Survey Questionnaire Research Chapter 4

Introduction to the Method Survey researchers draw conclusions by asking people questions about their attitudes and behaviors. The questions asked are central to the method--the questions should produce reliable (consistent) answers. The questions should produce valid answers (respondents must interpret the question the same way and answer accurately).

Survey Questions Need to be clear and unambiguous Need to be phrased with the level of measurement in mind nominal ordinal interval ratio

Levels of Measurement Nominal Ordinal Mutually exclusive, symbolic categories E.g., candidate X or Y Male or Female Ordinal Ss rank a variable along some dimension E.g., rank group members on leadership, from highest to lowest

Levels of Measurement Interval A variable measure on a numerical scale, where the distance between the points on the scale are equal it’s hard to find good examples from questionnaire research Ratio Similar to interval measurement except ratio measurements possess an absolute zero point, i.e., not an arbitrary zero point, as with the freezing point; height has an absolute zero point

Types of Questions Closed Open closed questions ask Ss to choose between specified answers E.g., Yes or No Open open questions allow Ss to answer in their own words

Sequencing of Questions Researchers must decide on the sequencing of questions, called the the tunnel similarly organized questions the funnel starts with broad based, open questions, followed by narrower, closed questions the inverted funnel begins with narrow, closed questions and builds to broader, open questions

Response Set Researchers must be wary of response set when questions are worded in the same “direction” or polarity and Ss choose only one end of the scale (p. 94)

Questionnaire Administration Procedures Researcher-administered Self-administered Single or Multiple Administration cross-sectional at one point in time longitudinal administered more than once

usable respondents / total sampled Response Rate The response rate the number of usable questionnaires or interviews divided by the total number of people sampled usable respondents / total sampled

Choosing Survey Questionnaires or Interviews Who are you questioning? Do they have sufficient reading and writing skills? Will they respond? Questionnaires lend themselves to closed questions and interviews lend themselves to open questions Questionnaires are more suitable for studying sensitive topics Response rate is higher for interviews than mailed questionnaires What resources do you have: time, costs, facilities

Let’s Work on the Study, “Do Workers Trust Labor Unions and Their Messages?” (pp. 98-121) Work in small groups and prepare: (1) a brief summary of the study (2) an analysis of each of the following: quality of the questions (clarity) level of measurement sequencing response set response rate