How to design and administer surveys
How to design and administer surveys
Written Assignment #11: How to design and administer surveys
DUE DATE: July 12, 2019 before 11:59 PM.
READING
a. In this assignment, you will be constructing and administering online surveys. To learn why it’s important that you learn how to design and administer online surveys:
1. Review from Brooklyn College’s summary of Coplin’s (2012) book, 10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in College. Note that on p. 12, under the heading “Gathering Information,” the skill of “Construct Surveys” is listed. How to design and administer surveys
2. Read Tague’s (2004a) brief introduction, “When to Use a Survey,” which addresses the use of surveys outside of psychological science (i.e., beyond the purposes of basic scientific research).
b. To learn whether your administering surveys as a class assignment requires IRB (Institutional Review Board) ethical approval for protection of human research participants:
1. Read the University of Michigan’s (2004) “Research Ethics and Compliance Policy.” Pay attention to the “Student Class Assignment Definition.”
2. Read the City University of New York policy on Student Research Pools. Pay particular attention to the paragraph highlighted in yellow. It refers to the fact that you may not directly approach and participants you don’t know.
c. To consider topics for your surveys: 1. Read closely through the PSY 430 Online Survey Topics handout. 2. Be sure to remember two important things: (1) assess your access to
research participants, and (2) Don’t solicit students in this class (or other classes) who you don’t already know first. How to design and administer surveys
WRITING ASSIGNMENT
d. Select two survey topics (from the PSY 430: Online Survey Topics handout). Be sure to select two topics
1. that you’re interested in investigating, and 2. for which you have access to the appropriate survey participants.
Part 1: Introduction to surveys
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e. Read and synthesize previously published psychological science on each of the two topics you selected. How to design and administer surveys
1. For each of the two survey topics you’ve selected, search Google Scholar for relevant scientific articles (using the procedure you learned in Assignment #4).
Remember you can also find related articles by examining the “Cited By” tool and by examining an article’s reference list.
2. For each of the two survey topics you’ve selected, find three scientific articles (via Google Scholar).
The three articles can be at any level in the Hierarchy of Scientific Evidence, and
all three articles can be at the same level in the Hierarchy of Scientific Evidence.
3. For each of the two survey topics you’ve selected: Read and analyze the three scientific articles you’ve found (using
the procedure you learned in Assignment 4). Write one paragraph synthesizing the three articles you’ve found
(using the procedure you learned in Assignment 5). Remember to synthesize the findings and not Mad Lib them; to
write about behavior and phenomena, not researchers and their studies; to place each article’s in-text citation at the end of the sentence (in parentheses); and to synthesize conflicting results (e.g., using “However, ….”).
Lastly, include the three scientific articles’ full APA-style citations after each of your two synthesis paragraphs
f. Go to the discussion board forum Assignment #11, Part 1: Survey Development and make a new post that includes the following five parts:
1. In at least 50 words, explain why you think constructing and administering surveys is a
skill employers want you to learn in college, and state at least two uses of online surveys for purposes other than
basic scientific research. (These uses can come from Tague’s article or from surveys you’ve seen yourself.)
2. In at least 50 words,
Explain whether your designing and administering a survey as a class assignment requires IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval.
Do you agree with this policy? Why or why not? 3. Post the statements:
I understand that the two surveys I will be constructing and administering in this course are solely for the purpose of a class assignment.
I understand that I am not allowed to solicit as research participants people I do not know.
I understand that I am not allowed to ask instructors (including the instructor of this class) if I can solicit research participants from their class.
I understand that my research participants can be other members of this class, but I must already know the students, and I cannot ‘cold-call’ other class members.
4. State the two topics you’ve selected for your two surveys. 5. Post the two paragraphs you’ve written that synthesize previous research
on your two survey topics. 6. Include the APA-style full citations at the end of both paragraphs.
READING
a. To get a basic introduction to writing survey items, read Science Buddies’ (no date) article, “Designing a Survey.” This article provides a basic introduction; if you already have some experience writing survey items, you may skim (though not skip) this article.
b. To become more informed about writing survey items: 1. Read Beretta’s (2014) article, “Top Ten Common Problems in
Designing Effective Survey Questions.” Make sure you understand all ten problems Beretta describes – and you know how to avoid all ten problems.
2. Read Pew Research Center’s (no date) article, “Questionnaire Design.” Make sure you understand
open- versus closed-ended questions (the latter are what Science Buddies refers to as ‘structured questions’);
the importance of asking questions that are clear and well- specified;
what double-barreled questions and double-negatives are (and how to avoid them);
what acquiescence bias and social desirability bias are (and how to avoid them);
factors to consider in ordering your questions; and the importance of placing demographic items last.
3. To appreciate the power of question wording, look at Britain Elects’ (2017) pair of tweets.
4. Read Harvard University’s Program on Survey Research (2007) “Tip Sheet on Question Wording.” Make sure you understand
how to avoid technical jargon, vague or imprecise terms; how to avoid double-barreled questions (again!); how to avoid leading, emotional, or evocative language; and
Part 2: How to design and implement a survey
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how to use ordinal scales, reference frames, and unique answer choices that cover all response options.
5. Read Peters’ (no date) article, “How to Design a Survey.” Make sure you understand the differences between
categorical (also known as nominal) and ordinal survey items (and survey responses).
c. Make a teaching document that captures all the information you learned in steps a. and b. above.
1. Your audience for your teaching document needs to be either other college students or people in industry (not psychological scientists).
2. Your medium for your teaching document needs to be either a PPT or an Infographic.
3. Save your teaching document as a PDF, named YourLastname_SurveyDesign.pdf.
d. Test yourself on Professor Rennison’s (no date), “Examples of Bad Questions & How to Fix Them.”
e. Go to the Assignment #11, Part 2: Teaching Document and make a new post in which you
1. attach your teaching document; 2. tell us the intended audience of your teaching document and why you
chose that intended audience; and 3. tell us how well you did identifying the examples of bad questions and
fixing them (on Professor Rennison’s quiz).
Writing Assignment
a. Now it’s time to apply everything you’ve learned about writing survey items and write the items for your two surveys.
1. For each of your two surveys, you must write no fewer than 5 and no more than 10 items.
2. For each of your two surveys, you must include at least one and no more than two open-ended items (which count toward your total 5 to 10 total items per survey).
3. For each of your two surveys, you must include at least one categorical/nominal survey item and at least one ordinal survey item.
4. For each of your two surveys, if you include demographic items, you must place them at the end (unless there’s a good reason to place them earlier), and your demographic items count toward your total 5 to 10 total items per survey.
b. After you’ve written a draft of your items for each of your two surveys:
Part 3: Applying what you’ve learned
1. Check your items against the teaching document you made in Assignment #11: Part 2.
2. Be sure to follow the beneficial procedures you told others to follow. 3. Be sure you don’t commit any errors you told others not to commit.
c. Save your two sets of items in one PDF, making it clear in your PDF which survey topic each set of items was written to assess. Name your PDF YourLastname_SurveyItems.pdf.
d. Go to the discussion board forum Assignment #11, Part 3: Survey Items and attach your PDF that includes your two sets of items.
Action Assignment
a. Explore and then select one of the following (free) online survey platforms: 1. SurveyMonkey; 2. Google Forms; 3. LimeSurvey; or 4. SurveyGizmo.
b. Using the online survey platform you’ve selected, create each of your two surveys. Be sure to create a meaningful (and inviting) title for each of your two surveys.
c. Read Tague’s (2004b) steps for pilot-testing a survey, highlighted in yellow in the brief article, “How to Administer a Survey.”
d. Collect pilot data from three participants on each of your two surveys.
1. Your three pilot participants for each of your two surveys can be the same three people.
2. Or your pilot participants can be two different sets of three people or a mixture of same and different.
3. But you must collect pilot data from three participants on each of your two surveys.
e. Go to the discussion board forum Assignment #11, Part 3: Survey Items and reply to the original post you made there with a new post in which you
1. provide a link to each of your two surveys (using the title of each of your surveys for the words that are linked); and
2. write at least 200 words about what you learned from collecting pilot data about each of your two surveys, including what changes you need to make to each survey before you administer the survey to non-pilot participants.
Part 4: Collecting Pilot Data
READING
a. Before you administer your surveys, use Beretta’s (2014) article, “Top Ten Common Problems in Designing Effective Survey Questions,” to assess them according to each of Beretta’s ten common problems.
ACTION ASSIGNMENT
1. Proceed to collect data (you will email links to your participants).
Remember:
10 participants per survey, and the 10 participants can be the same participants for both surveys or some combination of same and different;
However, none of the 10 participants on either survey can be the same as your pilot-participants for that survey
Part 5: Running the study
- Part 1: Introduction to surveys
- Part 2: How to design and implement a survey
- Part 3: Applying what you’ve learned
- Part 4: Collecting Pilot Data
- Part 5: Running the study