Chapter 9
Questionnaires and Data Collection Forms
a. is a relatively easy task for most researchers.
b. is more an art than a science, although general guidelines do exist.
c. proceeds in a step-by-step manner from beginning to completion.
d. a and b.
e. b and c.
a. determine the type of questionnaire and method of administration.
b. specify what information will be sought.
c. determine the content of individual questions.
d. determine the form of response to each question.
e. determine the wording of each question.
important consideration in determining question content?
a. Are several questions needed instead of one?
b. Is the question necessary?
c. Do respondents have the necessary information?
d. How long is the questionnaire?
e. All of the above are important considerations.
a. Respondents tend to answer questions even when they do not possess the
necessary information to give reasonable answers.
b. Some questionnaire studies fail because the respondent is willing but is unable to
provide the information needed.
c. A respondent may be more willing to provide information to a researcher if he or
she is capable of articulating answers to the researcher’s questions.
d. Any response given by the respondent is good.
e. Offering an incentive often affects the respondent’s willingness to participate.
a. Designing a questionnaire is often an iterative process, with steps or sequences of
steps often being repeated.
b. It is difficult, if not impossible, to state a question in such a way that it will mean
exactly the same thing to every respondent.
c. Gathering information by way of a questionnaire requires decisions with respect
to structure and disguise and also whether it will be administered by mail,
telephone, or personal interview.
d. a and b.
e. a, b, and c.
the development of a questionnaire?
a. randomized response model
b. “dummy tables” used to structure data analysis
c. the hypotheses
d. a and b above
e. b and c above
a. as a guide to determine what information will be sought.
b. to determine the type of question.
c. to determine the form of response.
d. a and b above.
e. all of the above.
researcher must specify
a. precisely what primary data are needed.
b. how these data might be collected.
c. what degree of structure and disguise will be used.
d. what degree of disguise will be used.
e. all of the above.
a. In forming a question for a questionnaire, a question should be worded so as to
secure an answer with only the required detail, not so as to generate additional
information.
b. It is wise to break one question into two when different frames of reference could
be used by the respondent.
c. The open-ended question is often employed as the beginning question in that it
can provide insight into the respondent’s frame of reference.
d. When determining if the individual has the necessary information, the researcher
should take into account how important the event was likely to be to the
individual and how long ago it took place.
e. They are all true.
a. A “filter” question can be used to determine if a questionnaire respondent is
familiar with a certain topic.
b. Any questionnaire response is a good response.
c. Telescoping error refers to the fact that people tend to remember only events that
have occurred rather recently.
d. An optimal reference period used for framing questions is about one year.
e. They are all false.
a. There is a definite increase in claimed awareness when a respondent’s memory is
jogged using a recognition measure rather than an aided recall measure.
b. One thing that affects a respondent’s willingness to provide an answer is the
amount of work involved in producing it.
c. The only historically successful way of asking about a sensitive issue is to state
that the behavior or attitude is not unusual before asking the specific questions of
the respondent.
d. In general it is better to address sensitive issues later, rather than earlier, in the
survey.
e. The randomized response model is sometimes used to secure sensitive
information.
a. In the randomized response model, the interviewer must know which question is
being answered to determine how many people answered the sensitive question in
the affirmative.
b. Behavior can be linked to demographic characteristics when using the randomized
response model.
c. Recall loss is a term used to describe the situation in which respondents, for
whatever reasons, forget important events that have occurred recently.
d. Generally speaking, the more a respondent has to work to provide an answer to a
researcher’s question, the higher the quality of the answer.
e. They are all false.
a. Not including a “no opinion” category may force respondents to take a stand on
an issue on which they have no opinion. This can introduce response error.
b. Including an “other” alternative for a multiple-choice question frees the researcher
from having to make sure the list of alternatives is exhaustive.
c. Dichotomous questions typically have a “don’t know” or “no opinion” category.
d. Dichotomous questions have considerably more advantages than multiple choice
questions primarily due to their simplicity.
e. They are all false.
a. Telescoping error is relatively small.
b. Recall loss is relatively large.
c. Telescoping error may outweigh recall loss.
d. The two effects counterbalance each other.
e. Both telescoping error and recall loss may be present.
information sought by a researcher?
a. the presence or absence of stimuli that assist in remembering an event
b. the importance of the event to be remembered
c. the length of time since the event to be remembered occurred
d. all of the above impact an individual’s ability to remember information
e. b and c only
a. Multiple-choice questions tend to bias results by the order in which the
alternatives are given.
b. An important advantage of open-ended questions is that respondents may answer
them in their own words and are not limited to a set of alternative answers.
c. Because respondents are able to better clarify their answers with open-ended
questions than with other types of questions, the results can be more easily coded
by the researcher.
d. b and c.
e. a, b, and c.
a. Respondents tend to choose either the first or the last response to a multiple–
choice question.
b. Item nonresponse invalidates the results of a research project.
c. When designing questionnaires it is good to keep in mind that many people have
difficulty with relatively simple tasks.
d. A leading question is one formed so as to give the respondent a clue as to how he
or she should answer.
e. Many dichotomous questions can be framed as multichotomized questions and
vice versa.
event that occurred recently. Which of the following statements is FALSE?
a. The telescoping effect is larger while recall loss effect is smaller.
b. The recall loss effect is larger while the telescoping effect is smaller.
c. The telescoping effect and recall loss effect are about the same.
d. a and c only are false.
e. b and c only are false.
response?
a. amount of work involved
b. the person’s ability to articulate an answer
c. the sensitivity of the issue
d. the individual’s ability to remember the event
e. a through d all affect a respondent’s willingness to provide a response
designing questionnaires?
a. Ask all sensitive questions together in a group.
b. Phrase the questions in terms of other people and how they might feel or act.
c. State that the behavior is not unusual before asking the question.
d. Use broad categories for the responses.
e. All of the above are recommended for handling sensitive questions.
appropriate for pairing with this question “Have you ever shoplifted?”
a. “Were you born prior to 1960?”
b. “Do you cheat on your income taxes?”
c. “Is your birthday in September?”
d. “Are you male or female?”
e. All of the above could be paired with the question.
a. The question that the respondent answers is determined randomly.
b. The interviewer does not know which question the respondent is answering.
c. The probability of the sensitive question asked is not known.
d. The probably of the “innocuous” event occurring is known.
e. All of the above are true.
a. An advantage of scales is that a great deal of information can be secured from the
respondent in a short period of time.
b. Item nonresponse is the group of respondents who refuse to participate in the
survey being conducted.
c. Once a good set of questions has been developed, it is of little consequence as to
the order they are asked on the questionnaire.
d. a and b.
e. a, b, and c.
a. A double-barreled question is one that calls for two responses and thereby creates
confusion for the respondent.
b. It is extremely important that the first few questions on a questionnaire be simple,
interesting, and in no way threatening to the respondents.
c. Opinion questions are typically good openers for a questionnaire because people
like to feel their opinion is important.
d. a and b.
e. a, b, and c.
a. increase coding time for a questionnaire.
b. do not permit individuals to elaborate their true position.
c. are often used to begin a questionnaire.
d. b and c.
e. none of the above.
What is your annual income? (please check)
$10,000-$25,000
$25,000-$40,000
$40,000-$50,000
$50,000-$75,000
a. The categories are not of equal ranges.
b. The alternatives are not exhaustive.
c. The categories are not mutually exclusive.
d. Both b and c are correct.
e. All of the above are correct.
pockets with excessive taxes and return a portion of the taxes collected to taxpayers?”
a. is leading.
b. contains an implicit alternative
c. is double-barreled.
d. a and c only.
e. none of the above.
a. leading.
b. concrete.
c. ambiguous.
d. contains an implied alternative.
e. contains an implied assumption.
which are vital to the research effort, should be
a. hidden among a group of other questions.
b. avoided.
c. phrased in “terms of other people”.
d. all of the above.
e. a and c.
Yes No ___
The above is an example of a question.
a. multichotomous
b. bi-polar
c. free response
d. dichotomous
e. projective
a. When using the funnel approach to questionnaire design, the researcher will start
with broad questions and progressively narrow the scope of further questions.
b. Classification information is the heart of the survey and is so called because it will
be classified into the appropriate categories of the dummy tables.
c. Basic information should be secured first and classification information last.
d. In dealing with sensitive issues when designing a questionnaire, the preferred
alternative is to avoid these types of questions altogether, if at all possible.
e. One way of dealing with sensitive questions is to hide them in a group of more
innocuous questions.
a. Branching questions are easy to develop for a mail questionnaire.
b. Sequence bias is potentially more of a problem in telephone interviews than in
mail questionnaires.
c. With the exception of telephone interview questionnaires (which are never seen
by the respondents), it is generally appropriate to number the questions on a
questionnaire.
d. The physical appearance of a questionnaire is especially influential in securing
cooperation to studies done by mail.
e. They are all false.
a. develop a flow chart of the logical possibilities and then prepare the questions and
instructions to follow the chart.
b. place the question branched to as close as possible to the question causing the
branching.
c. order the questions so the respondent can anticipate what information is required,
and thus answer the questions more easily.
d. a and b.
e. all of the above.
a. personal interviews.
b. telephone interviews.
c. mail questionnaires.
d. mall intercepts interviews.
e. a and b only.
a. is double-barreled.
b. is leading.
c. contains an implied alternative.
d. contains an implied assumption.
e. forces generalization on the part of the respondent.
a. promotes respondent cooperation.
b. is a hindrance when filter-type questions are used.
c. makes it easier to edit the responses.
d. all of the above.
e. a and c.
a. The first few questions should be simple and interesting to respondents.
b. Narrow questions should be asked first and the questions should get progressively
broader.
c. Classification information should be asked last.
d. Basic information, or the information most germane to the study, should be asked
for first.
e. All of the above are true.
a. If the early steps in questionnaire design are carefully followed, the questionnaire
usually does not need to be revised.
b. When designing questionnaires, the researcher should expect to do a good deal of
iteration and looping among the steps.
c. As a general rule, larger questionnaires are favored over smaller ones, because
they are less crowded.
d. a and b.
e. a, b, and c.
a. Smaller questionnaires that do not appear crowded are better at securing
cooperation than larger ones.
b. One thing that seems to promote respondent cooperation is physically numbering
the questions on a questionnaire.
c. The first pretest should uncover any problems with question wording or question
sequence.
d. The second pretest should reveal any problems unique to the planned mode of
administration.
e. They are all true.
cooperation, particularly for
a. personal interviews.
b. mail questionnaires.
c. telephone interviews.
d. all of the above.
e. b and c only.
relationship which could be investigated at very little cost and effort. He knows that
this is not vital to his present research purpose. He should
a. investigate it to a limited extent.
b. forget it.
c. evaluate the cost.
d. investigate it carefully.
e. investigate it, as this is likely to reduce sampling error.
a. the practice of using different phrasing or different orders for the alternatives on
subsets of questionnaires to combat order bias.
b. the practice of splitting the questionnaire responses in half for more accurate
analysis.
c. an administrative procedure in state elections.
d. averaging in scale construction.
e. none of the above.
questionnaire?
a. stapling multiple pages together
b. leaving enough room for open-ended questions
c. numbering the questions
d. using paper no larger than 8 1/2 x 11
e. a through d are all recommended to facilitate handling and control of
questionnaires
second by .
a. personal interview, mail
b. the planned method of administration, mail
c. personal interview, the planned method of administration
d. the planned method of administration, the planned method of administration
e. There is no way to conduct the pretests.
following is most likely to have occurred if some part of a table remains empty?
a. The response rate was poor.
b. The interviewer asked leading questions.
c. Some respondents did not understand a particular question.
d. A necessary option was omitted.
e. The researcher has no way of knowing.
a. One problem with all questionnaires is that a question and the way it is asked will
affect the response.
b. Initial pretests are best done by personal interview even if the survey is to be
handled by mail or telephone.
c. Initial pretests are best done by personal interview unless the survey is to be
handled by mail.
d. a and b.
e. a and c.
should be specified by the researcher?
a. Who should be observed?
b. What behaviors should be reported?
c. When should the observations be made?
d. Where should the observations be made?
e. All of the above.
a. The researcher no longer needs to be concerned that a question and the way it is
asked will affect the response.
b. There is no longer a concern about the consistent use of the data collection
instrument.
c. Observational data collection forms are easy to construct.
d. Most events can be described in only a limited number of ways.
e. All the above are true.
a. When using observational forms, interviewer/observer bias may still be a
problem.
b. When constructing an observational form it is best to loosely define what is to be
observed so the observer is free to react to each individual situation.
c. One of the most critical things in designing an observational form is to determine
precisely what is to be observed.
d. A paper-and-pencil observation form assessing purchasing behavior should
parallel the logical sequence of the purchase act.
e. They are all true.