PSY 2307 - Chapter 6 Lecture

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Chapter 6: Surveys and Observations: Describing What People Do PSY 2307 CHAPTER 6 IS DUE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2023, AT 11:59 PM, CST. 1

Outline • Construct Validity of Surveys and Polls − Choosing Question Formats − Writing Well-Worded Questions • Encouraging Accurate Responses • Construct Validity of Behavioral Observations • Making Reliable and Valid Observations 2

Introduction • Researchers use surveys, polls, and observations to measure variables • Good construct validity ensures that the method of measurement matches the theoretical concept of interest • Learning Objective : Describe how researchers make systematic observations with good construct validity Researchers use surveys and polls to ask people questions over the telephone, in door-to-door interviews, through the mail, or over the Internet. You may have been asked to take surveys in various situations. Perhaps after you purchased an item from an Internet retailer, you got an e-mail asking you to post a review. While you were reading an online newspaper, maybe a survey popped up. Good construct validity ensures that the method of measurement matches the theoretical concept of interest (i.e., are you accurately measuring what you are supposed to be measuring?). In this chapter, we will describe how researchers make systematic observations with good construct validity. 3

Construct Validity of Surveys and Polls • Survey : When people are asked about a consumer product • Poll : When people are asked about their social or political opinions • Both methods pose questions to people on the phone, in interviews, on written questionnaires or online The word survey is often used when people are asked about a consumer product, Whereas the word poll is used when people are asked about their social or political opinions. However, these two terms can be interchangeable, and in this book, survey and poll both mean the same thing: a method of posing questions to people on the phone, in personal interviews, on written questionnaires, or online. Psychologists might conduct national polls as part of their research, or they may use the polling information they read (as consumers of information) to inspire further research. How much can you learn about a phenomenon just by asking people questions? It depends on how well you ask. As you will learn, researchers who develop their questions carefully can support frequency, association, or causal claims that have excellent construct validity. 4

Choosing Question Formats • Four question formats: 1. Open-ended 2. Forced-choice 3. Likert scale 4. Semantic differential Research questions typically fall into one of four types: 1) open-ended, 2) forced- choice, 3) Likert scale, and 4) semantic differential. 5

Choosing Question Formats • Open-ended : Allows participants to answer any way they like − Provides spontaneous, rich information − Responses must be coded and categorized Researchers may ask open-ended questions that allow respondents to answer any way they like. They might ask people to name the public figure they admire the most or ask a sample of people to describe their views on immigration. Departing overnight guests might be asked to submit comments about their experience at a hotel. Their various responses to open-ended questions provide researchers with spontaneous, rich information. The drawback is that the responses must be coded and categorized, a process that is often difficult and time-consuming. In the interest of efficiency, therefore, researchers in psychology often restrict the answers people can give. Unfortunately, participants usually do not like open-ended questions because they require an extra degree of effort compared to Likert-scale questions. 6

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