measuring aggression.The researchers conclude that flaming is higher in the United Kingdom but aggression is higher in Australia.Which of the following statements is true?

A)The study's design provides a sound basis for the researcher's conclusion.
B)We cannot tell from the information provided whether the study's design provides a sound platform for the researcher's conclusion.
C)The study's design provides a sound basis for the researcher's conclusion because an equal number of people were sampled from each country (eliminating bias).
D)The study's design provides a sound basis for the researcher's conclusion because it employed random sampling.
E)The study's design provides a poor basis for the researcher's conclusion in part because we do not know if we have a representative sample of each country's users.

Question 19

A researcher creates an online survey to measure flaming (aggressive commentary)on the Internet.The survey is distributed by mailing a web link to randomly selected users of the largest social media service in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Israel.The survey is in English and is send to 3200 users with a 25% return rate.The questions include "Are you a troll?" and "Do you flame people for fun or do they just deserve it?" as well as a standard inventory measuring aggression.The researchers conclude that flaming is higher in the United Kingdom but aggression is higher in Australia.Which of the following statments is false?

A)In order to evaluate the research findings it would be important to know whether all participants could read English proficiently.
B)In order to evaluate the research findings it would be important to know whether the return rates were the same for all four countries.
C)In order to evaluate the research findings it would be important to know whether the standard aggression inventory was valid and reliable.
D)In order to evaluate the research findings it would be important to know whether the flaming measure was valid and reliable (and the phrasing of the items raises concerns).
E)None of the above.

Question 20

A researcher creates an online survey to measure flaming (aggressive commentary)on the Internet.The survey is distributed by mailing a web link to randomly selected users of the largest social media service in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Israel.The survey is in English and is sent to 3200 users with a 25% return rate.The questions include "Are you a troll?" and "Do you flame people for fun or do they just deserve it?" as well as a standard inventory measuring aggression.The researchers conclude that flaming is higher in the United Kingdom but aggression is higher in Australia.Which of the following statements is true?

A)The survey uses a standard inventory so it should be possible to estimate standard errors
B)The survey uses a probability sampling method
C)We could conclude whether the survey uses a probability sampling method if we knew how many users each social media service has.
D)We could conclude whether the survey uses a probability sampling method if we knew how many people live in each country.
E)We could conclude whether the survey uses a probability sampling method if we knew how many people who live in each country use social media services

Question 21

"Sampling where participants are selected according to a specific plan or method (either probability or non-probability sampling)." What procedure is this a glossary definition of?

A)Systematic sampling.
B)Planned sampling.
C)Planned comparisons.
D)Directive sampling.
E)Purposive sampling.

Question 22

"Research procedures that use non-obtrusive measures to reduce the reactivity of participants' behaviour." What type of procedures is this a glossary definition of?

A)Deception.
B)Non-reactive techniques.
C)Psycho-reactive techniques.
D)Archival methods.
E)Online surveys.

Question 23

"A group of participants who take part in a particular piece of research at the same time." What is this a glossary definition of?

A)A sample.
B)A cohort.
C)An empirical cluster.
D)A population.
E)An empirical sample.