Types of questions and response categories CONSTRUCTING THE QUESTIONNAIRE Types of questions and response categories Threatening versus Nonthreatening Questions Knowledge questions Skip or Contingency Questions

Threatening versus Nonthreatening Questions: Researchers sometimes ask about sensitive issues or ones that respondent find threatening (e.g., drug or alcohol use, mental health problems, or deviant behavior) Respondents may be reluctant to answer the questions or to answer completely and truthfully. The questions must do so with great care and must be extra cautious about the results

Threatening questions are part of a broader issue; respondents may try to present a positive image of themselves to interviewers instead of given true answers Social desirability bias: occurs when respondents distort answers to make their reports conform to social norms.

People tend to over report being A good citizen (voting, knowing about issues) Well informed and cultured (reading, going to cultured events) Fulfilling moral responsibilities (having a job, giving to charity) Having a good family life (having a happy marriage and good relations with children) Researchers can increase truthful answers to questions by offering explicit guarantees of confidentiality and by telling respondents that truthful answers are wanted and that any answer is acceptable.

They should ask questions: - on sensitive topics after respondent developed trust in an interview - Wait until after asking less threatening warm-up material and providing a meaningful context - They can phrase questions to make it easy for a respondent to admit engaging in the threatening context - They can give an introductory statement that states many people engage in the behavior - Also, by embedding a threatening response within more serious activities.

Example: Respondents may hesitate to admit shoplifting if it is asked first, but after being asked about armed robbery or burglary, they may admit to shoplifting because it appears less serious.

Example: Did you vote in the presidential election last November? Purpose an introduction to tell the respondent that there are various reasons why people do not vote, other than not being a good citizen. The hope is that respondents will feel more relaxed about giving a “no” response, knowing that the researcher knows some good reasons, some perfectly socially acceptable reasons, why someone might not vote. Better question: Sometimes we know that people are not able to vote, because they are not interested in the election, because they can’t get off from work, because they have family pressures, or for many other reasons. Thinking about the presidential election last November, did you actually vote in that election?

Knowledge questions Researchers sometimes want to find out whether respondents know about an issue or topics, but knowledge questions can be threatening because respondents do not want to appear ignorant. Surveys may measure opinions better if they first ask about factual information Knowledge questions can be worded so that respondents feel comfortable saying they do not know the answer (e.g., How much, if anything, have you heard about…)

Respondents may overstate their knowledge or recognition of people or events. One way to check this is to use a sleeper question Sleeper question: A question or response choice about which a respondent could not possibly know. Sleeper questions are used to ensure that the respondent is accurately reporting their knowledge. The question can be about non-existent people, events, or places to determine honesty

Example: Take a look at the images of prime ministers below and rate your knowledge for each as a, b, or c. a. I recognize this prime minister and know his or her name b. I recognize the prime minister but can’t remember his or her name c. I don’t recognize this prime minister مؤرخ ومؤلف وكاتب أردني

Image 2 is an example of a sleeper question Image 2 is an example of a sleeper question. All of the other images are of actual prime ministers. If you created a survey question like the one above, you would look at how many respondents claimed to recognize image 2, and you may decide that all of their responses may be invalid or dishonest. If respondents give false information about the sleeper question, it can be assumed that they may have been dishonest about other questions in the survey.

Skip or Contingency Questions A contingency question is a two – or more part question. The answer to the first part of the question determines which of two different questions a respondent next receives

(1) Were you born in Australia? - Yes (Go To question.2) - No For example: (1) Were you born in Australia? - Yes (Go To question.2) - No (a) What country were you born in? (b) How many years have you lived in Australia? (c ) Are you an Australian citizen?  (2) Question.2 …etc