Assignment Three: Questionnaire Design
– Why are we doing
this assignment?
– Specific educational objectives:
Learn how to:
1. Locate and evaluate questions used
for survey data collection
2.
Identify and fix the problems with a survey question
3.
Design a new survey question to measure a variable
4.
Organize questions into a very short questionnaire
5.
Correctly select and justify the best pre-testing method for a set of questions
6.
Create an on-line survey
– Why do we need to know this?
–
Social scientists are expected to know how to design and carry out short
surveys of
various groups (local communities, customers, victims of crime, employees, and so on).
–
Online surveys are becoming increasingly popular data collection method.
– By doing this
assignment, you will learn how to evaluate, fix, and design survey questions.
–
Basic knowledge of survey design is another skill that you will be able to add
to your CV and
put to use in your future employment.
– What is the
Assignment Three all about?
– you
have two options for your dependent variable (DV)
–
Option A: re-use the same DV as in your Assignment One
–
then, find and read one article that uses the same or very similar DV
– that article has to show actual
wording of survey questions
–
Option B: Use new DV
– find
and read an article that uses survey or census data
– that article has to show actual
wording of survey questions
–
then, use the same DV as that article you found and reviewed
– pick
three independent variables (IVs)
–
IV1: from the article reviewed, that you believe was well measured
–
IV1 cannot be the same one you used in the Assignment One
–
the article has to show the actual wording of the question
–
IV2: improved on a variable measured in the ABS Census Dataset or
the article reviewed
–
one that was not measured well in your assessment
–
IV3: new variable, measured neither in the article nor in the Census
–
you developed it yourself
–
develop questions based on these three IVs
– create
a short on-line questionnaire, with questions measuring your DV and 3 IVs
– draft
a short textual justification for the questionnaire design
– What exactly are you
supposed to produce?
– Due: at noon,
Friday, May 24, 2024, at MyUni
– Required file format
1. Microsoft Word 2007 or
more recent version
2. Online survey, designed at
http://www.surveymonkey.com
– Length:
1.
Word File
–
Cover page
– 1 page, with name, student number and
date of submission
– Textual
Justification
– 2 -2.5 pages (up to 1,500 words), single spaced
–
12 pt size Times New Roman
–
1 inch margins on all sides
– Questionnaire
– 1-1.5 pages (300-400 words), single spaced
–
12 pt size Times New Roman
2. Online survey
– one page
Structure of the Report
I. Textual Justification (2-2.5 pages)
1. Justify Variable Selection (1
paragraph)
–
Explain Dependent Variable (DV)
– what is it? level? any concerns with
the way it was measured?
–
Explain Independent Variable One (IV1)
– what is the underlying concept
– Explain Independent
Variable Two (IV2)
– what is the
underlying concept
– Explain Independent
Variable Two (IV3)
– what is the
underlying concept
2.
Explain Three Hypotheses (3 paragraphs)
–
Explain the Hypothesis One
– how do you think that IV1 and DV are
related?
– direction of
the relationship
– Provide a
causal justification (“story”)
– why do you think that these two
variables are related?
–
Explain the Hypothesis Two
– how do you think that IV2 and DV are
related?
– direction of
the relationship
– Provide a causal justification
–
why do you think that these two variables are related?
–
Explain the Hypothesis Three
– how do you think that IV3 and DV are related?
– direction
of the relationship
– Provide a
causal justification
– why do you think that these two
variables are related?
3. Justify Survey Questions
a)
for IV1 (one paragraph)
–
Why is this a good way to measure the concept in question?
– Why do you think that a respondent
would
– understand
the question?
– recall or know the answer?
–
want to sincerely answer the question?
– find acceptable option among
those offered?
b) for IV2 (one paragraph)
–
Why is this a good way to measure the concept in question?
– How is it
an improvement over the original version of
the survey
question? How is it better?
– Why do you think that a respondent
would
– understand
the question?
–
recall or know the answer?
–
want to sincerely answer the question?
–
find acceptable option among those offered?
c) for IV3 (one paragraph)
– Why is this a valid way to measure
the concept in question?
– Why do you think that a respondent would
–
understand the question?
– recall or know the answer?
– want to
sincerely answer the question?
– find acceptable option among those
offered?
4.
How would you pre-test this questionnaire (one paragraph)
– what pre-testing format would
you use and why
– options are: Focus Group,
Cognitive Interviews, Expert Reviews
(you can use only one)
– briefly outline why the
other 2 would not be well suited for this case
II. Questionnaire (1-1.5 pages)
– have a proper introduction paragraph
– will be explained in class
– order variables in a logical way
– also will be explained in
the class
– re-use the question for DV
– Option A: from assignment one
(from ABS Census Dictionary)
– Option B: from the article you
reviewed
– have three independent variables
– IV1: from the article
reviewed, that you believe was well measured
– IV2: improved on a variable
measured in the ABS Census Dataset or the article reviewed
– one that was not
measured well in your assessment
– IV3: new variable, neither measured
in the article nor in the ABS Census
– you developed it
yourself
– have a meaningful closure paragraph for
the respondents
– I will explain in class how
to do it
– check out the model
assignment
III. References
– correct end of text reference for the
one source used
– Online survey location
– designed in SurveyMonkey
(free, on-line survey software)
– you must
provide the internet address of the survey in your Assignment
– this is so that I
can review your work there
– Note:
1. DV:
– must be either the same as the one you used
in the Assignment One or the same as the one used in the article you reviewed
2. IVs: cannot be
– the same as those you used
in the Assignment One
– any of the variables used in the Model
Assignment One
– identical to any variable
in the ABS Census Dataset
– obviously, IV2 can
be based on one of the variables in the ABS Census Dataset, but cannot be the same as
that variable
– any of the variables used
in the Model Assignment 3
Format
–
name your assignments file using this form:
– “A3_Firstname_Lastname.doc”
– for example: “A3_Djordje_Stefanovic.doc”
–
text file
–
use correct grammar and spell check
–
sentence construction
–
make sure that sentences are grammatical
–
prefer short and focused sentences to very long and unfocused ones
–
use good style
– do not use
“can’t” or “don’t”
–
avoid using “this”, “that” and “it”
–
use paragraphs and full sentences – do not
use the point form
–
paragraph length
–
not shorter than 3 sentences, not more than 2/3 of the page
–
try to write as clearly as you can
–
social science jargon is avoided
–
if you have to use it then it is (briefly) defined and used correctly
–
Referencing
– Please follow the
guidelines: https://www.coloradomesa.edu/tutoring/documents/asalite.pdf
–
Proper referencing format should be used both for in-text references, as well
as in the “References”
section at the end.
–
end of text References should list
–
the single new article you used
– internet address of your on-line survey
