Previous research extensively studied reasons for and ways to avoid low response rates, but it largely ignored the primary research issue of the degree to which response rates matter, which we address. Methodological survey research on response rates has been concerned with how to increase responsiveness and with the effects of response rates on…

Nonresponse bias is a widely prevalent problem for data on education. We develop a ten-step exemplar to guide nonresponse bias analysis (NRBA) in cross-sectional studies and apply these steps to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011. A key step is the construction of indices of nonresponse bias based on proxy…

The exposure of scientific scandals and the increase of dubious research practices have generated a stream of studies on Questionable Research Practices (QRPs), such as failure to acknowledge co-authors, selective presentation of findings, or removal of data not supporting desired outcomes. In contrast to high-profile fraud cases, QRPs can be…

Scholars increasingly rely on indirect questioning techniques to reduce social desirability bias and item nonresponse for sensitive survey questions. The major drawback of these approaches, however, is their inefficiency relative to direct questioning. We show how to improve the statistical analysis of the list experiment, randomized response…

This article addresses the problem of estimating the proportion Pi[subscript S] of the population belonging to a sensitive group using optional randomized response technique in stratified sampling based on Mangat model that has proportional and Neyman allocation and larger gain in efficiency. Numerically, it is found that the suggested model is…

This case study provides an account of my experiences and lessons learned in designing and implementing a survey research. The research was part of my doctoral thesis in educational measurement and quantitative methods. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a Completely Structured Training compared with Partially Structured…

Survey research in education is a popular quantitative research design and is used to determine opinions, attitudes, behavior, habits, and perceptions on a wide variety of topics. While many people are familiar with survey methods, it is often used in a 'quick and dirty' way to get information. This case aims to describe some of the challenges of…

Using data from national socio-economic panel surveys in Australia, Britain and Germany, this paper analyzes the effects of individual preferences and choices on subjective well-being (SWB). It is shown that, in all three countries, preferences and choices relating to life goals/values, partner's personality, hours of work, social participation…

Results of two studies indicate that the way in which Likert scale data are scored can make a difference when statistical significance tests are used. The studies raise a number of questions about the use of Likert scales in communication research. (GT)

A popular abbreviated version of the Marital Conceptualization Scale (MCS) was administered along with other measures of conventionality to 181 married couples. Correlational analysis failed to confirm the construct validity of the MCS as defined by the instrument's author. The investigators proposed renaming the response set "marital social…

Discusses recent protest concerning the conduct of survey research. (SL)

Survey data concerning teacher education program graduates were used to demonstrate the advantages of a stratified random sampling approach, with followup, relative to a one-shot mailing to an entire population. Sampling issues involved in such an approach are addressed, particularly with regard to quantifying the effects of nonresponse on the…

In this revised version of ED 127 248, the author has re-evaluated response data from a survey of 1680 selected engineering freshmen at 42 schools. The survey was an effort to identify distinguishing characteristics of the increasing numbers of women entering engineering programs. Respondents, who included men and women, were asked to give…

In an effort to identify distinguishing characteristics of the increasing numbers of women entering engineering programs, a survey was made of 1,680 selected engineering freshmen at 42 schools. The 230-question survey required male and female students to respond to multiple-choice items covering their family and educational background, study…