SYA4300 Final Exam With
Complete Solution
Secondary data - Answer data or raw information collected by other researchers versus
primary data collected for a specific purpose by a researcher.
Benefits of Secondary Data - Answer -Availability of information
-Opportunities for replication
-Protection of participants
-Time effectiveness
-Cost effectiveness
-Large data sets
Availability of information - Answer Allows use of data that may have since become
impossible to collect
Ex: Emile Durkheim used secondary data to examine government statistics on suicide
from different countries.
Opportunities for Replication (two ways) - Answer Through primary data collection
similar to the original study but with different
populations and in a different location
Through use of secondary data to which we add additional information, in some cases
from the original study participants, that may be missing from the original study
Protection of Participants - Answer Useful with sensitive populations of interest
Ex: a researcher interested in conducting research with victims of childhood abuse can
gather secondary data such as through police reports
Time Effectiveness - Answer Collecting primary data requires a great deal of time
Collecting quantitative and qualitative data can take a few months to a
few years, particularly for larger studies
Secondary data eliminates the time and effort involved with primary data collection
Cost Effectiveness - Answer Primary data collection can be costly and often requires a
large budget
,Primary data collection costs include funds for tools, participant incentives,
and so on
These costs are not present when working with secondary data
Large Data Sets - Answer In secondary data the researcher is able to use large amounts
of data (e.g., census data)
Large data sets also allow the researcher the ability to generalize his or her findings to
the population at large
Data Scraping - Answer A method by which researchers extract large amounts of
information from websites (e.g., social media and media sites) into a readable
spreadsheet (e.g., Excel)
Major Sources of Secondary Data - Answer -Government statistics (e.g., Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes for Health)
-Research University Data (e.g., Panel Study of Income Dynamics, data collected by a
specific researcher)
-Institutional Data (e.g., institutional information on students, staff, and other
employees)
-Online Sources (e.g., Facebook and Twitter)
-Popular data sources (e.g., Driven Data, Kaggle, and Enigma)
Disadvantages of Secondary Data - Answer -Uncertainty of constructs
-Ambiguity of measurement error
-Passage of time
Uncertainty of constructs - Answer The original study focus may be different from your
study focus
Ambiguity of measurement error - Answer With secondary data, you may not be aware
of all the details of the study
procedures
Passage of time - Answer -The information may be outdated (e.g., census data is
collected once every 10 years).
-This is both a limitation and a strength if one is interested in studying how a concept
has changed over time.
Secondary Data and Ethical Considerations - Answer Though a researcher using
secondary data does not interact with the study participants ethical concerns are still
,important to consider
----Consider the ethical decisions made in the original study
----Consider how much information you intend to reveal in your study and be responsible
for protecting the identities of your participants
Experimental Research - Answer In experimental research, a group is exposed to a
variable of study (e.g., testing a new drug or trying out an intervention)
Need to assess whether any changes observed in the experimental group are due to the
experimental condition
Ethical Considerations - Answer -When conducting experimental research be vigilant
about ethical issues
-Treat participants with respect
-Notify participants about risks
-Obtain consent to participate
Quasi-Experimental Research - Answer Experimental designs, namely our ability to
randomly assign participants to control and experimental groups, are not possible in
every context
Collecting Data Through Questionnaires - Answer -Conducting surveys is a common
procedure for data collection particularly in social science
-A survey refers to the method of data collection
-A questionnaire is the instrument containing the questions
Untested questionnaires = - Answer non-standardized survey questionnaires
Tested questionnaires = - Answer standardized survey questionnaires (e.g., math,
writing or reading tests we complete in school)
NSSQ often measure vars that have not been tested extensively - Answer -Hard to
indicate questionnaire's reliability or validity for this case we say results indicate face
validity
-Would need to report as a limitation in results section of a peer-reviewed article
Collecting Data Through Questionnaires (cont.) - Answer -Designing questionnaires is a
skill that takes time to develop
-Nine steps to follow when creating survey questionnaires
Designing Questionnaires: Step 1 - Answer Develop a list of constructs
, ---Examine your hypothesis and develop a list of constructs to be measured
---For example: If we hypothesize gender influences college students' choice of major,
then gender is one construct and major is another. Other constructs of interest may be
race, age, parental education, and so on
Designing Questionnaires: Step 2 - Answer Determine how each construct will be
accurately measured in question form
--Search for established instruments measuring these constructs (e.g., census data,
Centers for Disease Control questionnaires, etc.)
--Examine the literature to find examples of other constructs
--Review the appropriateness of the instruments based on your research goals and the
appropriateness of the instrument for your sample
Designing Questionnaires: Step 3 - Answer Think of all possible answers to these
questions
--Some questions will be simple
--Answers should always be mutually exclusive (e.g., when answer choices do not
overlap with each other)
Designing Questionnaires: Step 4 - Answer Avoid misleading, socially desirable,
double-barreled questions or overly technical terms
--Word questions clearly
--Be grammatically correct
--Avoid leading or biased language
--Technical terms can confuse participants
--Avoid double-barreled questions (i.e., ask about multiple concepts in one question but
only allow one answer)
--Consider the language literacy needs of your population
Designing Questionnaires: Step 5 - Answer Organization that attracts and holds
participant attention
--Consider the ordering of questions in your survey (e.g., combine all the
demographic questions at the end after the "attention-grabbing" questions)
--Follow a logical continuity (e.g., group all religiosity questions together)
--Be careful about using only scale measurements (i.e., strongly agree, over very
Complete Solution
Secondary data - Answer data or raw information collected by other researchers versus
primary data collected for a specific purpose by a researcher.
Benefits of Secondary Data - Answer -Availability of information
-Opportunities for replication
-Protection of participants
-Time effectiveness
-Cost effectiveness
-Large data sets
Availability of information - Answer Allows use of data that may have since become
impossible to collect
Ex: Emile Durkheim used secondary data to examine government statistics on suicide
from different countries.
Opportunities for Replication (two ways) - Answer Through primary data collection
similar to the original study but with different
populations and in a different location
Through use of secondary data to which we add additional information, in some cases
from the original study participants, that may be missing from the original study
Protection of Participants - Answer Useful with sensitive populations of interest
Ex: a researcher interested in conducting research with victims of childhood abuse can
gather secondary data such as through police reports
Time Effectiveness - Answer Collecting primary data requires a great deal of time
Collecting quantitative and qualitative data can take a few months to a
few years, particularly for larger studies
Secondary data eliminates the time and effort involved with primary data collection
Cost Effectiveness - Answer Primary data collection can be costly and often requires a
large budget
,Primary data collection costs include funds for tools, participant incentives,
and so on
These costs are not present when working with secondary data
Large Data Sets - Answer In secondary data the researcher is able to use large amounts
of data (e.g., census data)
Large data sets also allow the researcher the ability to generalize his or her findings to
the population at large
Data Scraping - Answer A method by which researchers extract large amounts of
information from websites (e.g., social media and media sites) into a readable
spreadsheet (e.g., Excel)
Major Sources of Secondary Data - Answer -Government statistics (e.g., Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes for Health)
-Research University Data (e.g., Panel Study of Income Dynamics, data collected by a
specific researcher)
-Institutional Data (e.g., institutional information on students, staff, and other
employees)
-Online Sources (e.g., Facebook and Twitter)
-Popular data sources (e.g., Driven Data, Kaggle, and Enigma)
Disadvantages of Secondary Data - Answer -Uncertainty of constructs
-Ambiguity of measurement error
-Passage of time
Uncertainty of constructs - Answer The original study focus may be different from your
study focus
Ambiguity of measurement error - Answer With secondary data, you may not be aware
of all the details of the study
procedures
Passage of time - Answer -The information may be outdated (e.g., census data is
collected once every 10 years).
-This is both a limitation and a strength if one is interested in studying how a concept
has changed over time.
Secondary Data and Ethical Considerations - Answer Though a researcher using
secondary data does not interact with the study participants ethical concerns are still
,important to consider
----Consider the ethical decisions made in the original study
----Consider how much information you intend to reveal in your study and be responsible
for protecting the identities of your participants
Experimental Research - Answer In experimental research, a group is exposed to a
variable of study (e.g., testing a new drug or trying out an intervention)
Need to assess whether any changes observed in the experimental group are due to the
experimental condition
Ethical Considerations - Answer -When conducting experimental research be vigilant
about ethical issues
-Treat participants with respect
-Notify participants about risks
-Obtain consent to participate
Quasi-Experimental Research - Answer Experimental designs, namely our ability to
randomly assign participants to control and experimental groups, are not possible in
every context
Collecting Data Through Questionnaires - Answer -Conducting surveys is a common
procedure for data collection particularly in social science
-A survey refers to the method of data collection
-A questionnaire is the instrument containing the questions
Untested questionnaires = - Answer non-standardized survey questionnaires
Tested questionnaires = - Answer standardized survey questionnaires (e.g., math,
writing or reading tests we complete in school)
NSSQ often measure vars that have not been tested extensively - Answer -Hard to
indicate questionnaire's reliability or validity for this case we say results indicate face
validity
-Would need to report as a limitation in results section of a peer-reviewed article
Collecting Data Through Questionnaires (cont.) - Answer -Designing questionnaires is a
skill that takes time to develop
-Nine steps to follow when creating survey questionnaires
Designing Questionnaires: Step 1 - Answer Develop a list of constructs
, ---Examine your hypothesis and develop a list of constructs to be measured
---For example: If we hypothesize gender influences college students' choice of major,
then gender is one construct and major is another. Other constructs of interest may be
race, age, parental education, and so on
Designing Questionnaires: Step 2 - Answer Determine how each construct will be
accurately measured in question form
--Search for established instruments measuring these constructs (e.g., census data,
Centers for Disease Control questionnaires, etc.)
--Examine the literature to find examples of other constructs
--Review the appropriateness of the instruments based on your research goals and the
appropriateness of the instrument for your sample
Designing Questionnaires: Step 3 - Answer Think of all possible answers to these
questions
--Some questions will be simple
--Answers should always be mutually exclusive (e.g., when answer choices do not
overlap with each other)
Designing Questionnaires: Step 4 - Answer Avoid misleading, socially desirable,
double-barreled questions or overly technical terms
--Word questions clearly
--Be grammatically correct
--Avoid leading or biased language
--Technical terms can confuse participants
--Avoid double-barreled questions (i.e., ask about multiple concepts in one question but
only allow one answer)
--Consider the language literacy needs of your population
Designing Questionnaires: Step 5 - Answer Organization that attracts and holds
participant attention
--Consider the ordering of questions in your survey (e.g., combine all the
demographic questions at the end after the "attention-grabbing" questions)
--Follow a logical continuity (e.g., group all religiosity questions together)
--Be careful about using only scale measurements (i.e., strongly agree, over very
