Asking questions
Leading questions should also be avoided because:
They suggest ways of answering and so may bias the results
They create a mismatch between the question and its possible answers
They involve negative terms and unnecessary jargon
They ask about several different things at the same time
They suggest ways of answering and so may bias the results
Answers (b), (c) and (d) indicate undesirable features of questions in general but answer (a) relates to the problem with asking leading questions. These are questions, which, unwittingly perhaps, steer a respondent in a particular direction. It doesn’t matter which response a respondent gives to the question, if it can be labelled as leading, all results from it are suspect. Have a look at your answer to question nine, below. If you got the right answer, you have realised the value of piloting your questionnaire, since leading questions might be uncovered at that stage. Perhaps the leading nature of the question will come as a surprise to you, which will tend to perfect your entire design.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 254
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 254
They suggest ways of answering and so may bias the results Answers (b), (c) and (d) indicate undesirable features of questions in general but answer (a) relates to the problem with asking leading questions. These are questions, which, unwittingly perhaps, steer a respondent in a particular direction. It doesn’t matter which response a respondent gives to the question, if it can be labelled as leading, all results from it are suspect. Have a look at your answer to question nine, below. If you got the right answer, you have realised the value of piloting your questionnaire, since leading questions might be uncovered at that stage. Perhaps the leading nature of the question will come as a surprise to you, which will tend to perfect your entire design.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 254
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 254
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Which of the following is a general rule of thumb for designing questions?A. Always bear in mind your research questions
B. Never ask a closed question
C. Always use vignettes rather than open questions
D. Use ambiguous terms to put respondents at ease
You should avoid using double-barrelled questions in a survey because:
A. They rely too much on a respondent’s memory
B. They make the questions too long, so respondents lose interest
C. They are too abstract and general in scope
D. They confuse respondents by asking about two different things
Informant factual questions are those that:
A. Enquire about personal details such as age, income and occupation
B. Ask people about the characteristics of a social setting or entity that they know well
C. Seek to find out about people’s attitudes and opinions on a range of topics
D. Try to identify the normative standards and values held by a social group
Which of the following is not an advantage of using closed questions in a survey?
A. It reduces the risk of variability in the way answers are recorded
B. It makes answers easier to process and analyse
C. They prevent respondents from giving spontaneous, unexpected answers
D. Closed questions are quicker and easier for respondents to complete
The UK Data Archive is a useful resource for:
A. Studying the way questions have been successfully used in previous surveys
B. Stealing other people’s questions without their permission
C. Learning more about your topic so that you can devise leading questions
D. Keeping your research questions in a safe place
In order to post-code answers to open questions, it is necessary to:
A. Count the frequency with which each answer has been given
B. Categorize unstructured material and assign a code number to each category
C. Identify the three most commonly cited responses and give them a code
D. Find out where each respondent lives and make a note of their postcode
An open question is one that:
A. Allows respondents to answer in their own terms
B. Does not suggest or provide a limited range of responses
C. Can help to generate answers for closed questions
D. All of the above
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