Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Dependent Variable Survey Questions

Seminar students,

If you are planning on doing the survey methodology, consider including a 'pure' dependent variable question (or questions). Remember - you can't ask any personal questions about what your subjects have done or experienced, so you need to stick with perception and opinion questions. Here are some examples:

(1) How many youth would you say occasionally engage in delinquent acts (meaning they break the law)?
___1 in 10 ___1 in 50 ___1 in 100 ___1 in 250


(2) How many youth would you say repeatedly engage in delinquent acts?
___1 in 10 ___1 in 50 ___1 in 100 ___1 in 250

(3) How many youth would you say engage in serious, violent delinquency? 
  ___1 in 10 ___1 in 50 ___1 in 100 ___1 in 250

OR:

(4) How many sex offenders would you say reoffend (commit another sex crime) after they are released from prison? ___1 in 10 ___1 in 50 ___1 in 100 ___1 in 250

(5) How many sex offenders would you say reoffend - specifically, commit another non-sex crime such as shoplifting or using drugs - after they are released from prison?
___1 in 10 ___1 in 50 ___1 in 100 ___1 in 250

OR:

(6) How many youth would you say occasionally physically bully other kids (e.g., push, shove, punch)? ___1 in 10 ___1 in 50 ___1 in 100 ___1 in 250

(7) How many youth would you say frequently physically bully other kids?
___1 in 10 ___1 in 50 ___1 in 100 ___1 in 250

(8) How many youth would you say are occasionally physically bullied by other kids (e.g., pushed, shoved, punched)?
___1 in 10 ___1 in 50 ___1 in 100 ___1 in 250

(9) How many youth would you say are repeatedly physically bullied by other kids?
___1 in 10 ___1 in 50 ___1 in 100 ___1 in 250

This question could also be tweaked to ask about other bullying types (verbal, emotional). You could also ask a short, open-ended question that asks about what specific behaviors they think constitute "delinquency" or "bullying" (for instance). Example:

(10) How would you describe bullying? What type of behaviors constitute bullying? ______________________________________________________________________________

The type of behavior you ask about will obviously depend on what your research question is.

3 comments:

  1. It may be better to conduct a forum or live question and answer session in an open and less controlled environment, in order to show your community that you are committed to building their trust.
    Good Survey Questions

    ReplyDelete
  2. Is it recommended to ask the dependent variable question first or last? Or better yet, should I place it first and last to measure changes in the answer?

    ReplyDelete