chapter 6 textbook notes Flashcards
in our class does survey and poll mean the same thing?
yes
forced-choice questions
people give their opinion by picking the best of two or more questions (used in political polls)
likert scale
strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree
semantic differential format
a numeric score paired with adjectives ex: rate my professor level of difficulty 1: show up and pass 5: hardest class ever
does the wording of a question on a poll matter?
yes use simple questions because people get confused and it may lead to different results
are leading questions bad?
yes because they may lead people to a specific response based on wording
how can you check to see if a question is worded correctly?
for each question word it in different ways and if you get the same results the question is worded fine
double-barreled questions
Asks 2 questions in 1; these have poor construct validity. people may only answer one part of the question instead of both so its best to separate it
negatively worded questions
Instead of getting info on their opinion, it tests their working memory. whenever a question contains negative phrasing, it can cause confusion
Does question order in a survey matter?
yes earlier questions sometimes change the responses of later questions. ex: People are more likely to vote for the first person on a ballot.
Can self-reports be trusted?
Self-reports can be ideal but can also be imperfect due to response sets (getting lazy, especially during a long questionnaire and clicking all neutral or all positive or negative) response sets weaken construct validity
what are some potential response sets
Acquiescence, aka yea-saying: saying yes or strongly agreeing without thinking carefully
fence sitting: playing it safe by answering the middle of the scale (weaken construct validity) to combat this, sometimes researchers will take away the neutral option (the downside to this is that sometimes people wont answer without a neutral option)
how can a researcher tell the difference between a person genuinely answering yes and a yea-saying respondent?
including reverse items: changing the wording to mean the opposite of a previous question (this also may slow people down and make them answer more carefully because they recognize the question) the reverse worded items have higher construct validity
socially desirable responding or faking good
answering differently than how you feel to make yourself look better. To avoid this, the researcher may make it anonymous (this may also cause them to take it less seriously if its anonymous) also including statements that target socially desirable responders ex: my table manners at home are as good as when i eat at a restaurant
self-reporting memories of events: is it accurate?
For the most part, its accurate, but for certain circumstances, its not. Ex: traumatic events, or years ago at times (9/11 people recall watching the first plane hit on TV, but it was not on TV yet).
customers rating products what does the rating tell us?
People rate based on the cost and prestige of the brand. This suggests people may not always accurately report on the quality of products they buy.
observational research
watching a subject and recording what they are doing. basis for frequency claims. It can also be used to operationalize variables in association claims and causal claims
observer bias
observers expectations influence their interpretation of the participants behaviors or the outcome of the study. they rate based on the results they want to see
observer effects
observer change the behavior of those they are observing and the person being observed changes to please the observer
how do you limit observer bias?
using multiple observers, although this does not ensure there won’t be bias, as well as masked or blind design where the observers are unaware of the purpose of the study and the conditions to which participants have been assigned.
reactivity
people change their behavior when they know theyre being watched, which also occurs in animal subjects
unobtrusive observations
make yourself less noticeable (as the observer) this is to avoid observer bias
How can you reduce observer bias?
unobtrusive observations, wait it out (subject gets used to the observer being around), measure the behaviors results.
is it ethical to observe people without their knowledge?
yes but if you record them at the end of the study, you need to delete the footage if they arent okay with it
