Survey Says...

Maeniel · Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 1052 Location: Next to Waldo

Hey gang! I need mondo help. We're conducting research for class, and we need a lot of responses! This is a survey for people living in America between the ages of 18 and 25. It's about insurance--but I'm sure that won't deter you, will it? Wink

It's 10 completely anonymous questions, and I'd REALLY appreciate any help I can get! Smile

LINKY

On a related note, (completely not anything that I need for class, but rather to justify an entirely new thread Razz

) what are your views on insurance? Do you even really need it, or is it just a big scam?
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Tinalles · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:03 pm Post subject:

Well, I'm in America, but outside the specified age range. Too bad.

And ... what kind of insurance? There are a lot of different types you know. Car insurance, damage-during-shipping insurance, renter's insurance, home-owner's insurance, life insurance, health insurance, liability insurance, retirement insurance ... the list goes on.
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thespaceinvader · Joined: 23 Mar 2008 Posts: 650 Location: Cardiff, UK

How do you plan on limiting respondents to the desired group?

Your study is not rigorous...
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Maeniel · Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 1052 Location: Next to Waldo

Space: There's a question on age and a question on what state you live in. anybody who doesn't put in a real state or enters a number between 18 and 25 gets their answers thrown out. I suppose people could forge those...but we have to rely on people's honesty. No it's not a rigorous study, but it'll give us what we need. (I didn't create it. I just need to distribute it.)

Tin: We're looking at car insurance and renter's insurance specifically. I think renter's insurance is really interesting because it's LIKE homeowner's insurance in that it covers you if something gets stolen--but it'll cover something like your laptop if it gets stolen outside of the place you're renting. It also covers anybody who gets hurt in the place you rent, and anything of THEIRS that gets broken/damaged at your place. Pretty nifty. Of course, that kind of coverage depends on what company you choose etc...but I think most of that is covered in basic renter's insurance.
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Tinalles · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:33 pm Post subject:

Hmm. Well, I've never owned a car, so I've never had car insurance other than getting added to my parents' car insurance when I was a teen. So I don't really know anything about that.

As for renter's insurance - never had that either. I thought about it at one point down in Austin, but although it was pretty cheap, I came to the conclusion I couldn't afford it, and went without for five years.

So there you go! ^_^
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Asa · Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:35 pm Post subject:

Well, I took your survey, but I don't have a car, don't pay for expenses, and am a complete dependent on my parents. Sorry for throwing your data. ^_^ I like doing things like that, though, so...

There was once a grad student who came into my psych class and handed out a survey for us to fill out to help her gather data for her thesis whatever. It was all about... hmm...adult activities, and how young you were when you started, and frequency, etc. I won't go into details, but her questions were heavily statistically biased, and I bet I really threw a wrench in her data. I get tickles still thinking about it. Asa the Outlier. ^_^

I mean, really. "Male, Female, or Other"? A lot of her questions were along the same lines of "When did you stop beating your wife?"
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Tinalles · Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:18 am Post subject:

If there's one thing that basically everybody lies about, it's "adult activities". That would account for the "when did you stop beating your wife" type questions: they were likely sanity-check questions designed to help reveal which respondents lied (or "exaggerated") their responses to earlier questions.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the grad student told you she was studying "adult activities" when in fact she was actually studying something entirely different. It's a standard and well-accepted practice in social science research to lie to the participants about what the subject of the study is. People want to please the researcher, and so they will give the answers they think the researcher wants, which automatically produces an skewed, unrepresentative response. Concealing the purpose of the study from the participants (and often from the people who actually administer the survey/test/whatever) helps eliminate that.
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Maeniel · Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 1052 Location: Next to Waldo

Asa · Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 9:32 am Post subject:

Well, no, not in this case. perhaps people did, but I didn't, and the bias was a complete lack of "never" or "zero" options. Made it kinda hard to answer questions. Maybe she was studying something else, but I can't imagine what. Her questions were pretty one-track.
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Keeper of the Library and the Gateway to Haven

Nem: "It's the sort of face you just know is getting ready to poke you with something sharp."
BS: "...then insist you eat a brownie."
__________________
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Think but this and all is mended...
Give me your hands if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

Nem · Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 2108 Location: England

Hmm, Nem thinks most studies like that are more about finding the data to back the researcher's politics up rather than finding, 'the truth.' >_>
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Asa · Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 10:22 am Post subject:

Mane ninja'd me - my post was in reply to Tin. Mane, I took it to mean one's physical shape, which we've labelled male and female. I know some people identify with the other one, but there's still only two. The likelihood of a college sophmore being a hermaphrodite is vanishingly small, so... one or the other. That was my point.

Nem, I'm almost positive you're right. The nature of her questions was biased, as I said - she was looking for proof that all teenagers are active, and have been for years.
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Self-styled Forum Grandmother, because I hand out nicknames and hugs whether you want them or not. ^_^

Keeper of the Library and the Gateway to Haven

Nem: "It's the sort of face you just know is getting ready to poke you with something sharp."
BS: "...then insist you eat a brownie."
__________________
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended...
Give me your hands if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

spellingmistax · Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:10 am Post subject:

This post is currently undergoing editing, it has been removed for the benefit of those who enjoy reading correctly written/spelled English. I will repost it when I finish editing. Anthrax apologizes for the necessity of this.
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while Udina asked the usual inane civilian things that came about while under attack: "What's happening? Who is shooting at us? I'm squishy and not wearing armor and I'm a liability, get me to safety, etc.
dubbed Anthrax by Asa
Spellingmistax = mistax = ax = anthrax

Asa · Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:26 am Post subject:

Oh help, your post is killing me.

I think that simply by the fact we use language, it biases questions one way or another. I suppose you could say, "Do you want an industrial park next to your home," but that in its stark simplicity gives a negative connotation.
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Self-styled Forum Grandmother, because I hand out nicknames and hugs whether you want them or not. ^_^

Keeper of the Library and the Gateway to Haven

Nem: "It's the sort of face you just know is getting ready to poke you with something sharp."
BS: "...then insist you eat a brownie."
__________________
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended...
Give me your hands if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

spellingmistax · Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:44 am Post subject:

I can delete it if it helps.

The examples given where extreme, and it is possible that an entire questioner can be written in a bias manner, with no single question being obviously bias. While there are very few areas where there is no bias, it is possible to limit it when writing a survey.
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"He gave you a life and you should cherish that treasure." - Benny

while Udina asked the usual inane civilian things that came about while under attack: "What's happening? Who is shooting at us? I'm squishy and not wearing armor and I'm a liability, get me to safety, etc.
dubbed Anthrax by Asa
Spellingmistax = mistax = ax = anthrax

Asa · Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 1:01 pm Post subject:

*covers eyes and waves hand blindly* No, don't delete it, just... fix it!

Sorry, my love affair with English is coming to the fore. I'll try to restrain myself in future. *shudders*

Okay. There's unconscious bias, and then there's 'I'm looking for a specific answer and nothing will stop me' bias. For example, Mane's survey has what amounts to unconscious bias, because it assumed possession of car insurance - but for the most part he also had the 'does not apply' option, which allowed out of the bind. So it was a simple survey, and I presume it does its job.
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Self-styled Forum Grandmother, because I hand out nicknames and hugs whether you want them or not. ^_^

Keeper of the Library and the Gateway to Haven

Nem: "It's the sort of face you just know is getting ready to poke you with something sharp."
BS: "...then insist you eat a brownie."
__________________
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended...
Give me your hands if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.