Transcript PPT - Gmu
COMM 250 Agenda - Week 6 Housekeeping • Today: C1, TP3a Due • Give TP3a to your TA NOW (set in the aisle) • Put C1 in your folder at end of class • Next Week: RAT3 • RP1 – You download a survey, and use it to conduct an interview Lecture • Finish RQs & Hypotheses, Operationalizations • Surveys: Demographic, Scale items • ITE6 – Multiple Parts Review of: In-Class Team Exercise # 5 1) Create 2 Hypotheses (One 1-Tailed, One 2-Tailed) • Relate the concepts: “regular exercise” and “health” 2) Create a specific, measurable Operational Definition of each concept 3) Which is the IV, which the DV? 4) Propose 2 (likely/possible) “Intervening Variables” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deliverable: a written version of the above Correlation & Causality Correlation • Two variables are related (as one varies, the other varies predictably) Causation 3 “Necessary & Sufficient” Conditions: • Two variables must be shown to be related • The IV must precede the DV in Time • The relationship cannot be due to another variable (an “Intervening” or “Confounding” variable) In-Class Team Exercise # 6a - Part I: First Do as Individuals, then produce a Team Version: 1) Create 2 Hypotheses (One 1-tailed, one 2-tailed) • Relate “socializing” with “success in college” 2) Create a specific, measurable Operational Definition of each concept 3) Which is the IV, which the DV? 4) Can you think of 2 “Intervening Variables?” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Surveys “Survey” is a General Research Methods • • • Questionnaires (opinion polls, market research, evaluation research) Field research (often qualitative) Interviews, Focus Groups (often qualitative) Questionnaires • • • • Self-administered – Hard-copy, E-mail Self-administered – Web-based Interview – in person Interview – telephone Types of Questions • Demographic Questions • Age, Gender, Race, Income, Education, etc. • Factual Questions • Do you own or have your own cell phone? • Behavior (infrequently, frequently) • How often do you use a cell phone and drive? • I use my cell phone while driving. • Attitudes (agree, disagree) • Driving while using a cell phone should be banned. • Driving while using a cell phone is dangerous. In-Class Team Exercise # 6 - Part II: First Do as Individuals, then produce a Team Version: Create 3 demographic questions for a survey: • Gender, Age, and Education Rules - You should: • Assume this is a “self-administered” questionnaire • Choose the exact wording you would use • Design “Multiple Choice” (not “Fill in the Blank”) • Assign numbers to each value/level of each variable Deliverable: a written version of the above ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Types of Questions • Demographic Questions • Age, Gender, Race, Income, Education, etc. • Factual Questions • Do you own or have your own cell phone? • Behavior (infrequently, frequently) • How often do you use a cell phone and drive? • I use my cell phone while driving. • Attitudes (agree, disagree) • Driving while using a cell phone should be banned. • Driving while using a cell phone is dangerous. Choosing Questions 2 Types of Questions • • Open-ended (Fill in the blanks) Closed (Multiple Choice: Y/N, a,b,c,d,e, 7 pt. scales) Multiple Choice Questions • • Mutually Exclusive Exhaustive Scale Questions • • • Even / Odd number of values (3 or 4? 5,7 or 6?) Total number of values (3-5-7-9 or 4-6-8-10?) Label each point on the scale, or use “anchors” ? Open-ended vs. Closed Questions Open-ended Items (“Fill in the Blanks”) • • • Useful for “exploratory” data collection ADV: Respondents (Rs) aren’t “led” by some list of available choices / opinions DISADV: Requires much more work - to quantify, researcher must categorize and “code” responses Closed-ended Items (“Multiple Choice”) • • • Useful when all of the available responses are known ADV: 1) Easier to quantify, and 2) Rs are reacting to the same stimulus materials (some list of choices) DISADV: 1) Researcher may miss some important reasons/options Multiple Choice Items The Options (possible values) in MC Items should be: • • • • • • Mutually Exclusive Exhaustive Consistent Linear (follow in a logical order) Clear and concise Limited in number (so the researcher can make sense of them) In-Class Team Exercise # 6 - Part III: Example of a BAD Item Which of the following describes your CURRENT living situation? 1) Married, no kids 5) Divorced 2) Married, 1-3 kids at home 6) Divorced, 1-3 kids at home 3) Married, 3 or more kids 7) Divorced, 3+ kids at home at home 8) Unmarried, but have kids 4) Unmarried ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- a) b) What mistakes make this a bad item? How would you fix this problem? Deliverable: a written answer to a & b ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solution Example of a BETTER Item Which best describes your CURRENT living situation? 1) Married, no kids 5) Divorced, 1-3 kids at home 2) Married, 1-3 kids at home 6) Divorced, more than 3 kids at home 3) Married, more than 3 kids 7) Unmarried, no kids at home 8) Unmarried, 1-3 kids at home 4) Divorced, no kids 9) Other (Please specify: ______________ ) Solution Example of a Better APPROACH What is your marital status? 1) Single 2) Married 3) Divorced 4) Widowed How many children do you have? ___ ___ How many CHILDREN currently live with you? ___ ___ How many other ADULTS currently live with you? ___ ___ Scale Items Even / Odd Number of Values • • • Even - no midpoint - forces users to choose Odd - has a midpoint - allows a “neutral” response (I prefer Odd) Number of Values 3-5-7-9 or 4-6-8-10 point scales: • 3-4 is simple but may not allow “discrimination” • 9-10 is usually overkill • 5-6-7 is usually best • (I prefer 7)