chapter 6 science of psych

4 question formats

open ended, forced choice, likert scale, semantic differential

open ended

flexibility iin how participants can respond, sometimes hard for the researcher to compare answers and analyze the responses with statistical methods

forced choice

people give their opinion by selecting the best of 2 or more options

likert scale

respondents use a rating scale to indicate their level of agreement

semantic differential

asked to rate a target object using a numeric scale that is used with adjectives

double barreled questions

asking about 2 things at once

leading questions

lead people to respond a certain way

negative wording

phrasing questions with negatives

simplicity

avoid jargon and technical terms

question order in survey

put demographic at the end, put sensitive questions in the middle, group similar items together

response sets

acquiescense, fence sitting, socially desireable responding

acquiescence

agreeing or disagreeing with all the items on the survery, yay-saying or nay saying

solution to acquiescence

reverse word items to change the wording of some items to mean the opposite

fence sitting

playing it safe by answering neutrally

solution to fence sitting

take away the neutral option, or only provide 2 options

socially desireable responding

giving answers that make you look better than you really are

solution to socially desirable responding

reminding participants of their anonymitity and include items that will catch the responders like a gotcha item stre

strengths of using surveys

can collect a lot of data at once and cost effective

weaknesses of using surveys

inaccurate responses, use of response sets, nonresponse bias

nonresponse bias

those who complete the survey may not actually represent the entire group to which the survey was actually available

how can self report data can be inaccurate

can be inaccurate due to the falliability of the human mind and memory, people don’t always know why, may just not be able to recall accurate information

behavioral observation

researchers watch people and record what they see, then develop an operational definition for what it is being studied/observed in a way that can be quantified

threats to construct validity

observer bias and observer effects

observer bias

observer expectations influence interpretation of participants behavior, observer isn’t always aware they’re biased

observer effects

participant behavior changes to match observer expectations

how to prevent observer bias and effects

codebooks, interrater reliability, blind studies

codebooks

careful training of observers along with using this to refer to for precise statements of how the variables are operationalized

interrater reliability

use multiple observers

blind studies

observers are unaware of the purpose of the study and the conditions to which the participants have been assigned

reactivity

participants change their behavior cause they know they’re being observed

solutions to reactivity

unobtrusive observation and waiting it out to let the participants get used to their presence

unobstrusive observation

blending in, one way mirror, recording

strengths of behavioral observation

can be more accurate/objective compared to self reports

weaknesses of behavioral observation

time consuming and construct validity issues