Martyn Denscombe

Web-Based Questionnaires and the Mode Effect

Most methodological evaluations of web-based questionnaires have focused on the issues of sampling and response rates. Some have considered the issues of privacy and ethics. Relatively few have addressed the question of whether people provide different information depending on the mode of questionnaire delivery. This article contributes to this relatively overlooked aspect of the evaluation of web surveys. It presents initial findings from a survey that was designed to enable near-identical groups to respond to near-identical questionnaires delivered in different modes. Web-based questionnaires and paper-based questionnaires, used as part of a schoolbased study of young peoples health-related behavior, are compared in terms of (a) completion rates and (b) data contents. Issues surrounding the quality of data and the reliability of webbased questionnaires are discussed. It is concluded that, on the basis of the quantitative data from this survey, there is little evidence of a mode effect linked to web-based questionnaires.

Item non‐response rates: a comparison of online and paper questionnaires

Item non‐response rates are a significant factor affecting the quality of questionnaire data. This article looks at the impact that the mode of administration might have on item non‐response rates. Using closely matched groups of respondents (n = 466) it compares item non‐response rates for near‐identical versions of online and paper questionnaires. The research also analyses the difference between fixed‐choice and open‐ended questions in terms of their respective item non‐response rates. Findings from the research indicate that the administration of questionnaires online, while it might have relatively little impact on the item non‐response rates for fixed‐choice questions, would seem to reduce item non‐response rates where the questions are open‐ended and require respondents to provide unstructured text‐based answers.

Classroom Control: a Sociological Perspective

Preface. Introduction: A Sociological Perspective. 1. The Problem of Classroom Control. 2. Teacher Training. 3. School Organisation. 4. Classroom Strategies. 5. The Significance of Noise. 6. Pastoral Guidance. 7. Conclusion. References. Index.

Ethnicity and Friendship: the contrast between sociometric research and fieldwork observation in primary school classrooms

Abstract Sociometric research in racially mixed primary schools has revealed considerable ethnic bias in patterns of friendship choice. Teachers in such schools, however, tend to reject such research because the findings run contrary to their own experience. The teachers tend to perceive a considerable level of friendship and integration between pupils of different ethnic origins. This paper investigates the dissonance between teachers’ perceptions and the research results through a direct comparison of findings from two methods of “seeing what is really happening” in the classroom: sociometric testing and protracted fieldwork observation. The comparison of the two sets of findings highlights the inherent limitations of sociometric testing and points to those aspects of inter‐pupil contact that are likely to form the basis of teachers’ perceptions of the friendship choices of pupils.

The affect heuristic and perceptions of ‘the young smoker’ as a risk object

Young peoples perceptions of the health risks associated with smoking are explored with specific reference to the affect heuristic. It is argued that young peoples perceptions of the risks associated with smoking will be influenced by their feelings about those of their own age who smoke. ‘The young smoker’ is therefore treated as a risk object. Findings are based on a survey of 15–16 year olds in the East Midlands of England (n = 466). A range of feelings about ‘the young smoker’ were evident and these were broadly consistent with the risk discourse of contemporary health education. However, among those in this survey there was not a clear and unified affect towards the risk object and, indeed, there was a notable level of ambivalence and uncertainty in terms of feelings about ‘the young smoker’. Overall, there was a reluctance to demonise the young smoker or to project onto the young smoker the kind of negative aspects of risk (fear, loathing and dread) that would allow them to function in terms of ‘Otherness’. The implications of these findings are considered in the context of western society in the era of late modernity.

Research ethics and the governance of research projects: the potential of internet home pages

This paper explores the potential of research project Home Pages in relation to the growing need for good governance of research projects. In particular, the paper considers the benefits such web pages might have in terms of research ethics and argues that research project Home Pages can provide a very straightforward, practical means of addressing a number of ethical issues related to both on-line and off-line research. Limitations to the use of research project Home Pages are also discussed and conclusions are drawn about the value of establishing appropriately designed research project Home Pages as an integral component of social research protocols.