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Using the Theory of Satisficing to Evaluate the Quality of Survey Data

Research in higher education, 2012-03, Vol.53 (2), p.182-200 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC ;Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 ;Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 ;ISSN: 0361-0365 ;EISSN: 1573-188X ;DOI: 10.1007/s11162-011-9251-2

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  • Title:
    Using the Theory of Satisficing to Evaluate the Quality of Survey Data
  • Author: Barge, Scott ; Gehlbach, Hunter
  • Subjects: Colleges ; Colleges & universities ; Correlations ; Critical thinking ; Data ; Data analysis ; Datasets ; Education ; Evaluation ; Higher Education ; Individualized Instruction ; Learner Engagement ; Polls & surveys ; Public opinion ; School surveys ; Statistical significance ; Student Surveys ; Survey data ; Surveys ; Theory ; Universities
  • Is Part Of: Research in higher education, 2012-03, Vol.53 (2), p.182-200
  • Description: Increasingly colleges and universities use survey results to make decisions, inform research, and shape public opinion. Given the large number of surveys distributed on campuses, can researchers reasonably expect that busy respondents will diligently answer each and every question? Less serious respondents may "satisfice," i.e., take shortcuts to conserve effort, in a number of ways—choosing the same response every time, skipping items, rushing through the instrument, or quitting early. In this paper we apply this satisficing framework to demonstrate analytic options for assessing respondents' conscientiousness in giving high fidelity survey answers. Specifically, we operationalize satisficing as a series of measurable behaviors and compute a satisficing index for each survey respondent. Using data from two surveys administered in university contexts, we find that the majority of respondents engaged in satisficing behaviors, that single-item results can be significantly impacted by satisficing, and that scale reliabilities and correlations can be altered by satisficing behaviors. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of identifying satisficers in routine survey analysis in order to verify data quality prior to using results for decision-making, research, or public dissemination of findings.
  • Publisher: Dordrecht: Springer
  • Language: English
  • Identifier: ISSN: 0361-0365
    EISSN: 1573-188X
    DOI: 10.1007/s11162-011-9251-2
  • Source: Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)
    Alma/SFX Local Collection
    ProQuest Central

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