Asking Questions - The Definitive Guide To Questionnaire Design ...

362 GLOSSARY
response effect A generalization of response bias to include different
responses to attitude questions that are caused by question
wording, context, and method of administration where no external
validity criteria are possible. For behavior questions, response effect
is synonymous with response bias. (See also bias, validity.)
response set The tendency of some respondents to answer all of a
series of questions in the same way, regardless of the differences in
content of the individual questions. For example, a respondent who
answered the first of a series of questions “Yes” or “Agree” might
answer all remaining questions the same way, particularly if the
items were ambiguous or not salient.
salience The importance of the topic or question to the respondent,
as indicated by the thought that has been given to it by the
respondent prior to the interview. Personal and family concerns are
generally more salient than public issues.
sample A portion of a larger population selected by some principle.
If the selection is done so that the probability of selection is known,
it is a probability sample. Inferences about the population can be
made, then, according to the principles of statistical inference. If the
sample is a nonprobability sample, the kinds of inferences you can
make about the population are open to question, because there is no
accepted theory of inferences about populations based on information
from nonprobability samples.
screening A questioning process, usually short, used to determine
whether respondents or households have certain characteristics
that would make them eligible for a full-scale interview. Examples
would be screens for given ages, incomes, or racial or ethnic groups
or for persons with large medical expenses.
sealed envelope or ballot See anonymous forms.
self-administered questionnaires Questionnaires that require respondents
to read or answer the questions themselves. These are
almost all paper-and-pencil forms currently, but computer use