Summer was allowed to ask six and only six questions in a large survey study. If Summer wanted to measure both (a) gender and (b) gender role attitudes (attitudes about the proper roles of men and women in society), how should she use her six questions as wisely as possible?
A) Assess gender role attitudes with 3 items and assess gender with 3 items.
B) Assess gender role attitudes with 4 items and assess gender with 2 items.
C) Assess gender role attitudes with 5 items and assess gender with 1 item.
D) Assess gender role attitudes with 6 items and, for now, ignore gender.
Lisa is administering her questionnaire to a large group of very diverse college students. What steps should she take when writing her questions?
A) Use unbiased language.
B) Avoid loaded questions.
C) Ease into sensitive questions.
D) All of the above.
Although it is generally a good idea to avoid loaded questions in survey research, your textbook pointed out that researchers can sometimes use loaded questions to get participants to:
A) answer questions they would otherwise leave blank
B) admit to engaging in behaviors that many people are reluctant to report
C) use the full range of a scale -- and thus avoid floor effects
D) change their attitudes about controversial issues
In a survey study of prosocial attitudes and self-reported helping behavior, Zeke included the survey item, I am opposed to murder. This item is extremely unlikely to yield useful survey responses. Why?
A) The word opposed introduces an unnecessary negation.
B) The item addresses a sensitive legal issue.
C) People's responses to the item will likely show ceiling effects.
D) People's responses to the item will likely be confounded with their criminal status.
E) All of these are true.
According to the text, a survey item such as I am a kind and forgiving person. is not an ideal question because it:
A) is a forced-choice question
B) assumes that people honestly report their own personal attributes
C) is a leading question (i.e., it only invites positive responses)
D) is a double-barreled question
Imagine that a survey of subscribers to TV Guide asked the following: Which TV show do you prefer, Survivor' or Jeopardy'? According to the text, this question is problematic because it:
A) is a forced-choice question
B) assumes that people watch a lot of TV
C) introduces a social desirability bias
D) is a double-barreled question
A focus group is:
A) a clinical tool for obtaining information about pathology
B) a clinical measurement of the relative success of psychotherapy
C) a specific kind of pilot study often used by marketing researchers
D) an unusual group of people who provide predictable responses on a new structured self-report survey question
Most researchers prefer structured self-report questions over open-ended questions. This is because open-ended questions often yield responses that:
A) fail to mention a construct in which the researcher is interested
B) can only be converted to nominal scales
C) can only be coded by licensed psychotherapists
D) do not allow an assessment of their reliability
According to Chapter 4, open-ended questions are used frequently in:
A) archival research
B) research with older populations
C) focus groups
D) research with children or adults who cannot read
Which of the following was NOT mentioned in Chapter 4 as a rule for writing good survey questions?
A) Avoid negations.
B) Keep it simple.
C) Avoid forced-choice items.
D) Don't use questions that avoid variance.
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