PSYB01 - Lecture 6 Notes

Asking People About Themselves (Chapter 7) Lecture 6 Learning Objectives  Discuss reasons for conducting research  Identify factors to consider when writing questions for interviews and questionnaires, including defining research objectives and question wording.  Describe different ways to construct questionnaire responses, including closed-ended questions, open- ended questions, and rating scales.  Compare the two ways to administer surveys: written questionnaire and oral interviews.  Define interviewer bias.  Describe a panel study.  Distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling techniques .  Describe simple random sampling stratified random sampling, and cluster sampling.  Describe haphazard sampling, purposive sampling, and quota sampling.  Describe the ways that samples are evaluated for potential bias, including sampling frame and response rate . PSYB01 Study Proposal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3jgSkxV1rw Why Conduct Surveys?  Survey methodology • Nonexperimental - Questionnaires - Interviews Why Conduct Surveys? (con’t)  Why are surveys used?  Allows people to tell researchers about themselves.  A method for studying relationships among variables and ways that attitudes and behaviors change over time.  Provides useful information for making public policy decisions.  An important complement to experimental findings. Why Conduct Surveys? (con’t)  Some important issues • Assumes that people are willing and able to provide truthful and accurate answers - Response sets 1. Social desirability response set • When are respondents most likely to lie? Constructing Questions to Ask  Defining the research objectives  Three general types of survey questions  Attitudes and beliefs (evaluations; thoughts on issues)  Facts and demographics (age, gender)  Behaviours (past or intended in future) Responses to Questions  Closed-ended questions  Limited number of response alternatives are given  More structured approach  Easier to code  Response alternatives are the same for everyone  Useful when the dimensions of the variable are well defined Types of Questions Dichotomous  Two possible responses (yes/no; true/false; agree/disagree) Do you believe that physician assisted ‘suicide’ should be allowed? _____yes _____no Types of Questions Please enter your gender ______male ______female Types of Questions Based on levels of measurement - Nominal: * Occupation 1= Education 2= Healthcare 3=Law Types of Questions Based on levels of measurement - Ordinal Please rank the following movies in order of preference from best to worst: ___The Shining ___Gone with the Wind ___ Forrest Gump ___ Earth ___ Finding Nemo Types of Questions - Interval Likert Scale Physician assisted deaths should be allowed in some circumstances. 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Disagree Types of Questions - Interval  Semantic differential scale  Measures the meaning of concepts  Respondents rate any concept on a series of bipolar adjectives using 7-point scales  Most common: evaluation, activity, potency Types of Questions - Interval  Cumulative or Guttman Scale  Check each item that you agree with  Designed so that they are cumulative Please check each statement that you agree with: __I support physician assisted ‘suicide’ under all circumstances __I support physician assisted ‘suicide’ in limited circumstances __I support physician assisted ‘suicide’ in situations where a patient is fully competent to make such a decision and is suffering from a terminal illness. __I support physician assisted ‘suicide’ only when a patient is fully competent, is suffering from a terminal illness, and is in intractable pain __I will NEVER support physician assisted ‘suicide’ Types of Questions Filter - Ask question to determine if next question is suitable. Do you have any family members who have died from a terminal illness? _____yes ______no If yes: Do you believe that they were given appropriate end of life care ? _____yes ______no Responses to Questions (con’t`) Partially Open Ended Items (Dillman, 2000) Resemble restricted items, but present an ‘other’ category, and an opportunity to answer in a way that is not listed or predetermined. e.g. Who introduced you to the last person you dated? __family __introduced yourself __mutual friend or acquaintance __classmate __ Other (specify) __neighbour Responses to Questions (con’t)  Open-ended questions • Respondents are free to answer in any way they like • Requires time to code responses; costly • Some responses cannot be categorized • Useful to find out what people are thinking and how people naturally view the world Responses to Questions (con’t)  Important! Closed-ended and open-ended approaches can sometimes lead to different conclusions. Constructing Questions to Ask (con’t)  Question wording is extremely