- Asking Questions Chapter 12 Test Bank Docx

Chapter 12 - Asking questions

Test Bank

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 01

01) Which of the following is not an advantage of using open questions?

• Respondents can answer in their own terms. They are not forced to answer in the same terms as those foisted on them by the closed answers.
• They allow unusual responses to be derived. Replies that the survey researcher may not have contemplated (and that would therefore not form the basis for fixed- choice alternatives) are possible.
• The questions do not suggest certain kinds of answer to respondents. Therefore, respondents’ levels of knowledge and understanding of issues can be tapped.
• The salience of issues for respondents can also be explored.
• They are useful for exploring new areas or ones in which the researcher has limited knowledge.
• They are useful for generating fixed-choice format answers.

a. Respondents can answer in their own terms

b. They do not suggest a certain kind of answer to respondent

c. They allow unusual response to be derived

d. They are generally easy to code for analysis

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 02

02) Open questions tend to be less time-consuming to administer for surveys.

a. True

b. False

• They are time-consuming for interviewers to administer and interviewees are likely to talk for longer than is usually the case with a comparable closed question.

Type: multiple response question

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 03

03) Which of the following are advantages of using closed questions? Please select all that apply.

Closed questions enhance the comparability of answers, making it easier to show the relationship between variables and to make comparisons between respondents or types of respondents. For example, in the research described in Research in focus 11.2, Guest and Dewe (1991) were able to generate a contingency table on the basis of their pre-coding of respondents’ answers. Although contingency tables can also be generated by post-coding respondents’ answers to open questions, with post-coding there is always a problem of knowing how far respondents’ answers that receive a certain code are genuinely comparable. As previously noted, the assignment of codes to people’s answers may be unreliable (see the sixth point in Tips and skills ‘Common sources of error in survey research’ in Chapter 9). Checks are necessary to ensure that there is a good deal of agreement between coders and that coders do not change their coding conventions over time. Closed questions essentially circumvent this problem.

Closed questions may clarify the meaning of a question for respondents. Sometimes respondents may not be clear about what a question is getting at, and the avail- ability of answers may help to clarify the situation for them.

Closed questions are easy for interviewers and/or respondents to complete. Precisely because interviewers and respondents are not expected to write extensively and instead have to place ticks or circle answers, closed questions are easier and quicker to complete.

In interviews, closed questions reduce the possibility of variability in the recording of answers in structured interviewing.

a. They are easy to process

b. They allow for evocative answers

c. They are easy for interviewers and/or responders to complete

d. They increase the possibility of variability in answers

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 04

04) Which of the following is not a disadvantage of using closed questions?

18–30

30–40

40–50

50–60
60 and over.

In which band would a 40-year-old position him or herself?

It is difficult to make forced-choice answers exhaustive. All possible answers should really be catered for, although in practice this may be di cult to achieve, since this rule may result in excessively long lists of possible answers. Again, a category of ‘Other’ may be desirable to provide a wide range of answers.

There may be variation among respondents in the interpretation of forced-choice answers. There is always a problem when asking a question that certain terms may be interpreted differently by respondents. If this is the case, then validity will be jeopardized. The presence of forced-choice answers can exacerbate this possible problem, because there may be variation in the understanding of key terms in the answers.

Closed questions may be irritating to respondents when they are not able to find a category that they feel applies to them.

In interviews, a large number of closed questions may make it difficult to establish rapport, because the respondent and interviewer are less likely to engage with each other in a conversation. The interview is more likely to have an impersonal feel to it. However, because it is di cult to determine the extent to which rapport is a desirable attribute of structured interviewing (see Chapter 9), this is not necessarily too much of a problem.

a. There is a loss of spontaneity in respondents’ answers

b. It is easier to establish a rapport with respondents

c. It is difficult to make fixed-choice answers exhaustive

d. Closed questions may be irritating to respondents when they cannot find a category which they feel applies to them

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 05

05) People may be asked questions about normative standards and values in a survey.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 06

06) Research questions can be put aside when designing survey questions.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 07

07) Ambiguous wording is useful for questionnaire design.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 08

08) Double-barrelled questions are usually easily understood by participants.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 09

09) General questions often elicit the most insightful responses for a survey.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 10

10) You should generally avoid questions that include negative statements.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 11

11) The use of plain and simple language is inappropriate for a survey conducted for an academic award.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 12

12) The chief argument for including ‘don’t know’ is that not to include one risks forcing people to express views that they do not really hold.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 13

13) It is generally not desirable to conduct a pilot study as your respondents may suffer from fatigue.

a. True

b. False

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 14

14) Which of the following is not a use of pilot studies in survey research?

• If the main study is going to employ mainly closed questions, open questions can be asked in the pilot to generate the fixed-choice answers. Glock (1988), for example, extols the virtues of conducting qualitative interviews in preparation for a survey for precisely this kind of reason.
• Piloting an interview schedule can provide interviewers with some experience of using it and can infuse them with a greater sense of confidence. If everyone (or virtually everyone) who answers a question replies in the same way, the resulting data are unlikely to be of interest because they do not form a variable. A pilot study allows such a question to be identified.

In interview surveys, it may be possible to identify questions that make respondents feel uncomfortable and to detect any tendency for respondents’ interest to be lost at certain junctures.

Questions that seem not to be understood (more likely to be realized in an interview than in a self-completion questionnaire context) or questions that are often not answered should become apparent. The latter problem of questions being skipped may be due to confusing or threatening phrasing, poorly worded instructions, or confusing positioning in the interview schedule or questionnaire. Whatever the cause might be, such missing data are undesirable, and a pilot study may be instrumental in identifying the problem.

Pilot studies allow the researcher to determine the adequacy of instructions to interviewers, or to respondents completing a self-completion questionnaire. It may be possible to consider how well the questions flow and whether it is necessary to move some of them around to improve this feature.

a. To generate fixed questions for the main study

b. So interviewers can have some experience with the interview schedule

c. To eliminate any question that is considered too sensitive

d. Closed questions may be irritating to respondents when they cannot find a category which they feel applies to them

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12 - Question 15

15) Using the questions from a previous survey or study is unacceptable in all circumstances.

a. True

b. False