personality scale construction

fence sitting

staying close to the middle of the scale solution: even numbered scale

advantages of closed ended questions

-we get exactly what were asking for and nothing else

social desirability

A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself

semantic differential scale

a five-point scale in which the opposite ends have one- or two-word adjectives that have opposite meanings

likert scale

a numerical scale with odd number of options used to assess something; includes a set of possible answers with labeled anchors on each extreme

forced choice scale

a scale where a person must choose between only two response alternatives for each item (yes/no scale)

disadvantages of open ended questions

might never get stuff you care about -time consuming

open ended questions

allow people to respond to questions in their own ways

double barreled question

asking two questions in one ex: do you think that legalizing marijuana will decrease crime rate and lead to a happier, healthier population

reverse coded vs negatively worded

extraversion: tends to be quiet: reverse coded tends to be not talkative: negatively worded

interview

face to face and telephone interviews, one subject at a time or focus group interviews (almost never used in psych)

what is important about question order

how does 1 question impact the interpretation of the next question (contrast effect)

what is important about question phrasing

need to avoid: -leading questions (if it seems like one answer is better than another) - double barreled -negative worded questions (not, never, wouldn't, shouldn't) makes it more cognitively difficult -jargon (keep questions simple) -use equal numbers of positive and negative categories for scalar questions

advantage of open ended questions

people tell you what's important to them

questionnaire

personal admin to groups or individuals (mail, internet, in person)

closed ended questions

provide people with specific rating dimensions of interest (yes or no, 1-5 scale, etc)

types of self reports

questionnaires and interviews

response sets

shortcuts

disadvantage of closed ended questions

we don't get what is personally meaningful to them

acquiescence

yea-saying tendancy