The Video Engagement Scale (VES) is a quality indicator to assess engagement in experimental video-vignette studies, but its measurement properties warrant improvement. Data from previous studies were combined (N = 2676) and split into three subsamples for a stepped analytical approach. We tested construct validity, criterion validity,…

New materialisms have informed an array of creative methodologies, inviting scholars to rethink ethics in the practices of research with children. Participating in this rethinking, this study elaborates on ethical practices in creative research where new materialist and arts-based methodologies intra-act with children and the sensitivities of…

Two studies were conducted to investigate how self-ratings on questionnaire items reflect the underlying real-scores. Participants gave numerical information about personal attributes (the real-scores), such as age, height, and weight, and subsequently rated themselves regarding these attributes. In Study 1, they rated themselves on a five-point…

The literature provides multiple measures of diversity along a single demographic dimension, but when it comes to studying the interaction of multiple diversity types (e.g. age, gender, and race), the field of useable measures diminishes. We present the use of decision trees as a machine learning technique to automatically identify the…

Recruiting participants through gatekeepers has been widely discussed in qualitative research. However, when a sampling frame is not available, surveying through gatekeepers can also be important for quantitative studies. We used three sampling methods to survey guardians of University students: (a) a gatekeeper variant of the time-space sampling,…

One of the most commonly identified obstacles in the learning-teaching of quantitative material is statistics anxiety. Of the factors analysed in relation to statistics anxiety, age and gender have received a substantial proportion of the research focus. Yet there is limited work that systematically examines the possibility of an…

While many studies examine tools and techniques to improve survey response rates, it remains unclear as to which are effective, and response rates continue to decline. In this study, we examine the effect of four variables expected to influence mail survey response rates: (1) the use of semi-transparent envelopes versus ordinary paper envelopes…

Reflecting on one's positionality as a researcher is a critical element in qualitative studies. While there are various qualitative studies on the meaning of and the way positionality affects qualitative research practice, this research note examines the phenomenon as it applies to the author's doctoral study. Drawing from a collection of research…

This research note considers gendered risks within survey research, which, it argues, are a frequently overlooked aspect of this form of quantitative research. By reflecting on the process of conducting exit polls in South Africa, the research note highlights the importance of discussing the gendered practice of research and sexualized harassment…

Accurate census data is essential for a variety of government planning functions and plays an important methodological role in social science. This article responds to issues raised by Alice Sullivan concerning how the UK 2021 census will ask about sex and gender. The two-centuries-old question about male/female sex is not ideal, even with the new…

In this study, we investigate whether mobile device use in surveys can be predicted. We aim to identify possible motives for device use and build a model by drawing on theory from technology acceptance research and survey research. We then test this model with a Structural Equation Modeling approach using data of seven waves of the GESIS panel. We…

Introduction: Web-based epidemiologic surveys are being widely used, but still present lower response rates compared to traditional methods. Their design can influence survey response rates. Objective: Analyse the influence of questionnaire length, frequency of reminders, and the interaction between them, on the response rates of five web-based…

Online surveys are increasingly used to investigate health conditions, especially among young people. However, this methodology presents some limitations including item nonresponse concerning sensitive and knowledge-related questions. This study aimed to suggest latent class analysis as the methodology to statistically deal with item nonresponse…

This paper aims to explore the response-order effects for rating questions presented in item-by-item and grid formats. It was hypothesized that the primacy effect occurs for both formats of questions, and that this effect is dependent on age, education, and type of device used for responding to questions. Two randomized experiments were conducted…

The need to elicit public opinion about predefined topics is widespread in the social sciences, government and business. Traditional survey-based methods are being partly replaced by social media data mining but their potential and limitations are poorly understood. This article investigates this issue by introducing and critically evaluating a…