PSYC 2250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Complex Question, Focus Group, Confidence Interval
26 Jun 2018
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PSYC 2250 Introduction to Psychological Research
Chapter 7 Survey Research
Survey Research
Increasingly important method:
- E.g. Marketing: consumer opinions; Politics: political opinions; Social sciences: attitudes/
opinions; Psychology: self-report rating; Business: user satisfaction….
Why? Societal demands for data about issues, opinion, reactions, etc… rather than depending
on intuition and anecdotes
Big Data (?)
A recent developed analysis of huge database (billions of data points) from the internet, mainly
Big data mainly used for predictions
- Predicting spread of flu virus by analyzing search terms in Google
- Predicting economic shifts by analyzing bank transactions
Limits of big data
- Need supercomputers
- Teach support with advanced skills
- Mathematicians; Statisticians
- Money
Fear about big data
- Ethical: loss of privacy; no informed consent
- Political: big brother is watching and knows everything we do
- Economic: decisions based on wrong prediction could lead to chaos
Influence of Hi-tech on ethics
A possible redefinition of min risk; Recall: minimal risk = no more than daily life
- Consider: when a computer or cell phone is used, info is added to a big data server; consent
not require Thus: big data is part of daily life
Minimal risk definition changed in the large of big data, to prevent mission creep
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PSYC 2250 Introduction to Psychological Research
Mr. Studies no longer reviewed???
Would be registered instead
Privacy plan submitted
Survey Research
Surveys can be used
- To get snapshot at one point in time (e.g. attitudes)
- See trends over longer of time (e.g. how attitudes change over time)
Survey commonly used:
- Complement experiment (multiple method approach)
- As part of experiments
- As starting points for future research
Assumption of survey research:
- People give accurate and truthful answer
Response Set
Response set: people respond the same way to every question, even contradictory questions
Social desirability response set:
- Tendency for people to want to make a positive impression
- It leads people answer in the most socially acceptable way
- 2 forms:
1. Impressions management
- Active, conscious lying on surveys to create positive impression
- E.g. males over reporting number of times they have sex; females under reporting
- Lying most common when participant does not trust the researcher and the topic is
sensitive
- E.g. sexual practices, substance abuse, violent behavior
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PSYC 2250 Introduction to Psychological Research
2. Self-deception positivity
- Honest, but overly optimistic self-report to create good impression
- E.g. a person who make 14 an hour reports making 15 an hour
Constructing Questions to Ask
Type of survey questions:
Attitudes and beliefs
Facts and demographics
Behavior
Question wording
Very important
Factors make questions difficult
- Unfamiliar technical terms
- Vague imprecise terms
- Bad grammar
- Complex question
- Biased question
Should also avoid:
1) Unnecessary complexity
2) Double-Barreled Questions
- E.g. asking 2 things at once
3) Loaded Questions
- E.g. emotionally loaded term; should use neutral terms
4) Negative Wording
5) “Yes-Saying” and “Nay-Saying”
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Document Summary
Marketing: consumer opinions; politics: political opinions; social sciences: attitudes/ opinions; psychology: self-report rating; business: user satisfaction . Societal demands for data about issues, opinion, reactions, etc rather than depending on intuition and anecdotes. A recent developed analysis of huge database (billions of data points) from the internet, mainly. Predicting spread of flu virus by analyzing search terms in google. Political: big brother is watching and knows everything we do. Economic: decisions based on wrong prediction could lead to chaos. A possible redefinition of min risk; recall: minimal risk = no more than daily life. Consider: when a computer or cell phone is used, info is added to a big data server; consent not require thus: big data is part of daily life. Minimal risk definition changed in the large of big data, to prevent mission creep. To get snapshot at one point in time (e. g. attitudes) See trends over longer of time (e. g. how attitudes change over time)
