Tailored Design Method

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Tailored Design Method
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Social Exchange Theory

• Asking questions is a social exchange that is
  facilitated when
• Rewards are perceived as high
• Costs are perceived as low
• Trust is established

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Rewards for Responding

• Show positive regard
• Thank the respondent
• Ask for advice
• Support group values
• Provide incentives
• Make the questionnaire interesting
• Inform respondents that time to respond is limited

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Reduce Cost of Responding

• Avoid demanding language
• Avoid using language that respondents will not
  understand
• Include a stamped return envelope
• Make the questionnaire appear short and easy to
  respond to
• Do not ask for personal information that is not
  critical to the design of the study

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Establish Trust

• Provide a token of appreciation
• Secure sponsorship
• Put forth enough effort in constructing the
  survey to make the task appear important

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Designing Survey to Reduce Four Common Errors

• Sampling Error
• Coverage Error
• Measurement Error
• Non-response Error

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Research-based Findings

• Multiple contacts are needed to achieve a high
  response rate.
• Incentives increase response rates.
• Surveys that appear easy to complete yield higher
  response rates.

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Writing Questions

• The goal in writing questions is to construct
  items that respondents will be willing and able
  to answer.

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Classification of Item Types

• Format of the item
• Content of the item
• Topic of the items

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Format of the Item

• Open vs. Closed
• Middle position offered vs. omitted
• Filtered vs. unfiltered
• Balanced vs. unbalance
• Unbalance with/without substantive counter
  argument

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Example Open Questions

• What should be done to improve the attendance
  policy in this school?
• What factors explain the increased level of
  violence in schools?
• How many times during the last week did you eat
  in a restaurant with table service?

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Closed Questions with Ordered Choices

• The attendance policy in this school needs to be
  made more stringent?
• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

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Closed Question with Ordered Choices

• In general, how consistently do you think
  teachers in this building apply the attendance
  policy?
• Not at all consistently
• Somewhat consistently
• Very consistently

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Closed Question with Ordered Choices

• How often do you send students to the office
  because they are late to your class?
• Every day
• Three or four times a week
• One or two times a week
• Two or three times a month
• About once a month

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Closed Questions with Unordered Choices

• Which of the following actions would improve the
  attendance policy in our school?
• a. Uniform enforcement of the attendance policy
  by all teachers in the building
• b. Strong parental notification policies for
  tardiness
• c. Consistent enforcement of the attendance
  policy by administrators
• d. More liberal definitions of tardiness
• e. Stricter punishments for tardiness

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Partially Closed Question

• Why do you think the school had a low rate of
  attendance at the last parent meeting?
• The meeting conflicted with some other event
• The meeting was scheduled at a time when many
  parents were working
• There was no student program at the meeting
• The topic of the meetings was of low interest to
  parents
• Parents who work all day are unwilling to attend
  evening meetings
• Other reason ______________________________

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Middle Position

• Omitted Form
• In your opinion should penalties for using
  marijuana be more strict or less strict than they
  are now?
• Offered Form
• In your opinion should penalties for using
  marijuana be more strict, less strict, or about
  the same as they are now?

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Filtered Questions

• Filtered questions provide the respondent with an
  opportunity to indicate that he/she does not have
  the information needed to respond.

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Example of a Filtered Item

• Some teachers believe that out-of- school
  suspension is the only way to control some types
  of student behavior other teachers believe
  in-school-suspension works better while some
  teachers have not thought about it enough to have
  formed an opinion. What is your opinion?

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Fully Filtered Item

• I am going to ask your opinion about punishment
  for marijuana use. You may not have an opinion
  and that is fine. Just say I dont have an
  opinion.
• Do you favor or oppose stricter penalties for
  marijuana use or have you not formed an opinion
  about penalties for marijuana use?

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Examples of Balanced Question

• Do you favor or do you oppose the State Board of
  Educations recent decision to increase the
  number of science credits required for high
  school graduation?

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Example of Unbalanced Item

• Do you favor the Lawrence School Boards current
  recommendation to close Riverside School.

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Balanced with Counter Argument

• Some people believe that free and appropriate
  public education should be interpreted to mean
  tax dollars can be used to send children to
  private schools others disagree because they
  believe private schools foster separatist and
  elitist attitudes. Do you agree or disagree that
  free and appropriate public education means tax
  dollars can be used to send children to private
  schools?

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Classification of Questions

• Content Measured
• Knowledge
• Attitudes
• Behavior

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Nature of the Topic Measured by the Item

• Socially desirable/undesirable
• Threatening

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Socially Desirable Topics

• Topics are considered socially desirable if
  respondents believe they will be viewed
  positively if they respond in a particular way.
• A socially desirable attitude for teachers is I
  try to meet the needs of all of my students.

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Socially Undesirable Topics

• Attitudes or behaviors individuals do not want
  acknowledged even though they engage in the
  behavior or hold the attitude.
• Attitudes or behaviors individuals do not hold or
  engage in. They also dont want people to think
  they do.

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Threatening Topics

• Questions are threatening if the respondent
  thinks there is a right answer and they dont
  know what it is or they know what it is and dont
  endorse or practice it.
• A threatening item for teachers might be All
  students should be taught together in the same
  classrooms regardless of ability.

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Social Exchange Theory

• Asking questions is a social exchange that is
  facilitated when
• Rewards are perceived as high
• Costs are perceived as low
• Trust is established

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Designing Survey to Reduce Four Common Errors

• Sampling Error
• Coverage Error
• Measurement Error
• Non-response Error

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Research-based Findings

• Multiple contacts are needed to achieve a high
  response rate.
• Incentives increase response rates.
• Surveys that appear easy to complete yield higher
  response rates.