Key Concepts in Survey Design and Sampling Methods
Survey Question Types and Biases
Forced Choice Question
A forced-choice question is a format for question responses that requires respondents to provide an answer (e.g., yes or no), forcing them to make judgments about each response option.
Observer Effect
The observer effect refers to changes that the act of observing has on the phenomenon being observed.
Observer Bias
Observer bias is the tendency to see what we expect to see, or what we want to see.
Reactivity
Reactivity is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals alter their performance or behavior due to the awareness that they are being observed.
Leading Question
A leading question is one that implies that a certain answer should be given in response.
Double-Barreled Question
A double-barreled question is an informal fallacy. It is committed when someone asks a question that touches upon more than one issue, yet allows only for one answer.
Negatively Worded Question
A negatively worded question is considered an item where disagreement would be a good answer.
Fence Sitting
Fence sitting is a common idiom used in English to describe a person’s lack of decisiveness, neutrality, or hesitance to choose between two sides in an argument or a competition, or inability to decide due to lack of courage.
Social Desirability Bias
Social desirability bias is a type of response bias that is the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others.
Acquiescence Bias
Acquiescence bias is a category of response bias in which respondents to a survey have a tendency to agree with all the questions or to indicate a positive connotation.
Semantic Differential Scale
A semantic differential scale is a survey or questionnaire rating scale that asks people to rate a product, company, brand, or any “entity” within the frames of a multi-point rating option. These survey answering options are grammatically on opposite adjectives at each end.
Response Set
A response set is the human tendency to answer questions in ways that are the most complimentary, or flattering, to the respondent rather than telling the absolute truth.
Sampling Methods
Sampling Method
A sampling method is a procedure for selecting sample members from a population.
Convenience Sampling
Convenience sampling is a type of non-probability sampling method where the sample is taken from a group of people easy to contact or to reach.
Probability Sampling
Probability sampling is a sampling technique in which a sample from a larger population is chosen using a method based on the theory of probability. For a participant to be considered as a probability sample, he/she must be selected using a random selection.
Snowball Sampling
Snowball sampling is where research participants recruit other participants for a test or study. It is used where potential participants are hard to find.
Multistage Sampling
Multistage sampling is the taking of samples in stages using smaller and smaller sampling units at each stage.
Cluster Sampling
In cluster sampling, the researcher divides the population into separate groups, called clusters. Then, a simple random sample of clusters is selected from the population. The researcher conducts his analysis on data from the sampled clusters.
Quota Sampling
Quota sampling is a non-probability sampling method. It can be defined as a sampling method of gathering representative data from a group. The application of quota sampling ensures that the sample group represents certain characteristics of the population chosen by the researcher.