Formats
Respondents may answer any way they like.
Open-ended questions
A question that prompts or encourages the desired answer.
Leading Question
(nondifferentiation) answering questions in the same way.
Response sets
a researcher watches people or animals and systematically records their actions
Observational research
"I frequently solve and enjoy solving crossword puzzles and Sudoku puzzles.” What is the problem with this question?
It is a double-barreled question.
People provide their opinion by choosing the best of two or more options.
Forced-choice format
Asking two questions in one
Double-barreled question
(yea-saying) answering positively (yes, strongly agree, agree) to a number of items instead of looking at each item individually.
Acquiescence
when observers see what they expect to see
Observer bias
“I have never not enjoyed thinking.” What is the problem with this question?
It has a double negative.
People are presented with a statement and asked to use a rating scale to reflect their degree of agreement.
Likert scale
These types of questions pose a threat to construct validity, because the more cognitively difficult a question is for people to answer, the more confusion there will be.
Negatively worded question: (Double Negatives)
Always selecting the negative answer
Nay-saying
when participants confirm observer expectations
Observer effects
Masked or blind study designs are designed to deal with
observer bias.
Respondents are asked to rate a target object using a numeric scale anchored by adjectives
Semantic differential format
Earlier questions can influence the way respondents answer later questions. This is why _____________ matters.
Question order
playing it safe by choosing the response in the middle of the scale for all items
Fence sitting
the observers do not know to which conditions the participants have been assigned
Masked design
Faking good is also known as
socially desirable responding.
a method of asking people questions
Survey/poll
If a question has response options that are anchored with adjectives, this is known as a(n)
semantic differential format
Trying to look better than we are (smarter, stronger, thinner, happier, more successful).
Socially desirable responding/faking good
when people change their behavior in some way when they know that someone else is watching them
Reactivity
If a question has response options such as strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree, this is known as a(n)
Likert scale.