Wednesday, February 4, 2015

My ResearchGate questions

I've become a big fan of the social networking site ResearchGate.com. It's a great place to publicize your research, and follow the research of friends and colleagues. Lately, I've been using it as a place to post questions (and answer some) that otherwise would lead me down online rabbit holes looking for answers. If you're on ResearchGate you can see the questions I've posted, so this blog post is more for myself. I've posted so many (and on related topics), that I've decided it's easiest to list them here for my own reference. Otherwise I lose track of them, and I feel bad leaving a loose end and not saying thanks to those who have posted. Here they are in chronological order (roughly) and grouped by topic.

1) Interviewer-respondent interaction, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_your_favorite_books_and_papers_on_quantitative_statistical_analysis_in_sociolinguistics_or_psycholinguistics

2) Professional/career issues

CV
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_anyone_recommend_a_CV_category_for_edited_but_not_peer-reviewed_articles

Discipline v. Field 
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_difference_between_the_words_discipline_and_field

OneNote software
https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_to_make_OneNote_operate_more_efficiently

Reference management software
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Will_you_fill_out_my_survey_on_reference_management_software


3) Statistics generally (including data management)

Data analysis workflow
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Statistical_analysis_and_data_management_workflow

Data documentation
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_your_favorite_model_surveys_for_the_extensiveness_and_instructiveness_of_data_collection_and_or_data_analysis_documentation

Emacs
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Has_anyone_put_together_an_Emacs_starter_kit_for_social_scientists_like_Kieran_Healys_but_for_PC

MLM
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_your_favorite_contemporary_papers_on_multilevel_binary_and_multinomial_logistic_regression_with_survey_weighted_data

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Best_applied_statistics_books_on_nonlinear_mixed_models

p-values and multiple testing error
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_anyone_help_with_this_possible_misunderstanding_about_p-values_in_multiple_testing

Reliability analysis
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_the_proper_techniques_for_analyzing_reliability_of_categorical_variables_with_a_large_number_of_categories

Variable recoding
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_you_like_to_use_0_or_1_as_the_base_category_for_your_categorical_nominal_and_ordinal_variables

4) Bullying and peer victimization

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Has_anyone_conducted_a_survey_of_school_teachers_and_administrators_asking_about_how_they_develop_or_choose_their_bullying_prevention_programs

5) Nonresponse 

Participation request sequencing
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Within-household_interviews_Better_to_ask_for_more_upfront_or_later

Age and nonresponse
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_relationship_between_age_and_nonresponse_bias


6) Sexuality research

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Does_anyone_have_a_survey_collecting_sexual_orientation_data_on_teens_or_older_adults

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Are_gay_and_lesbian_people_less_likely_than_straight_people_to_report_their_sexual_orientation_in_surveys 


7) About ResearchGate itself

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Should_ResearchGate_develop_an_app_or_mobile_site


8) Surveying minors 

Parental consent
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_do_parents_refuse_to_let_their_teenage_kids_participate_in_surveys

Incentives
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_an_effective_amount_to_offer_a_teenager_13-18_to_do_a_15_min_phone_survey

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Sources for Survey Questions and Measures

[FYI: I've decided that posting my links lists via blog posts, and editing them as I find more links, is easier than putting them on a static website or using a link service like Diigo. This is my first attempt at that, so the list will be updated and may change shape in the future. I'll add links and take suggestions on display if you have any. Thanks in advance.]

There are a lot of places to find survey questions online. The main two sources are organized, searchable databases (sometimes by topic) and survey documentation websites (where you can view the questionnaires themselves). You can also find them scattered on websites, in publications, and other places. I always advise researchers to remember that they can design their own questions or modify existing ones, and the fact that a question has been used by other researchers doesn't essentially make it a good question (unless your sole purpose is replication).

Here are some of the question repositories and sites I've found most helpful (or recommended by others). Databases and static documentation sites are intermingled below, and sorted by topic when possible.

Descriptions to come as I have time and a chance to use them. Feel free to suggest additions.


General Demographic, Social, and Omnibus Survey, and Poll, Questions

American Community Survey Questionnaire Archive (U.S. Census Bureau)

European Social Survey (ESS) Questionnaire




ICPSR Web Site
We usually think of ICPSR as a data warehouse, but I've found that when you search their database you get question text with summaries of responses. So it serves dual purpose.

iPOLL Databank


A product of NCHS. Holds cognitive interview and pretesting results as well as question text.

Survey Monkey's International Question Bank | SurveyMonkey Blog






Health Survey Questions

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) State-Added Question Database
This is the best place to find state-added BRFSS questions by state and topic

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Questionnaires (CDC)


California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) Questionnaires

Cancer Questions from Grid-enabled Measures (GEM) Database

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) - Questionnaires

NQF: Quality Positioning System 
Used by hospitals for quality of care questions

Patient Reported Outcome Measurement System (PROMIS) Database

Health outcomes measures database sponsored by NIH. See more about PROMIS here 


SHADAC's State Reform Survey Item Matrix (SRSIM)
A well-designed Excel spreadsheet with question text from various states

Religion Survey Questions

Congregational Survey Question Bank

Sexuality Survey Questions

Questionnaire for Gay Sentiment Study

Sexual orientation questions on LGBTData.com
The most comprehensive resource for LGBT questions and data sources I've found yet.