Chapter 7—Survey Research
TRUE/FALSE
1. The people who answer survey questions are called respondents.
2. Some aspects of surveys may be qualitative.
3. Surveys provide accurate means of assessing information about a population, but they are expensive
and an inefficient means of doing so.
4. Two major sources of survey error are random sampling error and nonrandom sampling error.
5. Systematic errors are nonsampling errors.
6. A respondent error exists when the results of a sample show a persistent tendency to deviate in one
direction from the true value of the population parameter.
7. Two general categories of systematic error are Type I errors and Type II errors.
8. Nonresponse is a type of interviewer error.
9. The number of “no contacts” in survey research has been decreasing because of the increased use of
technology that allows people to screen calls.
10. No contacts occur when people are unwilling to participate in the research.
11. Self-selection biases in survey research overrepresent indifferent responses and underrepresent
extreme consumer positions.
12. A response bias occurs when respondents tend to answer questions with a certain slant.
13. The categories of response bias are mutually exclusive from one another.
14. When a respondent exaggerates his income and education in an interview in order to make a favorable
impression on the interviewer, this is an example of auspices bias.
15. When an interviewer is not able to write fast enough to record the respondent’s answers verbatim, this
is an example of interviewer error.
16. Interactive survey approaches are those that allow spontaneous two-way interaction between the
interviewer and the respondent.
17. An advantage of personal interviews is the opportunity for feedback.
18. The personal interview is especially useful for obtaining unstructured information.
19. The interaction between an interviewer and a respondent increases the chances that the respondent will
answer all of the survey questions over what would be likely to occur in a mail survey.
20. Personal interviews are typically less costly per respondent than telephone surveys.
21. Door-to-door interviews are still used heavily by marketing researchers.
22. Callbacks are attempts to reconnect individuals selected for the sample who were not available
initially.
23. Marketing researchers cannot contact phone numbers on the National Do-Not-Call registry.
24. Respondents are typically less willing to answer potentially embarrassing questions in a phone
interview than in a face-to-face interview.
25. Mail surveys can reach geographically dispersed respondents who are otherwise difficult to contact.
26. Mail surveys allow respondents to check facts that they may be unable to recall.
27. The basic calculation for obtaining a response rate is to count the number of eligible people who were
asked to participate in the survey, then divide that by the number of questionnaires returned or
completed.
28. The first paragraph of a cover letter that accompanies a questionnaire should explain the purpose of the
study.
29. One way to increase response rates in mail surveys is to notify potential respondents in advance.
30. An Internet survey is the same thing as an e-mail survey.
31. With Internet surveys, the click rate represents how many people responded to the survey.
32. Internet surveys have real-time data capture, which allow respondents to record their own answers
directly into a data file.
33. Internet surveys allow researchers to vary the questions to respondents based on their answers to
previous questions in the survey.
34. Pretesting involves a trial run with a group of colleagues or actual respondents to iron out fundamental
problems in the instructions or design of a questionnaire.
35. One way to avoid ethical dilemmas in survey research using e-mail is to focus on consumers who opt
in and thus give their explicit approval to receive e-mails.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The people who answer survey questions are referred to as _____.
a.
researchers
b.
clients
c.
respondents
d.
users
2. A survey can collect information using which of the following techniques?
a.
telephone
b.
face-to-face interviews
c.
e-mail
d.
all of these choices
3. All of the following are advantages of survey research EXCEPT ____.
a.
free from errors
b.
quick
c.
accurate means of assessing information about a population
d.
flexible
4. Which type of error arises because of inadequacies of the actual respondents to represent the
population of interest?
a.
population error
b.
systematic error
c.
response error
d.
sampling error
5. When a research study is not conducted according to the plan in the proposal for the research study,
what kind of error has occurred?
a.
random sampling error
b.
systematic error
c.
respondent error
d.
implementation error
6. Systematic errors are _____ because they include all sources of error other than those introduced
directly by the sampling procedure.
a.
random sampling errors
b.
interviewer errors
c.
nonresponse errors
d.
nonsampling errors
7. _____ refers to some true value of a phenomenon within a population.
a.
Parameter estimate
b.
Population parameter
c.
True parameter
d.
Sample parameter
8. Systematic error is divided into which two general categories?
a.
respondent error and administrative error
b.
random sampling error and administrative error
c.
response bias and interview error
d.
primary error and secondary error
9. People who are not contacted or who refuse to cooperate are called _____.
a.
random errors
b.
biased respondents
c.
sample selection errors
d.
nonrespondents
10. Barbara received a phone call asking her to participate in a survey. She told the interviewer that she
was too busy and could not participate. This is an example of a(n)_____.
a.
random sampling error
b.
administrative error
c.
nonresponse error
d.
respondent error
11. People who are unwilling to participate in a research project are referred to as _____.
a.
refusals
b.
deviations
c.
no contacts
d.
random errors
12. In a research study, a potential respondent who is not at home at either the first or second attempt to
reach this person by phone is called a(n) _____.
a.
sample bias
b.
no contact
c.
interviewee
d.
random sampling error
13. When a restaurant customer decides to fill out a customer satisfaction survey to complain about having
to wait an hour for her food that was cold, this is an example of _____.
a.
random sampling error
b.
self-selection bias
c.
auspices bias
d.
social desirability bias
14. Which of the following occurs when respondents tend to answer questions with a certain slant?
a.
interviewer bias
b.
self-selection bias
c.
self-preservation bias
d.
response bias
15. When a respondent tells an interviewer that his annual income last year was $50,000 because he is
embarrassed to admit that it was $25,000, this is an example of _____.
a.
nonresponse error
b.
auspices bias
c.
interviewer cheating
d.
deliberate falsification
16. All of the following are types of response bias EXCEPT _____.
a.
acquiescence bias
b.
extremity bias
c.
self-selection bias
d.
interviewer bias
17. The tendency for respondents to agree with most questions in a survey is known as _____.
a.
auspices bias
b.
interviewer bias
c.
extremity bias
d.
acquiescence bias
18. When a respondent tells the interviewer that he reads The Wall Street Journal on a daily basis so that
he can impress the interviewer, this is an example of _____.
a.
interviewer bias
b.
auspices bias
c.
administrative bias
d.
acquiescence bias
19. Which type of bias occurs when a respondent wishes to create a favorable impression or save face in
the presence of an interviewer?
a.
random sampling bias
b.
social desirability bias
c.
administrative bias
d.
interviewer cheating
20. When a research company pulls a random sample of people from a phone book and that sample does
not include people with unlisted numbers or who do not have landline telephone service, we say that
the sample contains _____.
a.
sample selection error
b.
acquiescence bias
c.
social desirability error
d.
auspices bias
21. When an interviewer unintentionally and mistakenly checks the wrong response on a checklist during
an interview, this is an example of _____.
a.
interviewer cheating
b.
auspices bias
c.
interviewer error
d.
social desirability bias
22. Carl is an interviewer, and he is supposed to write down everything respondents say. However, he
has difficulty getting everything down. This is an example of _____.
a.
curb-stoning
b.
interviewer error
c.
auspices bias
d.
interviewer cheating
23. Which term is sometimes used to refer to interviewers filling in responses for respondents that do not
really exist?
a.
curb-stoning
b.
auspices bias
c.
sugging
d.
mere-measurement effect
24. The two approaches that marketer researchers conduct surveys are referred to as _____.
a.
interactive and noninteractive
b.
personal and impersonal
c.
mail and telephone
d.
interviewer and noninterviewer
25. Josh received a research questionnaire in the mail. He completed it and sent it back to the marketing
researcher. Which type of survey approach is this researcher using?
a.
mixed-mode survey approach
b.
simple survey approach
c.
noninteractive survey approach
d.
interactive survey approach
26. All of the following are advantages of personal interviews EXCEPT _____.
a.
interviewer influence
b.
opportunity for feedback
c.
probing complex answers
d.
high participation rate
27. “Can you tell me more about what you mean by that?” is an example of _____.
a.
a mall intercept
b.
a self-administered questionnaire
c.
a probe
d.
the drop-off method
28. Which of the following has been considered the mainstay of commercial survey research for years?
a.
mall-intercept interviews
b.
Internet surveys
c.
telephone interviews
d.
e-mail surveys
29. Which of the following is FALSE regarding mobile phone interviews?
a.
Phones have varying abilities for automated responses and differing keypads.
b.
Area codes for mobile phones are not necessarily tied to geography.
c.
Telemarketing calls can be directed toward mobile phone numbers in the United States,
but it is illegal to do so in Europe.
d.
The recipient of a mobile phone call is even more distracted than the recipient of a home
or office call.
30. Which of the following eliminates the counting of names in a list and subjectively determining
whether a telephone directory listing is a business, institution, or legitimate household?
a.
mixed-mode survey
b.
predictive calling
c.
computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI)
d.
random digit dialing
31. A callback procedure should be used for all of the following situations EXCEPT _____.
a.
a busy signal
b.
a respondent who does not answer the phone
c.
a respondent who is not at home
d.
a respondent who answers but refuses to participate
32. When a research agency conducts all telephone interviews from one location where they can hire a
staff of professional interviewers and supervise and control the quality of interviewing more
effectively, this is an example of _____.
a.
central location interviewing
b.
single-mode interviewing
c.
synergistic interviewing
d.
quick-response interviewing
33. Surveys in which the respondent takes the responsibility for reading and answering questions are
called _____.
a.
self-administered questionnaires
b.
independent questionnaires
c.
stand-alone surveys
d.
interactive questionnaires
34. For mail surveys, the time period between the first mailing and the cut-off date after which no
additional surveys will be analyzed is typically about:
a.
1-2 weeks
b.
2-3 weeks
c.
3-5 weeks
d.
6-8 weeks
35. The number of questionnaires returned or completed divided by the total number of sample members
provided a chance to participate is called _____.
a.
churn
b.
click rate
c.
response rate
d.
success rate