Survey research - Reliability and validity in survey research

9 important questions on Survey research - Reliability and validity in survey research

How is reliability measured in survey research?

For multi-item measures with cronbach's slpha, >.7 is considered acceptable.

What are the two measurement validity threats to survey research?

  • Social desirability bias
  • Survey mode bias

How to solve the desirability problem in surveys?

--> Delibarately leading and/or loading the question to make the sensitve normal:
  • Everybody does it
  • Assuming the behavior (how often have you overeaten yourself in the past week)
  • Authorities recommend it
  • Reasons for doing it
  • Higher grades + faster learning
  • Never study anything twice
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
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How to improve measurement validity?

  • Expert input
  • Pilot testing

How to improve internal validity in survey research?

  • Include questions related to contol variables in your questionnaire


Controlling for a variable means including control variables along with independent and moderator variables in your regresiion analysis.

What is the threat to external validity in survey research?

Lack of resopnse, low response rate

When are low responses a problem?

When there is are systematic differences between the characteristics of respondents and non-respondents, and if such differences affect the findings

What is the solution for low respones?

Compare the characteristics from early respondents with those respondents who were the last to respond

How is the response rate calculated?

# of people that participated in the survey
divided by /
# of people sampled
(generally low, 10-15%)

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