Self-administered questionnaires
Which of the following steps can be taken to improve response rates to postal questionnaires?
Write a personalized covering letter to introduce the research
Enclose a stamped addressed envelope with a postal questionnaire
Send out polite reminder letters
All of the above
All of the above
Lack of response can seriously hurt the representativeness of a randomly drawn sample, so any device that will tend to improve the response rate, like all the possibilities shown in this question, are to be encouraged. Professional researchers may go so far as to offer a small cash incentive, for example, to stimulate higher response rates. Not all samples are drawn randomly, however, so the actual response rate doesn’t have the same significance, if indeed it has any at all. Bryman concludes “Tips and skills” on page 225 with the advice that “you should not be put off using (these) techniques because of the prospect of a low response rate”.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 225
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 225
All of the above Lack of response can seriously hurt the representativeness of a randomly drawn sample, so any device that will tend to improve the response rate, like all the possibilities shown in this question, are to be encouraged. Professional researchers may go so far as to offer a small cash incentive, for example, to stimulate higher response rates. Not all samples are drawn randomly, however, so the actual response rate doesn’t have the same significance, if indeed it has any at all. Bryman concludes “Tips and skills” on page 225 with the advice that “you should not be put off using (these) techniques because of the prospect of a low response rate”.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 225
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 225
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Corti (1993) makes a distinction between two types of researcher-driven diary:A. Valid and reliable diaries
B. Quantitative and qualitative diaries
C. Structured and free-text diaries
D. Open or closed answer diaries
The ‘time-use’ diary can provide quantitative data about:
A. The amount of time respondents spend on certain activities every day
B. The subjective meanings that concepts of ‘time’ have for different people
C. The way respondents make sense of their life stories in narrative form
D. The historical significance of clocks, watches and other devices for measuring time
In order to identify response sets in a Likert scale, you could:
A. Pre-code all items consistently from 1-5
B. Reverse the scoring of pre-coded answers
C. Only include items about socially desirable behaviours
D. Include explicit instructions to respondents not to deceive you
When using a Likert scale with a long list of items, it is usually better to:
A. Arrange the answers horizontally, in abbreviated form
B. List the answers vertically, for each consecutive item
C. Omit any instructions about how to select an answer
D. List all questions on one page and all answers on another
One of the advantages of self-completion questionnaires over structured interviews is that:
A. They are quicker and cheaper to administer
B. They create interviewer effects
C. They have greater measurement validity
D. They are less prone to inter-coder variation
Why is it generally better to present fixed choice answers in vertical rather than horizontal form?
A. It takes up less space on the page
B. It encourages respondents to choose more than one answer
C. It allows questions to be spread over more than one page
D. It makes the layout of the questionnaire more clear and unambiguous
One advantage of using diaries in quantitative research is that:
A. There is a reduced risk of attrition, as respondents tend to be highly motivated
B. They are likely to elicit data about sensitive issues or deviant activities
C. They highlight the thoughts, feelings and experiences that are unique to each respondent
D. None of the above
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