Survey Design and Experiments

Question 1

T or F: sampling is an important part of quantitative research

Answer 1

True: especially important when conducting surveys

Question 2

what is a survey?

Answer 2

a specific type of field study that involves the collection of data from a sample of elements drawn from a well-defined population through the use of a questionnaire

Question 3

what is the purpose of surveys?

Answer 3

• allow for data collection from a large number of people
• allow for assessment of self-reported traits, attributes, and behaviors
• are reliable means of information gathering

Question 4

T or F: surveys do not rely on self-report data

Answer 4

FALSE

Question 5

what is self-report data?

Answer 5

data provided by a study respondent without inference on the part of the research

Question 6

what is the process of conducting a survey?

Answer 6

1) specify the research problem
2) select a survey design
3) generate questionnaire
4) generate data
5) analyze data

Question 7

T or F: survey questions should be easy to read and understandable

Answer 7

True

Question 8

T or F: it’s important to think about “user experience” when designing surveys

Answer 8

True

Question 9

T or F” a survey should take participants more than 10-12 minutes to complete

Answer 9

False: should not take more than 10-12 minutes to complete

Question 10

T or F: personally sensitive questions and demographic questions should appear at the beginning of the survey

Answer 10

False: these questions should appear at the end of the survey

Question 11

When is it acceptable to have personally sensitive question at the beginning of a survey?

Answer 11

when branching or eligibility questions are necessary

Question 12

What do experiments do?

Answer 12

1) demonstrates whether something is true
2) examines the validity of a hypothesis or theory
3) attempts to discover new information

Question 13

T or F: experiments are the means by which we detect cause and effect

Answer 13

True

Question 14

What is a casual relationship between variables?

Answer 14

refers to the researcher’s attempts to determine that one or more variables (independent) have caused the changes in another variable (dependent)

Question 15

What conditions allow for one variable to cause an effect in another variable?

Answer 15

1) Correlation
2) Time Order
3) Non-Spuriousness

Question 16

what is correlation?

Answer 16

when variables A and B are related to one another

Question 17

what is time order?

Answer 17

when changes to variable A result in changes to variable B

Question 18

what is non-spuriousness?

Answer 18

the relationship between variable A and B must not be explained by a third variable (C)

Question 19

what is spuriousness?

Answer 19

a relationship between variables that seems real, but is explained by the presence of another variable

Question 20

what is causation?

Answer 20

states that A causes B

Question 21

what is association?

Answer 21

states that A and B are associated (correlated) with one another

Question 22

T or F: surveys can only point to associations between two variables

Answer 22

True

Question 23

T or F: independent variables are varied by researchers

Answer 23

True

Question 24

T or F: dependent variables are presumed to be affected by independent variables

Answer 24

True

Question 25

what is an independent variable in an experimental research?

Answer 25

a variable that is manipulated/changed by the researcher

Question 26

what is a dependent variable in an experimental research?

Answer 26

a variable that is measured by the researcher

Question 27

T or F: independent and dependent variables are something we think about in all forms of qualitative research

Answer 27

False: quantitative research

Question 28

how is the independent variable used in non-experimental research contexts?

Answer 28

the independent variable is the thing that is presumed/theorized to predict another outcome

Question 29

T or F: in survey designs, independent and dependent variables are used similarly to experimental research

Answer 29

False: the independent variable is the variable that we expect to come before or be predictive of the dependent variable

Question 30

T or F: the independent/dependent variable distinction only makes sense if our research context involves two or more variables

Answer 30

True

Question 31

what are the common question types in survey design?

Answer 31

1) single selection measures 2) multiple selection measures 3) ranking measures 4) rating measures 5) likert-type measure 6) semantic differential measures

Question 32

what are single selection measures?

Answer 32

requires participants to make a single selection from a list of options

Question 33

what are multiple selection measures?

Answer 33

allows participants to make more than one selection from a list of options

Question 34

what are ranking measures?

Answer 34

requires participants to rank a body of elements in terms of preference

Question 35

what are rating measures?

Answer 35

requires participants to rate (on a numeric scale) thoughts, feelings, or beliefs relative to a researcher-provided prompt

Question 36

what are likert-type measures?

Answer 36

requires participants to indicate level of agreement relative to a researcher-provided prompts - ex: strongly disagree - strongly agree

Question 37

what are semantifc differential measures?

Answer 37

requires participants to indicate feelings/beliefs relative to a researcher-provided prompt - use bipolar formate where only the poles are labeled

Question 38

T or F: all true experiments no do require random assignment

Answer 38

False: random assignment is require

Question 39

what is random assignment?

Answer 39

the research subjects are randomly placed in experimental groups

Question 40

What is the first thing we do when we're ready to collect data?

Answer 40

randomly place our participants into the experimental or control group

Question 41

T or F: randomly assigned people into experimental groups should be similar in terms of demographics features, life experiences, and so on...

Answer 41

True

Question 42

what is the purpose of random assignment?

Answer 42

placing subjects into different treatment and control groups in a true experiment to ensure that subjects in each group will have similar characteristics and are equal

Question 43

T or F: if an "experiment" uses random assignment, it is a quasi-experiment

Answer 43

False: experiments that don't use random assignments are quasi-experiments

Question 44

T or F: quasi-experiments can provide conclusive evidence of causation

Answer 44

False: quasi-experiments CANNOT provide conclusive evidence of causation

Question 45

T or F: random assignment and random sampling are the same thing

Answer 45

False: random sampling refers to the random selection of individuals from a larger population

Question 46

T or F: the most straightforward experiment involves two groups: control and experimental group

Answer 46

True

Question 47

what is randomized controlled trial?

Answer 47

an experiment involving a controlled and experimental group - also referred to as RCT

Question 48

what is a control group?

Answer 48

a group of participants who do everything the experimental group does, but are not given any test, drug, intervention, or manipulation

Question 49

what is an experimental group?

Answer 49

the group of participants who undergo a form of experimentation

Question 50

what are the strength of experimental research?

Answer 50

only method that can definitively show causality - can be replicated