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Sources of measurement differences in research

Sources of measurement differences in research

Answers

Faith
(a) The respondent: opinion differences that affect measurement come from relatively stable characteristics of the respondent e.g. employee status, ethnic group and social class. Temporary factors like fatigue, boredom, anxiety and other distractions also limit the ability to respond accurately and fully. Hunger, impatience or general variations in mood will also have an impact.
(b) The situational factors: any condition that places a strain on the interview or measurement session can have serious effects on the interviewer – respondent rapport. If another person is present, that person can distort responses by joining in, by distracting or by merely being present. If the respondents believe anonymity is not ensured, they may be reluctant to express certain feelings.
(c) The measurer: the interviewer can distort responses by re-wording, paraphrasing, or re-ordering questions. Stereotypes in appearance and action introduce bias. Inflections of voice or unconscious prompting with smiles and nods may encourage or discourage certain replies. Incorrect coding, careless tabulation and faulty statistical calculation may introduce further errors in data analysis.
(d) The data collection instrument: a defective instrument can cause distortion in two major ways:
• It can be too confusing and ambiguous e.g. the use of complex words, leading questions, ambiguous meanings, multiple questions.
• Leads to poor selection from the universe of content items. Seldom does the instrument explore all the potentially important issues.
Titany answered the question on October 21, 2021 at 12:50

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