Constructing an Online Survey: A Study Guide<\/p>\n
Creating an effective online survey involves understanding both the theoretical and practical aspects of survey design. This paper explores the process of developing a survey, focusing on the research question: “How does social media usage impact college students’ mental health?” The aim is to construct a survey that gathers reliable data while avoiding common pitfalls in question design.<\/p>\n
Literature Review
\nRecent studies have highlighted the complex relationship between social media use and mental health among college students. For instance, a study by Twenge et al. (2019) found a correlation between increased social media use and higher levels of anxiety and depression. Similarly, a meta-analysis by Huang (2020) suggested that excessive social media engagement might exacerbate feelings of loneliness. These findings underscore the importance of carefully crafted survey questions to explore this topic further.<\/p>\n
Survey Design Principles
\nUnderstanding Common Problems
\nBeretta (2014) identifies ten common issues in survey design, such as ambiguous wording and leading questions. Avoiding these pitfalls is crucial for obtaining valid responses. Additionally, the Pew Research Center emphasizes the importance of clear, well-specified questions and warns against double-barreled and double-negative questions, which can confuse respondents.<\/p>\n
Question Types and Order
\nSurveys should include a mix of open-ended and closed-ended questions. Open-ended questions allow for detailed responses, while closed-ended questions provide structured data. According to Harvard University’s Program on Survey Research (2007), using ordinal scales and ensuring all response options are covered is essential. Demographic questions should be placed at the end to prevent biasing responses to earlier questions.<\/p>\n
Survey Construction
\nSurvey Items
\nThe survey includes the following items:<\/p>\n
Categorical Item: “What is your primary social media platform?” (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
\nOrdinal Item: “On a scale from 1 to 5, how often do you feel anxious after using social media?”
\nOpen-Ended Item: “Describe how social media affects your daily mood.”
\nDemographic Item: “What is your age group?” (e.g., 18-24, 25-30)
\nPlatform Selection
\nGoogle Forms was chosen for its user-friendly interface and accessibility. The survey, titled “Social Media and Mental Health,” can be accessed here.<\/p>\n
Conclusion
\nConstructing a survey requires careful consideration of question design and order. By adhering to best practices, the survey aims to gather meaningful data on the impact of social media on mental health. This survey could be distributed to college students through university email lists to gather pilot data.<\/p>\n
References
\nBeretta, L. (2014). Top Ten Common Problems in Designing Effective Survey Questions.
\nHuang, C. (2020). Social network site use and loneliness: A meta-analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 102, 13-19.
\nPew Research Center. (n.d.). Questionnaire Design.
\nTwenge, J. M., Joiner, T. E., Rogers, M. L., & Martin, G. N. (2019). Increases in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among U.S. adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new media screen time. Clinical Psychological Science, 6(1), 3-17.<\/p>\n
=============<\/p>\n
In this lab, you will be constructing an online survey.<\/p>\n
To consider topics for your surveys:
\nFirst, read closely through the PSY 320: Online Survey Topics Download PSY 320: Online Survey Topics handout.
\nChoose one research question from one of the survey topics listed.
\nb. Find, read, and summarize previously published psychological science on the questions you selected.<\/p>\n
First, for the research question you\u2019ve selected, search an Article Database (PsyArticles, Google Scholar, EBSCO, etc) for relevant scientific articles
\nRemember you can also find related articles by examining the \u201cCited By\u201d tool and by examining an article\u2019s reference list.
\nSecond, identify three scientific articles that are most relevant
\nc. To become more informed about writing survey items:<\/p>\n
First, read Beretta\u2019s (2014) article, \u201cTop Ten Common Problems in Designing Effective Survey QuestionsLinks to an external site..\u201d Make sure you understand all ten problems Beretta describes \u2013 and you know how to avoid all ten problems.
\nSecond, read Pew Research Center\u2019s (no date) article, \u201cQuestionnaire DesignLinks to an external site..\u201d Make sure you understand
\nopen- versus closed-ended questions (the latter are what Science Buddies refers to as \u2018structured questions\u2019);
\nthe importance of asking questions that are clear and well-specified;
\nwhat double-barreled questions and double-negatives are (and how to avoid them);
\nwhat acquiescence bias and social desirability bias are (and how to avoid them);
\nfactors to consider in ordering your questions; and
\nthe importance of placing demographic items last.
\nThird, to appreciate the power of wording, look at Britain Elects\u2019 (2017) pair of tweetsLinks to an external site..
\nFifth, read Harvard University\u2019s Program on Survey Research (2007) \u201cTip Sheet on Question WordingLinks to an external site..\u201d Make sure you understand
\nhow to avoid technical jargon, vague or imprecise terms;
\nhow to avoid double-barreled questions (again!);
\nhow to avoid leading, emotional, or evocative language; and
\nhow to use ordinal scales, reference frames, and unique answer choices that cover all response options.
\nSixth, read Peters\u2019 (no date) article, \u201cHow to Design a SurveyLinks to an external site..\u201d Make sure you understand the differences between
\ncategorical (also known as nominal) and
\nordinal survey items (and survey responses).
\nd. Now it\u2019s time to apply everything you\u2019ve learned about writing survey items and write the items for your survey.<\/p>\n
For your survey, you must write no fewer than 5 and no more than 10 items.
\nFor your survey, you must include at least one and no more than two open-ended items (which count toward your total 5 to 10 total items per survey).
\nFor your survey, you must include
\nat least one categorical\/nominal survey item and
\nat least one ordinal survey item.
\nFor your survey, if you include demographic items, you must place them at the end (unless there\u2019s a good reason to place them earlier), and your demographic items count toward your total 5 to 10 total items of your survey.
\ne. Explore and then select one of the following (free) online survey platforms:<\/p>\n
SurveyMonkeyLinks to an external site.
\nQualtricsLinks to an external site.
\nGoogle FormsLinks to an external site.
\nLimeSurveyLinks to an external site. or
\nAlchemerLinks to an external site. (formerly named SurveyGizmo).
\nUsing the online survey platform you\u2019ve selected, create your survey. For the title of your survey, use your research topic (e.g., Multi-Tasking While Studying; Student Debt; Texting while Driving; Food Speed versus Food Quality).<\/p>\n
Write up and submit a brief APA format report in which you do all of the following:
\nProvide a link to your survey (using the title of your survey for the words that are linked).
\nWrite at least 200 words about what you learned about constructing your survey, including who you could submit this survey to in order to gather pilot data <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Constructing an Online Survey: A Study Guide Creating an effective online survey involves understanding both the theoretical and practical aspects of survey design. This paper explores the process…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[910,1738,1740,2128,326,116,2481,1354,1744],"tags":[2646,635,2648,2647],"class_list":["post-10147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-example-psychology-topics-ideas","category-help-me-with-social-psychology-assignment","category-online-psychology-assignment-answers","category-psychological-disorder-case-study-help","category-psychology","category-psychology-assignment-answers","category-psychology-essay-writing-service","category-psychology-essays","category-write-my-psychology-research-paper","tag-college-students","tag-mental-health","tag-social-media","tag-survey-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10148,"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10147\/revisions\/10148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homeworkacetutors.com\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}