2/4/23, 11:40 AM Topic: APA Project – Survey Construction & Administration – Discussion (Assignment #2)

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This is a graded discussion: 20 points possibledue Feb 8

APA Project – Survey Construction & Administration – Discussion (Assignment#2)

OverviewNow that you have planned your APA research project, it's time to develop your survey! Yay.This week you will be creating survey items related to your variables of interest. Onceconstructed, you will administer your pilot (draft) survey to your classmates and 20 friends andfamily.

As mentioned in the Survey chapter(https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/psychmethods4e/chapter/constructing-surveys/) under the WritingSurvey Items heading, survey items are either open-ended or closed-ended. Open-endeditems simply ask a question and allow respondents to answer in whatever way they want.These questions are usually more qualitative in nature and are useful when researchers arebeginning a new area of research or when they want to broaden possible answers fromrespondents. These questions are easier to write, but harder to analyze.

Closed-ended items ask a question and provide several response options that respondentsmust choose from. They are often more quantitative in nature and are often used whenresearchers are investigating a well-defined variable or construct (for example, level ofagreement or perceptions of risk). Closed-ended items are more difficult to write, but are easyfor respondents to complete. They are also easier to analyze because responses can bequickly converted into numbers and analyzed using basic statistics (for example, frequencies,percentages, means, standard deviations).

Often, surveys will include a mix of open-ended and closed-ended items depending on thetopic, the participants, and the research questions under investigation. To give you experiencein creating both types of questions, your survey will include both open and closed ended items.

Before you begin, please watch this 5-minute video from Pew Research on writing surveyquestions – Methods 101: Question Wording(https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/2018/03/21/video-explainer-understanding-survey-question-wording/) .

Main Discussion Post – Due Wednesday by 11:59pmPart I: Survey Construction

Please construct your surveys using Google Forms (https://www.google.com/forms/about/) .

2/4/23, 11:40 AM Topic: APA Project – Survey Construction & Administration – Discussion (Assignment #2)

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Open-Ended Items:

Your survey must include at least three open-ended items pertaining to your chosenvariables of interest.

Make sure your questions are clear and that people understand what you are askingthem. Be careful to create fair and neutral questions. Participants should not feel led toanswer to give one response over the other.

Closed-Ended Items:

Your survey must include at least five closed-ended items pertaining to your chosenvariables of interest.

Before you begin writing your own closed-ended questions, be sure to review next thepage of this module (How to Construct Your Closed-Ended Response Options) and theexample questions on the following pages! Closed-ended items can be used to collectboth categorical and quantitative data. How each question is written determines thetype of data collected, which statistical procedures can be conducted, and the insightsyou can gain from your questions. So, it's critical that you plan how you'll summarizeyour responses to questions while you're designing your survey — not after you'vecollected the data.

So that you are not limited in your ability to analyze your results, please make surethat you include:

At least 1 closed-ended question that produces categorical data.At least 2 closed-ended questions that produce quantitative data – i.e., theyproduce responses that are numerical or quantifiable (can be assigned anumber using a rating scale).

An example of a quantifiable closed-ended survey would be a Likert scale. (Check out the next pages for more help on this.)

Demographic Questions:

Your survey must include at least three demographic questions.

The first three questions must ask for 1) sex and/or gender, 2) age, and 3)race/ethnicity.

Additional demographic questions are optional, but may be necessary depending on yourresearch topic (e.g., major, education level).DO NOT ask for identifying information (e.g., name, email address) anywhere in yoursurvey. All responses should be anonymous.

Demographic information is needed so that you can describe your sample when youwrite your Methods section. You will learn more about how to write your Method sectionin the coming weeks, but for now, you can just read the example sentence below. Youwill use it as your template for writing about your sample.

"Data were collected from a sample of 20 participants, including 12 males and 8females. The participants ranged in age from 18 to 25, with a mean age of 20.5

2/4/23, 11:40 AM Topic: APA Project – Survey Construction & Administration – Discussion (Assignment #2)

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(SD = 2.27). A majority of the participants were Caucasian (60%), four were Asian(20%), and four were Black/African American (20%). …"Make sure that you ask your demographic questions in such a way as to be able toconduct those analyses. For example, to calculate the mean and standard deviationof age, you must ask the question as an open-ended question.

Informed Consent:

All participants must provide informed consent before participating in your study. First, create your informed consent using the template below. Simply replace thehighlighted sections with information that pertains to your research.Then, copy and paste your informed consent into page 1 of your survey (questionsshould begin on page 2).

Informed Consent Template:

You have been asked to participate in a study on _______________. If you choose toparticipate, you will complete a questionnaire that will take about ___ minutes to complete.

Your answers to the surveys will be used in a Research Methods class. Students in the courseare learning to conduct original research, and your help will contribute to their learning.

Your participation is voluntary. You do not have to answer any questions you do not want toand you can stop answering questions at any time, for any reason.

All responses are anonymous. Your name is not recorded and will not be linked to yourresults in any way.

If you have questions about the research, please contact me at _______________.

Debriefing:

End each of your surveys with a debriefing statement. Create your debriefing statement using the template below. Simply replace thehighlighted sections with information that pertains to your research.Then, copy and paste your debriefing statement into the last page of your survey.

Debriefing Template:

Thank you for participating in this research. The purpose of this study is to_____________________. It is hypothesized that _________________.

If you have any questions, please contact me at: _____________________.

Putting It All Together:

You will create and administer your survey using Google Forms(https://www.google.com/forms/about/) . Before you start working, please review the lessonlater in this module on how to create response options.(https://canvas.pasadena.edu/courses/1131870/pages/apa-project-how-to-construct-your-closed-

2/4/23, 11:40 AM Topic: APA Project – Survey Construction & Administration – Discussion (Assignment #2)

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ended-response-options) When complete, your survey should have four pages/sections,organized in the following order:

1. Informed consent2. Demographic questions3. Survey questions4. Debriefing statement

Note: Please do not mark any of your questions as "required" as this prevents your instructorfrom reviewing your questions without participating.

Part II: Survey Administration

Once you have constructed your survey using Google Forms, share the link with yourclassmates by posting it in this discussion, by Tuesday at 11:59pm.

Next – Share the google link with 20 friends and family through social media so that you haveat least 20 responses to your survey.

Response Posts – Due Tuesday by 11:59pmPart III: Survey Participation & Feedback – First participate in at least 2 ofyour classmate's surveys then – 1. Provide feedback to at least two of your classmates. Please include the following in your

responses:Identify at least one strength and one weakness for the open-ended questions.Identify at least one strength and one weakness for the closed-ended questions.For each weakness, provide a possible solution.

These responses should incorporate your knowledge of survey construction -consider BRUSO and the cognitive model for responding to surveys whenevaluating and discussing what worked and what didn't.

Each response should be at least 6 sentences.

Note:

Your posts must be in your own words. Work that is not original will not receive credit. Your responses must be in college-level English.Please refer to the rubric for full scoring criteria.

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