My friend Marielli is doing some really interesting academic work that includes research into expats living here in Spain, and could really do with a hand on a quick survey if you are:
1. US American or British
2. 18 years of age or older
3. Currently living in Spain, US or UK
As Marielli says:
“This research will require you to participate in a brief online questionnaire that will take less than 10 minutes to complete. The survey touches on the dimensions that are described extensively in the work of Geert Hofstede and Michael Minkov. They deal with key issues in national societies, known from social anthropology and cross-cultural research. By participating in this study, you will help contribute to more data in the field of cross-cultural research.”
I’ve taken the survey, it’s quick, easy to complete, so do please help if you fit the bill.
Thanks! Ben
juanjo
11 May 09 at 11:00 am
I blew it!
)
As I used to tell my students “Read the effing question!” I read the question OK but not the scoring guide and intuitively scored things at the upper NUMERICAL level (3,4,5) rather than the required ORDINAL (1,2,3, etc). Qué tonto yo!
Sorry Marielli!
¡Ojo!
Chris
11 May 09 at 2:40 pm
I did the same thing the survey was definitely not intuitive. Ben / Marielli FYI / PTI I’m sure many other people made the same mistake, i.e. 5 is “Strongly Agree”whereas your survey / scale was opposite (1 was the most affirmative). After I submitted my survey I realized that my answers are flopped; I’m sure Juanjo and I are not alone. Also, not to nitpick but the survey didn’t read well nor did it seem that organized / well thought out. I think someone could sit down with this survey over a cafe con leche and make it significantly better.
Ben
11 May 09 at 3:01 pm
ahem, I think this is a case of ‘not reading the instructions’ – I found it to be totally intuitive!
Chris
11 May 09 at 3:27 pm
I can’t recall ever seeing a survey read 1 “Most Affirmative” and 5 “Least Affirmative.” By intuitive, I mean the scale reads Least to Most, corresponding to the numbers, i.e. 1 to 5. Neither Juanjo or myself read the instructions; I bet we’re not alone. I’m taking the time to comment so that Marielli can take this into consideration when looking at the results.
juanjo
11 May 09 at 4:42 pm
Having designed many such surveys, I know from bitter experience that it is a classic mistake for the design not to allow the degree of stupidity that can be displayed by people like me when completing the form. The numeral/ordinal confuson is a frequent problem
The saving grace is that I noticed my mistake before finishing the Survey and thus did not complete it which should remove it from the acceptable replies and thus not skew the results.
[BTW I have used Hostede's surveys before in teaching international management- they are usually very interesting.]
Marielli
11 May 09 at 10:29 pm
Dear all,
First of all, thank you very much for doing the survey, thus helping me with my research.
I want to provide some points for clarification:
First, if you have not clicked the Finished button yet, the answers can be changed.
Second, if you already clicked the Finished button and realized you had made a mistake, please send me an email to mariellicardona@estumail.ucm.es with your IP address. The IP address is my only identifier of the person who did the survey. By doing this I can delete the response and the survey can be taken again.
Third, creating surveys is a very difficult task. The complexities of the validity and reliability of creating a survey run deeper than simply writing questions. I could have written up a survey on my own, but the arduous task of constructing formulas for calculation among other necessary steps for a successful survey brought me to use a survey that has been tested worldwide.
This survey was created in 1982 and has been tested in 40 countries. Also there have been subsequent and updated versions of the survey over the course of time. The current version was released in January of 2008. The survey’s methodology and metrics are in place for a reason, despite the possible counter-intuitive appearance. For the reasons above, I decided not to change any of the questions due to the fact it’s copyrighted and is a great survey which is valid and reliable.
I will however forward your concerns to the Hofstede, et. al team as is the agreement for using the survey as I am sure it is not an infallible instrument and they welcome suggestions for improvement.
Thanks again for your participation,
Marielli
PS. Just in case (here’s how to get the IP address)
http://whatismyipaddress.com/
http://www.lasalle.edu/admin/it/portal/faqs/faq_ip_address.htm
juanjo
12 May 09 at 10:11 am
Thanks Marielli- I’ll try again!
)
juanjo
12 May 09 at 10:22 am
Did it OK this time!
)
Regarding difficulty of constructing surveys, at one time I worked on computerising the UK ten-year censuses. I asked why ten year gaps? The answer was it takes 5 years to decide on the questions and another 5 years to phrase them so that idiots like me can answer them without making silly mistakes and skewing the results!
)