Survey Methods 3

Class 21

Agree/Disagree Format

1. I wish my family would be more courteous.

2. I am tired of having to watch what I say.

3. Venting pent up feelings is selfish.

4. My family doesn't need any mediation.

Agree Disagree

Problems with this format?

Problems With Agree/Disagree Format

Loose info when squeezing range of attitudes into a dichotomy. Can’t correlate responses w’ each other.

Works best for extreme attitudes. Can’t distinguish moderate or ambivalent attitudess from extreme attitudes.

Confusing to indicate a negative (or positive) attitude by responding in the affirmative (or negative).

Fowler discourages use of agree/disagree for these reasons.

What Difference Does It Make To Include / Exclude "Don't Know" (DK) Response?

1. Does it change rate at which people say DK?

2. Does it change the rate at which substantive (non-DK) responses are endorsed, relative to one another?

3. Does DK option change relationships between variables?

Solution: Provide DK option.

“Floaters”: A Problem and a Mystery

Floaters: People who give a response when there is not a DK (“don’t

know”) filter, but who reply “Don’t Know” when there is a DK filter. Relations between responses changes when DK filters are used.

* Floaters weaken true correlations* Floaters can create false correls, where none actually exist* Floaters sometimes make no difference at all

Who are floaters? Difficult to say. For obscure questions, floaters tend to

be among the less educated.

Schwartz: Self Reports

1. How people make sense of questions: Pragmatics of Communication

2. How people answer behavioral questions

Cognitive strategies and heuristics

3. Special case of attitude questions: Context effects

Literal Meaning and Pragmatic Meaning Literal Meaning: Q. How would you articulate the chronologically proximal condition of your

limbic-related subjective state? Q. How would you describe your current mood? Pragmatic Meaning: Q. How would you describe your current mood?

(Do they want to know what I'm feeling right now?) (Do they want to know how I'd express my feelings,

e.g. in words, in song, through interpretive dance?)

Grician Maxims and the Pragmatics of Communications

1. Relation: Contribution must be ??? to conversation. 2. Quantity: Provide ??? information:

3. Manner: Information should be relayed ???. 4. Quality: Information should be ???, not ???.

Grician Maxims and the Pragmatics of Communications

1. Relation: Contribution must be relevant to conversation.

2. Quantity: Provide sufficient information:

not too little, not too much. 3. Manner: Information should be relayed clearly and

succinctly, not ambiguous and not over-wordy.

4. Quality: Information should be true, not false.

Grician Maxims Go to the Doctor

Inquiry Maxim Invoked Violation of Maxim

Adherence to Maxim

 

What brings you here today?

???? My Car My sinuses

What is the nature of your problem?

???? I feel bad. [OR]My sinuses, located throughout my skull and producing mucus,

I think I may have a sinus infection.

What are your symptoms?

???? As the Bard mused upon the stoppage of the River Thames…

My nose is all stuffed up.

Have you taken meds I prescribed

???? Sure have—every day [a lie].

I keep forgetting—sorry [the truth]

Grician Maxims Go to the Doctor

Inquiry Maxim Invoked Violation of Maxim

Adherence to Maxim

 

What brings you here today?

Relation My Car My sinuses

What is the nature of your problem?

Quantity I feel bad. [OR]My sinuses, located throughout my skull and producing mucus,

I think I may have a sinus infection.

What are your symptoms?

Manner As the Bard mused upon the stoppage of the River Thames…

My nose is all stuffed up.

Have you taken meds I prescribed

Quality Sure have—every day [a lie].

I keep forgetting—sorry [the truth]

Whoa! Way too much information!

How do I get to Kent?

Go to Smith Hall, third floor, Room 352

Tell him Social Psychology sucks

Relevance of Grician Maxims Survey Questions

1. In normal conversation, people assume others are following these maxims.

2. In surveys, people make the same assumption:

a. All info. in surveys serves to convey main points

1) Wording

2) Cues in the format, structure, order

3. People use maxims to figure out how to answersurvey questions.

Closed-Ended Questions Help Clarify Meaning of Inquiry

“What is the most important thing for children to prepare them for life?”_______________________________________ OPEN ENDED

“What is the most important thing for children to prepare them for life?”

A. _____ Learning math CLOSED ENDED B. _____ Language skills C. _____ Politeness and manners D. _____ To think for themselves E. _____ Experimental methods “To think for themselves” Open ended endorse this: 04.6%

Closed ended endorse this: 61.5% Note: The effect of closed-ended questions is probably a combination

of added clarity plus suggesting responses that do not spontaneously occur to respondent.

Frequency Scales and Question Interpretation

Q. How often do conflicts arise in your family?

  "Frequent" Frame 

    "Infrequent" Frame

Once a day   Once a week

4-6 times a week   2-3 times a month

2-3 times a week   Once a month

Once a week   Once every 2-3 months

Once a month   Once every 6 months

   

 

   

Frequency Scales and Question Interpretation

Q. How often do conflicts arise in your family?

  "Frequent" Frame 

    "Infrequent" Frame

Once a day   Once a week

4-6 times a week   2-3 times a month

2-3 times a week   Once a month

Once a week   Once every 2-3 months

Once a month   Once every 6 months

   

  X

X    

Frequent Common events

Infrequent Extreme events

Framing Past Events Affects Reports of Current EventsWinkielman, Knaüper, & Schwarz, 1998

Q1: “How often do you get angry during a typical (week/year)?

Hardly Ever Very Frequently 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Q2: “Based on Q1, how would you answer the following (1-10 scale)?

Week YearFreq. of angering events: 3.77 4.26Intensity of feelings around events 5.74 6.37Seriousness of events 5.32 6.37

Answer to Q1 (“How often?”) 3.77 4.26

Rating Scale Format as Cue to Question Meaning

Q. How satisfied are you with the way family members respond to your concerns?

Not at all

Barely at all

Slightly Some-what

Moder-ately

Very Completely

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Q. How satisfied are you with the way family members respond to your concerns?

Not at all

Barely at all

Slightly Some-what

Moder-ately

Very Completely

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Rating Scale Format as Cue to Question Meaning

Q. How satisfied are you with the way family members respond to your concerns?

Not at all

Barely at all

Slightly Some-what

Moder-ately

Very Completely

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Q. How satisfied are you with the way family members respond to your concerns?

Not at all

Barely at all

Slightly Some-what

Moder-ately

Very Completely

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Note: Bipolar implies neg & pos, unipolar implies pos only

Researcher Affiliation as a Context Cue

"Hi. I'm from the Institute for Personality Research.Why do you think family conflicts occur?"

KINDS OF ANSWERS LIKELY TO GET?

"Hi. I'm from the Institute for Social Research. Why do you think family conflicts occur?"

KINDS OF ANSWERS LIKELY TO GET?

Researcher Affiliation as a Context Cue

"Hi. I'm from the Institute for Personality Research.Why do you think family conflicts occur?"

* Hostile types in this family* People lack communication skills

"Hi. I'm from the Institute for Social Research. Why do you think family conflicts occur?"

* No time for family dinners* Economic pressures

Inferring Meaning of Questions from Adjacent Questions

Target Question: Do you support the newly instituted educational contribution? [IN FACT THERE IS NO SUCH POLICY]

Preceding question

A. Do you favor the American system where students pay their own tuition?

B. Do you favor the Scandinavian system of government sponsored college education?

Students favored contribution more when preceded by Question A or B?

Inferring Meaning of Questions from Adjacent Questions

Target Question: Do you support the newly instituted educational contribution? [IN FACT THERE IS NO SUCH POLICY]

Preceding question

A. Do you favor the American system where students pay their own tuition?

Implies that contribution will come from students.

B. Do you favor the Scandinavian system of government sponsored college education?

Implies that contribution will come from government.

Students favored contribution more when preceded by Question B than by Question A.

Psychological Influences on Question Response

How often do people in your family have conflicts?

I. Cognitive tasks:

1. Recall of information

2. Computation of judgment

3. Format judgment in terms of choices II. Motivational/emotional issues

1. Self presentation

2. Social desirability

Survey Format Affects Interpretation of Responses

People who review survey results will draw format-based inferences about the meaning of responses.

Example: MD estimates of illness severity shaped by patient reports, which are shaped by survey response options.

Effects of Outcome (e.g., Symptom) Clarity and Frequency on Outcome Reporting

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Vaguely DefinedSymptoms

Clearly DefinedSymptoms

Sev

erity

High Freq. ScaleLow Freq. Scale

Vague Symptom (e.g., "feeling unwell")Clear Symptom (e.g., "fever")