Test Bank

Chapter 8: Survey Research

Multiple Choice

1. Behavior coding is possible for ______.

A. mailed survey

B. web survey

C. in-person survey

D. interactive voice response

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Which of the following survey methods is extremely affordable and quick to implement but cannot ensure questionnaire completion.

A. mail survey

B. phone survey

C. in-person survey

D. web survey

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. In order to keep response rates high, researchers decide to first collect data by mailing surveys to potential respondents, after which they will begin calling respondents on the telephone. This method is known as ______.

A. context

B. random digit dialing

C. double barreling

D. mixed mode

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Survey research is most appropriate when which of the following is a central research goal?

A. measurement validity

B. causal validity

C. internal validity

D. sample generalizability

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. What is not one of the reasons that survey research is so popular?

A. generalizability

B. versatility

C. nonspuriousness

D. efficiency

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. An omnibus survey ______.

A. focuses on one research topic

B. is always conducted in person

C. covers a range of topics

D. is not generalizable to a larger population

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Which theory explains that a well-designed survey effort will maximize the social rewards for survey participation and minimize its costs as well as establish trust that the rewards will outweigh the costs?

A. social desirability

B. social exchange

C. cost–benefit analysis

D. rational choice

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. A split-ballot design ______.

A. allows more questions to be used without increasing the survey’s cost

B. facilitates experiments on the effect of question wording

C. is used in the General Social Survey

D. all of these

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Before asking a respondent the make of their car, you should first ask if they own a car. Asking if they own a car is an example of what kind of survey question?

A. double negative

B. contingent

C. filter

D. double barreled

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. A statement with responses ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” on a survey questionnaire is an example of a ______.

A. Likert item

B. contingent question

C. floater

D. forced choice

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. Surveys are considered efficient because they ______.

A. are relatively inexpensive

B. can be completed relatively quickly

C. can measure many variables without increasing time or cost

D. all of these

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. To save costs, the GSS asks certain questions to subjects in subsamples, allowing more questions to be asked in the overall sample. This technique is known as ______.

A. alternate forms

B. omnibus survey

C. exogenous survey forms

D. split-ballot design

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Survey questions should generally be kept to less than how many words?

A. 20

B. 50

C.75

D.100

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. If you think people have an opinion but are reluctant to express it, it's a good idea to use which type of questions?

A. contingency questions

B. forced choice questions

C. matrix questions

D. filter questions

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Behavior coding involves which of the following?

A. coding the number of times that difficulties occur with survey questions

B. assigning codes to different forms of behavior in experiments

C. assigning neutral codes to socially unacceptable behaviors

D. coding artifacts, such as newspaper articles, according to behavioral characteristics

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. A good way to determine if a questionnaire contains a context effect is to ______.

A. present questions in matrix format

B. properly train interviewers to maintain consistency

C. compare reverse question order in a split ballot design

D. have multiple interviewers conduct surveys with a small sample of original respondents

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. What is the minimum acceptable response rate for a mailed survey?

A. 50%

B. 67%

C. 70%

D. 90%

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. Six to eight weeks after an initial survey mailing, a survey researcher should do which of the following to attempt to get nonrespondents to complete their survey?

A. send a reminder postcard or a new envelope

B. send a letter reminding people to reply

C. call to make sure respondents received their surveys

D. use a different mode of delivery or administer the questionnaire over the phone

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. Which of the following is NOT a problem for phone surveys?

A. low response rates

B. growing rates of nonresponse

C. the number of callbacks required has increased greatly

D. Visual aids cannot be used.

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. A computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) has all of the characteristics below EXCEPT ______.

A. The questionnaire is programmed into a computer

B. Relevant skip patterns are programmed into a computer

C. A computer randomly dials digits of a specified telephone exchange D. The system incorporates the tasks of interviewing and data entry.

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. Which of the following is NOT a problem for maximizing response rates in in-person interviews?

A. Respondent may be interrupted or distracted and fail to complete interview.

B. Difficulty in finding all the members of a sample.

C. Contact rates vary by location and household size.

D. Refusal rates vary with individual characteristics like education.

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. Interactive Voice Response surveys require ______.

A. access to the Internet

B. access to e-mail

C. access to a telephone

D. access to an interviewer

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. If sufficient resources and a trained staff are available, which survey design is almost always preferable?

A. mailed surveys

B. group surveys

C. phone surveys

D. in-person interviews

Difficulty Level: Hard

24. Group surveys differ from other types of surveys in the following way.

A. Respondents do not fill out the questionnaires themselves.

B. The cost of group surveys is usually prohibitively high.

C. The questionnaire is distributed to more than one respondent at a time.

D. An interviewer reads the questions to the respondent.

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. Which of the following is a good idea for making the questionnaire attractive to respondents.

A. leave lots of space white on the pages

B. list responses in a single line

C. incorporate instructions into the questions themselves

D. If the questionnaire has several pages, do not staple them together.

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. Political Party X calls voters and asks them the following question: How concerned are you with the corruption that plagues both major political parties today? What kind of survey is this?

A. group survey

B. push poll

C. cognitive interview

D. filter question

Difficulty Level: Hard

27. To identify floaters, include which of the following response categories?

A. strongly agree

B. strongly disagree

C. neutral

D. don't Know

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Anonymity exists when ______.

A. researchers limit information about respondents to trained staff.

B. no identifying information is ever collected to link respondent to responses.

C. the sample of respondents in a survey is selected purely by random.

D. the researcher only uses numbers to connect respondent identity to responses.

Difficulty Level: Hard

29. In a survey, a contingent question always follows a/an ______.

A. double-barreled question

B. double-negative question

C. open-ended question

D. filter question

Difficulty Level: Medium

30. Filter questions are used primarily to ______.

A. select individuals for participation in surveys

B. limit certain survey questions to competent subgroups of respondents

C. investigate how respondents interpret questions

D. assess social and physical context of administration

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. To improve respondents' memories about specific past events, ______.

A. use in-person interviews

B. use open-ended questions

C. use self-administered surveys

D. use additional questions about these events

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. The best option for reducing idiosyncratic variation in survey questions that measure a concept is to ______.

A. write questions clearly

B. balance response categories

C. use an index

D. use cognitive interviewing

Difficulty Level: Hard

33. An index that weighs items based on importance is known as a/an ______.

A. γ

B. αC. Seurat

D. scale

Difficulty Level: Easy

34. The best way to improve response rates on a mailed survey is ______.

A. include a self-addressed stamped envelope

B. write an attractive questionnaire

C. use different formatting to distinguish instructions

D. send follow-up letters and replacement questionnaires

Difficulty Level: Medium

35. When questions in an index cluster into correlated subsets, the index is called a/an ______.

A. multidimensional index

B. α

C. Seurat

D. scale

Difficulty Level: Easy

36. In a phone survey or an in-person survey, the list of questions is referred to as ______.

A. questionnaire

B. interview survey

C. interview schedule

D. interpretive questions

Difficulty Level: Easy

37. The single most important requirement for obtaining an adequate response rate to a mailed survey is ______.

A. a personalized cover letter

B. a token financial incentive

C. a well-designed survey

D. sending follow-up mailings to nonrespondents

Difficulty Level: Medium

38. The design of the overall questionnaire is important. Researchers should attend to all of the following features of questionnaire construction EXCEPT ______.

A. maintain a consistent focus throughout

B. get external feedback so you can refine questions

C. sort questions into thematic categories to be included in separate sections

D. make the questionnaire attractive

Difficulty Level: Medium

39. What guideline does the following question violate in terms of guidelines for writing questions: Do you agree that families with children are happier?

A. avoid double negatives

B. avoid double-barreled questions

C. avoid making either disagreement or agreement disagreeable

D. minimize fence sitting and floating

Difficulty Level: Hard

40. What guideline does the following question violate in terms of guidelines for writing questions: Would you support or oppose penalties against gas-guzzling vehicles?

A. avoid double negatives

B. avoid double-barreled questions

C. minimize risk of biased words

D. avoid making disagreement or agreement disagreeable

Difficulty Level: Hard

41. What guideline does the following question violate in terms of guidelines for writing questions: Do you favor or oppose tougher drug fines and longer mandatory sentences?

A. avoid double negatives

B. avoid double-barreled questions

C. minimize risk of biased words

D. avoid making disagreement or agreement disagreeable

Difficulty Level: Hard

42. What guideline does the following question violate in terms of guidelines for writing questions: Do you disagree that there should not be a quiz on Chapter 8?

A. avoid double negatives

B. avoid double-barreled questions

C. minimize risk of biased words

D. avoid making disagreement or agreement disagreeable

Difficulty Level: Hard

43. The popularity of survey research is due to ______.

A. control over extraneous influences in the mode

B. versatility, efficiency, and the generalizability of results

C. the anonymity guaranteed to the research subject by the investigator

D. relatively high degree of population turnover

Difficulty Level: Medium

44. Survey research involves ______.

A. the collection of in-depth observation and intensive interviews with key informants

B. a considerable degree of data dredging, often in official government records

C. randomization of subjects and manipulation of the independent variable

D. the systematic collection of data from individuals using responses to standardized questions

Difficulty Level: Medium

45. The type of survey design that is most expensive per completed survey is ______.

A. mailed survey

B. group survey

C. phone survey

D. in-person interview

Difficulty Level: Easy

46. A phone survey conducted with random digit dialing has all but which of the following features?

A. designation of telephone exchanges to be called

B. machine-based calling of random phone numbers

C. postcard follow-ups to those who don’t answer the phone

D. screening questions to identify appropriate respondents

Difficulty Level: Medium

47. What is NOT a reasons for increased nonresponse rates of telephone surveys?

A. the growth of telemarketing

B. the increase in cell phone use

C. People are more likely to screen calls than they used to be.

D. All are reasons for the increased nonresponse rate.

Difficulty Level: Medium

48. When the researcher has access to a respondent’s personal information but promises not to disclose it, the respondent has been assured ______.

A. ethical consideration

B. social desirability

C. confidentiality

D. anonymity

Difficulty Level: Easy

49. The ethical question that arises most frequently for group surveys is ______.

A. respondents may feel coerced to complete surveys

B. respondents may discuss their answers with one another

C. it is very difficult to establish confidentiality within a group

D. informed consent cannot be given by group leaders

Difficulty Level: Medium

50. ______ occurs when individuals’ responses vary because of their reactions to particular words or ideas in the question.

A. Fence sitting

B. Idiosyncratic variation

C. Floating

D. Bipolar response

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. Surveys are a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States..

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. The General Social Survey is an example of an omnibus survey.

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Survey research involves the collection of information from a sample of individuals through direct observation.

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. The following is an example of a double-negative question: Do you agree or disagree that taxes should not be raised again this year?

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Survey methods have difficulties collecting data from large populations.

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. In survey questions, when response choices fall on a continuum, the number of positive and negative response categories should be equal.

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Fence-sitters are people who are neutral but will choose an answer if not given a neutral response choice.

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Questions are the centerpiece of survey research.

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. The survey instrument used in an in-person interview is known as a questionnaire.

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Previously published questions do not usually need to be pretested when used in a new population.

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Questionnaires should minimize the amount of “white space” between questions so that surveys don't seem long to respondents.

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Using shorter and less complex words on a survey will insult respondents with more education and so should be avoided.

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. A context effect refers to how questions on a survey influence how subsequent questions are interpreted.

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. The central concern in a mailed survey is maximizing the response rate.

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Cover letters should be distributed to respondents in a group-administered survey.

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of using an in-person survey, compared to a self-administered survey and a telephone survey.

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Why are surveys so popular in the social sciences?

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What is the difference between anonymity and confidentiality? When is each appropriate?

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. What are the major advantages and disadvantages of electronic surveys?

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. How might one improve response rates in a mailed survey?

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. Describe four different ways that surveys can be administered? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. Apart from electronic surveys, how does technology facilitate the collection of survey data?

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of including neutral, middle alternatives in response choices for survey questions.

Difficulty Level: Hard

9. What makes a good survey questionnaire? Consider the questions themselves and the questionnaire as a whole. Why is it important to make sure you have a good questionnaire? How can you determine if you have a good questionnaire?

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. Why are errors of nonobservation critical in survey research? Describe what these errors are and how different survey techniques attempt to compensate for them.

Difficulty Level: Hard