Experimental Psychology - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4
ALTERNATIVES TO
EXPERIMENTATION:
SURVEYS AND
INTERVIEWS
TOPIC OUTLINE
Survey Research Evaluating Surveys and Survey Data

Constructing Surveys Sampling
Measuring Responses
Selecting Levels of Measurements Probability Sampling
 Simple Random Sampling
Important Considerations for Survey  Systematic Random Sampling
Items  Stratified Random Sampling
Response Styles  Cluster Sampling
Collecting Survey Data Nonprobability Sampling

 Self-Administered Questionnaires  Quota Sampling
 Mail Surveys  Convenience Sampling
 Computer and Internet Surveys  Purposive Sampling
 Telephone Surveys  Snowball Sampling
 Interviews  Reporting Sampling
 Focus Groups
SURVEY RESEARCH
Is a useful way of obtaining information about people’s
opinions, attitudes, preferences, and behavior simply
by asking.
TWO MOST COMMON TYPES OF SURVEYS:
• Written questionnaires
• Interviews
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN SURVEY RESEARCH
 Confidentiality
 Stress brought about by answering sensitive questions
CONSTRUCTING SURVEYS
Steps in constructing surveys:
1. Map out your research objectives
2. Design the survey items

CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
- (also called as structured - (also called open questions)

questions) questions that can be questions that the person must
answered by a limited number of respond with more than a yes, no, or
alternatives. 1-10 rating.
Examples: Examples:
“Do you smoke?” “What are your feelings about

“On a scale of 1-10, how much do animal rights?”
you like classical music?” “What made you decide to come for
treatment now?”
“How much time do you spend watching Saturday morning cartoons?”
 An hour or less
 Between one and two hours
 More than four hours
“Why do you like to watch cartoons?”

“What do you think about characters who hit each other?”
“What kind of things might cause you to hit someone?”
CONTENT ANALYSIS
- A process in which responses are assigned to
categories that are created from the data.
Example: “What kind of things might cause you to hit someone?”
1. Someone looked at me funny

2. Someone said something to me that I didn’t like
3. Someone wouldn’t give me what I wanted
4. Someone took something away from me
5. Someone hit me first
6. Other responses
Software:
QSR Nud*ist 4
“Do you like strawberries and cream?”
“Are the food and services at the local Pizza Hut good?”
Double-barreled questions – calls for two or more responses and

thereby creates confusion to the respondents.
Survey item that asks about
employment and student status:
Occupational Status:
 Full-time employment
 Full-time student
 Part-time student
 Unemployed
 Retired
Employment Status:
Question that asks about employment
and student status:  Full-time
 Part-time
 Unemployed
Occupational Status:  Retired
 Full-time employment
 Full-time student Student Status:
 Part-time student  Full-time
 Unemployed  Part-time
 Retired  Not a student
What kind of exercise activity do you engage in most often?
 Play a sport
 Power walk or jog
 Step aerobics or stair-stepper
 Weight or strength training
 Walk or treadmill
What kind of exercise activity do you engage in most often?
 Play a sport
 Power walk or jog
 Step aerobics or stair-stepper
 Weight or strength training
 Walk or treadmill
 Other ____________
Note: Response choices need to be exhaustive,

meaning they need to contain all possible options.
MEASURING RESPONSES
Level of Measurement – the
kind of scale used to measure
a response.
Nominal Scale – simplest level of measurement which classifies response items
into two or more distinct categories, but it does not quantify the items in any way.
Ordinal Scale – rank ordering of response items. The magnitude of each value is
measured in the form of ranks.
Interval Scale – measures magnitude or quantitative size using measures with equal
intervals between the values and it has no true zero point.
Ratio Scale – highest level of measurement which has equal intervals between all
values and a true zero point.
Selecting Levels of Measurement
• Survey responses can be measured by using one of the four

types of scales. At times it is possible to measure a response by
more than one of the scales.
• Researchers prefer the highest level of measurement possible.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
FOR SURVEY ITEMS
• The first few questions should be the ones that are not open-ended
• Subjects will think are relevant to the topic of the survey
• If you are collecting demographic information, consider placing those

questions at the end of the questionnaire.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
FOR SURVEY ITEMS
• When you need to know someone’s income level to estimate their socioeconomic
status, you should use income ranges.
• Do not word your questions in ways that would make a response seem
embarrassing or undesirable.
Example of questions:
Version 1: Do you believe doctors should be allowed to kill unborn babies during the first trimester of
pregnancy?
Version 2: Do you believe doctors should be allowed to terminate a pregnancy during the first
trimester?
Response Styles
- are tendencies to respond to questions or test items in specific
ways, regardless of the content.
Willingness to answer – comes into play whenever questions require

specific knowledge about facts or issues
Position preference - tendency to choose an option because of its location
Yea-sayers – always agreeing to the question regardless of the content
Nay-sayers – tend to disagree no matter what they are asked
CONTEXT EFFECTS
- refers to a process in which prior questions affect responses to
later questions in survey.
Example:
Nice _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Nasty Not sexy _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Sexy Kind _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Cruel

Nice _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Nasty Nice _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Nasty
COLLECTING SURVEY DATA
SELF-ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRES – refers to a questionnaire that has been designed
specifically to be completed by a respondent without intervention of the researchers.
MAIL SURVEYS – uses a printed questionnaire that is posted out to members of the
survey sample, who are asked to complete the survey and then to return it by mail.
COMPUTER AND INTERNET SURVEYS – a questionnaire that the target audience can

complete over the Internet. Online surveys are usually created as Web forms with a database to
store the answers and statistical software to provide analytics.
COLLECTING SURVEY DATA
TELEPHONE SURVEYS – one of the survey methods used in collecting data either from the
general population or from a specific target population.
INTERVIEWS - also called as a face-to-face survey, is a survey method that is utilized when a

specific target population is involved, this is the most expensive method for collecting survey data.
FOCUS GROUP – are usually small groups of people with similar characteristics, another face-to-
face technique used less often for collecting data about a particular topic.
EVALUATING SURVEYS AND SURVEY
DATA
RELIABILITY – is the extent to which the survey is consistent and repeatable
Qualities of a reliable survey:

• Responses to similar questions in the survey should be consistent
• The survey should generate very similar responses across different survey-
givers; and
• The survey should generate very similar responses if it is given to the same
person more than once.
VALIDITY – is the extent to which a survey actually measures the
intended topic.
Several questions about validity:

• Does the survey measures what you want to measure?
• Does performance on survey predict actual behavior?
• Does it give the same results as other surveys designed to measure
similar topics?
「
POPULATION SAMPLE
 Consists of all people,  A group that is a subset

animals, or objects that of the population of
have at least one interest.
characteristic in
common. 「
PROBABILITY SAMPLING
Involves selecting subjects in such a way that the odds of their being
the study are known or can be calculated.
RANDOM SELECTION
Any member of the population has an equal opportunity of being selected.
SIMPLE RANDOM SYSTEMATIC STRATIFIED CLUSTER
SAMPLING RANDOM RANDOM SAMPLING
SAMPLING SAMPLING
- The most basic - The researcher
form of probability - All members of a - This sample is divides the
sampling in which a population are obtained by population into
portion of the known and can be randomly separate groups,
whole population is listed in an sampling from called clusters.
selected in an unbiased way; a people in each Then, a simple
unbiased way. researcher may subgroup in the random sample of
select every nth same proportions clusters is selected
person from the as they exist in the from the
population. population. population.
NONPROBABILITY
SAMPLING
- a sampling technique where the samples are gathered in a process that
does not give all the individuals in the population equal chances of being
selected.
QUOTA SAMPLING CONVENIENCE PURPOSIVE SNOWBALL

SAMPLING SAMPLING SAMPLING
- Researchers select
samples through - Obtained by using - Samples are - Is where research
predetermined any groups who selected because the participants recruit
quotas that are happen to be individuals reflect a other participants for
intended to reflect available. This is also specific purpose of a test or study. It is
the makeup of the called as accidental the study. used where potential
population. sampling. participants are hard
to find.
REPORTING SAMPLES
A research report must explain the type of sample used and how
subjects were recruited so that the results can be interpreted
properly.
Thank you!
Thank you! :)
:)
QUIZ!
Please prepare ¼ sheet of paper. Write TRUE if the statement is correct, FALSE if
otherwise.
1. The two common types of surveys are written questionnaires and internet.
2. Survey research is a useful way of obtaining information about people’s opinions,

attitudes, preferences, and behavior simply by asking.
3. The first step in constructing survey is to design the survey items.
4. The highest level of measurement is called ratio scale, which has equal intervals
between all values and a true zero point.
5. Willingness to answer is the tendency to choose an option because of its
location.
6. Mail surveys uses a printed questionnaire that is posted out to members of

the survey sample, who are asked to complete the survey and then to
return it by mail.
7. A sample is a group that is a subset of the population of interest.

8. Purposive sampling is also called as accidental sampling.
9. A population consists of all people, animals, or objects that have at least

one characteristic in common.
10. Nonprobability sampling is a sampling technique where the samples are

gathered in a process that does not give all the individuals in the population
equal chances of being selected.
Answers:
1. False
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. False
6. True
7. True
8. False
9. True
10.True

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CHAPTER 4

Survey Research Evaluating Surveys and Survey Data

Collecting Survey Data Nonprobability Sampling

Steps in constructing surveys:

1. Map out your research objectives

2. Design the survey items

- (also called as structured - (also called open questions)

“Do you smoke?” “What are your feelings about

“Why do you like to watch cartoons?”

1. Someone looked at me funny

Double-barreled questions – calls for two or more responses and

Note: Response choices need to be exhaustive,

• Survey responses can be measured by using one of the four

• Researchers prefer the highest level of measurement possible.

• Subjects will think are relevant to the topic of the survey

• If you are collecting demographic information, consider placing those

Willingness to answer – comes into play whenever questions require

Nice _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Nasty Not sexy _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Sexy Kind _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Cruel

COMPUTER AND INTERNET SURVEYS – a questionnaire that the target audience can

INTERVIEWS - also called as a face-to-face survey, is a survey method that is utilized when a

Qualities of a reliable survey:

Several questions about validity:

 Consists of all people,  A group that is a subset

QUOTA SAMPLING CONVENIENCE PURPOSIVE SNOWBALL

2. Survey research is a useful way of obtaining information about people’s opinions,

3. The first step in constructing survey is to design the survey items.

6. Mail surveys uses a printed questionnaire that is posted out to members of

7. A sample is a group that is a subset of the population of interest.

9. A population consists of all people, animals, or objects that have at least

10. Nonprobability sampling is a sampling technique where the samples are

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