Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Chapter 9: Surveys: Putting Numbers on Opinions
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Web surveys may include all EXCEPT ______.
a. hosting your survey on its own website
b. using commercial web-based surveys
c. using social media to reach respondents
d. mailing survey forms to respondents
2. Which one of the following is TRUE of the survey method?
a. Respondents can answer large numbers of questions.
b. Respondents must answer questions slowly.
c. Most survey questions are open-ended.
d. Surveys provide insight into the reasons behind the responses.
3. Which of the following is a demographic question?
a. age
b. knowledge of politics
c. job satisfaction
d. attitude to marriage
4. Problems with using survey results that have been published by other people
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
includes which of the following?
a. The data is likely not proprietary.
b. The originating organization may have a bias or agenda in conducting the
research.
c. You may have to analyze the data to meet your own needs.
d. They are time-intensive to write.
5. ______ data refers to data sets that are so huge, complex, or rapidly changing
that traditional software or databases cannot process or manage the data.
a. Massive
b. Big
c. Impossible
d. Large
6. Which of the following is TRUE of big data?
a. Traditional software or databases cannot process or manage the data.
b. Big data is easily integrated into existing communication theories.
c. Big data is usually not proprietary.
d. Researchers will have access to all data.
7. Surveys can be administered most cost effectively by ______.
a. phone
b. mail
c. Internet
d. courier
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
8. The method selected to deliver survey questions will depend on all EXCEPT
______.
a. time available to complete the survey
b. budget
c. sample size
d. sampling unit
9. A combination of negative wording and a double-barreled question results in
the ______.
a. double-positive
b. positive
c. double-negative
d. negative
10. ______ allow respondents to select as many answers as they wish from a
list.
a. Text boxes
b. Check boxes
c. Radio buttons
d. Sliders
11. ______ permit one response only from a list of options.
a. Text boxes
b. Check boxes
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
c. Radio buttons
d. Sliders
12. Which one of the following survey types is best suited to assessing causal
relationships?
a. trend
b. panel
c. cross-lagged
d. cohort
13. Respondents’ answers to survey questions can be influenced by all EXCEPT
______.
a. question format
b. question wording
c. question order
d. font choice
14. Typically, what things do surveys most typically seek to find out about
respondents?
a. demographic data, knowledge, attitudes, and behavior
b. demographic data, political affiliation, attitudes, and behavior
c. ethnographic data, knowledge, media use, and behavior
d. demographic data, knowledge, attitudes, and media use
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
15. What is a questionnaire?
a. the researcher in charge of a survey
b. a master list of questions from which a researcher selects questions to be
answered
c. a specific set of questions the respondents answer
d. a device for randomly generating questions
16. Surveys that collect data at only one point in time are referred to as
______studies.
a. panel
b. cross-sectional
c. cohort
d. cross-lagged
17. Dichotomous questions ask respondents to select one response from ______
possible response(s).
a. one
b. two
c. three
d. four
18. Leading questions are questions that ______.
a. begin a questionnaire
b. lead respondents to questions they need to answer
c. lead respondents to give answers the researcher is looking for
d. lead respondents to follow-up questions they need to answer
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
19. Funnel-format questionnaires are questionnaires that move from ______.
a. broad questions to specific questions
b. specific questions to broader questions
c. open-ended questions to scaled questions
d. large numbers of respondents to smaller numbers of respondents
20. What do double-barreled questions ask?
a. questions that two respondents must answer together
b. two questions, each in a different format, to check on reliability
c. two questions before and after a survey to check on reliability
d. two questions simultaneously that allow for only one answer
21. Which of the following techniques are likely to maximize the response rate of
surveys?
a. reminder mail or email
b. request from any source
c. assurances of confidentiality, but not anonymity
d. lack of follow-up with respondents
22. In ______ studies, a group of individuals is sampled and recruited, and the
same individuals are retained to answer questions over time.
a. trend
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
b. panel
c. cross-lagged
d. cohort
23. ______ route respondents around questions they do not need to answer.
a. Branching
b. Leading
c. Guiding
d. Controlling
True/False
1. Double-barreled questions ask two questions simultaneously but allow for only
one answer.
2. Generally, it is not necessary to pretest a well-designed questionnaire.
3. A problem with mail surveys is that potential respondents may see them as
“junk mail.”
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
4. Letters or postcards letting potential respondents know that they will be getting
a research phone call or questionnaire are unlikely to increase the response rate.
5. Open-ended questions are the most common format in most surveys.
6. Dichotomous questions force respondents to select one of three possible
answers.
7. A major advantage of Internet-based surveys is that we can have sampling
frames of all Internet users.
8. The results from surveys of Internet users can be easily generalized to
nonusers.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
9. One disadvantage of surveys is that respondents are able to answer large
number of questions rapidly.
10. Surveys are usually slower than other types of research.
11. A disadvantage of survey is that results do not typically explain why
respondents answered the way they did.
12. One disadvantage of surveys is customers’ unwillingness to participate in
them.
13. Likert-type questions end with a question mark.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
14. Surveys allow us to make generalizations.
15. Cross-sectional surveys capture information at one moment of time.
16. In trend studies, the same group of individuals is retained to answer
questions over time.
17. Question format and wording are very important and influence respondents’
answers to survey questions.
18. Leading questions should be avoided as they might lead the respondent to
give an answer the researcher wants.
19. Double-barreled questions ask one question but allow for multiple answers.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
20. Longitudinal studies track changes over time.
21. Cross-lagged surveys allow researchers to draw conclusions about causality.
22. One disadvantage of open-ended questions is that there is often limited
space in the survey form.
23. One advantage of open-ended question is how quick they are to code.
24. Dichotomous questions require participants to choose one of two answers.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
25. In rank-order questions, researchers learn the level of importance a
respondent has for each answer.
Essay
1. Explain trend, panel, and cohort.
2. Explain the difference between a survey and a questionnaire.
3. Identify three different ways of delivering survey questions to people and
discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.
4. Identify three problems that can often occur in designing the wording of a
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
survey.
5. Identify three problems particularly associated with mail surveys and describe
how you could overcome these problems.
6. Identify the problems associated with sampling from phone directories for
phone surveys and describe how you might overcome such problems.
7. Write an example of a multiple-choice question, a Likert-type question, and a
semantic differential question.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
8. Explain, with examples, what is meant by a “funnel format” and “inverted
funnel” in questionnaire design.
9. Explain, with examples, what is meant by a “filter question” in questionnaire
design.
10. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of surveys designed so people
can respond to them in their own words.
11. People are often reluctant to discuss personal behaviors, religious beliefs,
and the like. Suggest ways a survey might be designed so as to maximize
respondents’ comfort with such questions.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
12. Survey response rates can be very low. Explain what you can do to maximize
survey response rates.