Research Methods Chapter 7

Advantages to open ended questions

-Can yield a wealth of information (rich narrative responses) -can clarify and further develop the researcher's understanding in areas not well-known or developed

Disadvantages to closed-ended questions

-Difficult to develop -requiring considerable prior knowledge of topic and respondents -may force respondents into choosing among alternatives that do not correspond to his/her true feelings -may dampen respondents motivation by restraining spontaneity

Advantages to Internet or Emailed Surveys

-Easy and cheap (including the costs of increasing sample size) - Require less time to carry out -can create attractive questionnaires/flexible in design

Advantages to Face-to face interviews

-Provide great flexibility in data collection to clarify questions and to elicit more complete responses (PROBE:) -Determining the order in which questions are answered -Use more varied question formats -reach respondents unable or unwilling to respond to a questionnaire

Advantages to closed-ended questions

-Requiere little effort from respondents nad researchers to administer -may make self-disclosure more palatable -easy to code and analyze

Disadvantages of internet/emailed surveys

-Subject to coverage error (can reach only those with access to the internet or email accounts -research indicates response rates for web surveys tend to be low because: people think that it's spam and people receive too many emails to check through

Advantages of Telephone interviewing

-Substantially less costly and time-consuming -much simpler in terms of staff supervision -easier for making call-backs to not-at-home respondents -provides safety to interviewers -more convenient (or relaxing at home)

Use of Open-Ended questions

-best in the early stages of research, when less is known about topics -should be used when the research objectives are broad (ex- no specific hypothesis research question to be answered) exploratory research -respondents are highly motivated and vary widely in their knowledge or prior thought about the issue (ex- great diversity among subjects) -Open-ended questions should be used sparingly in SAQs because 1-writing takes more effort than circling and/or speaking and 2-the researcher is not available to use probes that ask for elaboration or clarification

Semi-structured interview (interview formats)

-have specific objectives -still allow some freedom about formulation of questions

Disadvantages of Face-to-Face interviews

-high cost per respondent (ex-prep time, travel, administer the interview, and transcribe) -difficulty reaching some respondents (ex-far distance to travel; busy work schedule) -difficulty supervising dispersed staff of interviewers -response biases introduced by interviewers (ex- sources of error associated with interviews)

Sources of measurement error in survey research

-interviewers may (will) impact responses -introduce error as a result of physical characteristics, including race, sex, and age -convey expectations to respondents about how to respond -respondents may distort or give false responses because of poor memory, desire to make a favorable impression on the interviewer, embarrassment, or dislike or distrust of the interviewer

Disadvantages of phone interviewing

-may be interpreted as bogus sales calls -ease of hang-up

* Standardized open-ended interview

-most structured -specific questions in specific order -retrieves rich detail in responses

Disadvantages to open-ended questions

-require more work of respondents when answering, and of the the researcher when coding & analyzing responses -may yield uneven responses due to respondent differences in articulateness, verbosity/writing, or willingness to answer

Characteristics of a good opening quesiton

-should be relatively easy to answer, interesting, and consistent with respondent expectations -it engages respondents' interest and motivates them to complete the survey -you generally don't want to open with your most sensitive or controversial queston

General interview guide (Interview formats)

-unstructured or less structured -lists general issues/topics -no standardized order -considerable freedom in questioning

Survey Research may Include

1.) Requests for social background information (demographic info) 2.) reports of past behavior, statements of attitudes, beliefs, values, and behavioral intentions (ex.-presences of binge drinking; drug use) 3.) sensitive information (ex. Victim of sexual assault; abuse; death; illness, etc.) All survey research should be thought of as sensitive information

How to increase participation among respondents

1.) Warning Mailings/Emails -used to increase response rates -Warning mailings - "warn" residents to expect questionnaire in mail -"address correction requested" card sent out to determine incorrect addresses 2.) Cover Letters -detail why the survey is being conducted, why respondent was selected, why it is important to complete questionnaire -you should include institutional affiliation or sponsorship -similar to information included on a consent form 3.) Follow-up procedures -facilitates response rates-to make sure that as many of the (sampled) respondents are interviewed or questioned as possible

Self-administered questionnaire (SAQ)

A questionnaire that has been designed specifically to be completed by a respondent without intervention of the researchers collecting the data

Minimizing SDR (Socially Desirable Response)

Assure anonymity and emphasizing scientific importance building interviewer-respondent rapport

Modes of survey research

Interviews - face-to-face interviews and telephone interviews -individual or in groups Vs. Questionnaires- home delivered, snail-mailed. And internet or emailed -individuals or in groups

Errors in Respnoses (SAQ)

Likely in SAQ, especially when respondents are recording his or her own answers, because the respondent might not read/ care about or understand the question, but still answer the question.

Halo Effect

One favorable attribute, contributes to other favorable attributes

Contingency questions

Relevant only to some respondents-answered only based on their previous response

Face-to-face interviews

Typically, achieve higher response rates than mail/internet questionnaires -agree to do an interview, people will show up -more difficult to skip or leave a question blank -more appropriate when respondent literacy may be a problem

A mail survey is recommended when-

1.) a larger sample is desired 2.) costs must be kept low 3.) a moderate response rate is tolerable

Types of SAQs

1.) home-delivered - a questionnaire delivered to your home, study explained, then returns to pick-up completed questionnaire 2.) snail-mailed - (sent and returned) questionnaire researchers must entice subject to return a questionnnare

What topics are appropriate for Survey Research?

Anything

Survey Research

Most common methodological approach -questionnaires or interviews

Open-ended questions

Respondent is asked to provide his or her own answer

Close-ended questions

Respondent selects an answer from a list -choices should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive Questions/statements - (likert scale (SA-SD); yes/no/maybe; sometimes/ always/ never)

Matrix questions

Same set of response categories used by multiple questions