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Investigating mechanisms of social desirability bias in self-administered surveys
This dissertation addresses social desirability bias, also known as socially desirable responding (SDR), a tendency of some respondents to provide responses they consider to be socially favorable. Though SDR declines in self-administered modes, the mechanisms behind SDR in self-administered modes are not fully understood. To improve the understanding of SDR in a self-administered setting, this dissertation aims to empirically investigate the effects of survey attributes and has three-fold objectives: First, to examine whether introduction interest, survey topic, survey sponsor, and perceived topic sensitivity prompt a systematic tendency to choose socially desirable response categories; second, to examine whether the order in which the response categories are presented precipitates the tendency to choose socially desirable response categories; and finally, to investigate whether the increment of item-related sensitivity prompts the tendency to SDR. To achieve the first two objectives, primary data were collected through a 2×2×2 online survey experiment from Hacettepe University students, with a sample size of 386. To achieve the third objective, a combination of primary and secondary data was used. The secondary dataset used in the dissertation is from the 2012 Argentina Global School-Based Students Health survey with a sample size of 28,368. Respondents who perceived the survey topic as sensitive marginally tended more to choose socially desirable response categories but the survey topic and sponsor are insignificant. Intriguingly, respondents who rated the survey introductory statement interesting demonstrated more tendency to SDR. The response order effect was significant and socially desirable response categories were more frequently chosen when they appeared first on the list. Also, responding in the socially desirable direction intensified as the sensitivity of survey items increased, and respondents with more missing responses tended to respond in the socially desirable direction.
The methodological contributions of time use survey to measure the work-life balance
The aim of this study is to understand the methodological contributions of Time Use Survey diary data for measuring work-life balance in Turkey. For comparison, other data sources were selected according to the criteria of having national estimates, conducted by official institutions that use scientific methods for collecting data, conducted in similar time with Time Use Survey (2014-2015) and that include questions about social life, sports, family life, unpaid work, paid work and time intensity which are the components of work-life balance. Methodological comparisons of time use survey diaries and other data sources were made for every stage of quantitative researches. All indicators on work-life balance including recommended ones by UNECE and OECD were produced by the data sources and the results were compared in a methodological manner under the headings of paid work, unpaid work, leisure time and time intensity. The disadvantages of Time Use Survey are that it's a costly survey, respondent load and workload is very high, it's conducted infrequently. An irregular or infrequent activity may not seem in the diaries and there is the possibility of respondent not to record all activities in diaries. But its advantages are suppressing disadvantages. Time use survey produces data of higher quality and reveals better the gender inequality than the other data sources due to its different survey methodology. Furthermore, by time use survey data it's possible to obtain large number of work-life balance indicators by the matrix structure of the diaries with contextual variables. Total workload was one of the key indicator that only from time use survey data it could be produced and employed women were found to have the most workload due to much time is spent on unpaid work in addition to their paid work durations opposite of the situation in men. Thus, it's recommended for the decision makers to benefit from time use survey data for developing new policies on work-life balance in Turkey.
The methodological contributions of time use survey to measure the work-life balance
The aim of this study is to understand the methodological contributions of Time Use Survey diary data for measuring work-life balance in Turkey. For comparison, other data sources were selected according to the criteria of having national estimates, conducted by official institutions that use scientific methods for collecting data, conducted in similar time with Time Use Survey (2014-2015) and that include questions about social life, sports, family life, unpaid work, paid work and time intensity which are the components of work-life balance. Methodological comparisons of time use survey diaries and other data sources were made for every stage of quantitative researches. All indicators on work-life balance including recommended ones by UNECE and OECD were produced by the data sources and the results were compared in a methodological manner under the headings of paid work, unpaid work, leisure time and time intensity. The disadvantages of Time Use Survey are that it's a costly survey, respondent load and workload is very high, it's conducted infrequently. An irregular or infrequent activity may not seem in the diaries and there is the possibility of respondent not to record all activities in diaries. But its advantages are suppressing disadvantages. Time use survey produces data of higher quality and reveals better the gender inequality than the other data sources due to its different survey methodology. Furthermore, by time use survey data it's possible to obtain large number of work-life balance indicators by the matrix structure of the diaries with contextual variables. Total workload was one of the key indicator that only from time use survey data it could be produced and employed women were found to have the most workload due to much time is spent on unpaid work in addition to their paid work durations opposite of the situation in men. Thus, it's recommended for the decision makers to benefit from time use survey data for developing new policies on work-life balance in Turkey.
The methodological contributions of time use survey to measure the work-life balance
The aim of this study is to understand the methodological contributions of Time Use Survey diary data for measuring work-life balance in Turkey. For comparison, other data sources were selected according to the criteria of having national estimates, conducted by official institutions that use scientific methods for collecting data, conducted in similar time with Time Use Survey (2014-2015) and that include questions about social life, sports, family life, unpaid work, paid work and time intensity which are the components of work-life balance. Methodological comparisons of time use survey diaries and other data sources were made for every stage of quantitative researches. All indicators on work-life balance including recommended ones by UNECE and OECD were produced by the data sources and the results were compared in a methodological manner under the headings of paid work, unpaid work, leisure time and time intensity. The disadvantages of Time Use Survey are that it's a costly survey, respondent load and workload is very high, it's conducted infrequently. An irregular or infrequent activity may not seem in the diaries and there is the possibility of respondent not to record all activities in diaries. But its advantages are suppressing disadvantages. Time use survey produces data of higher quality and reveals better the gender inequality than the other data sources due to its different survey methodology. Furthermore, by time use survey data it's possible to obtain large number of work-life balance indicators by the matrix structure of the diaries with contextual variables. Total workload was one of the key indicator that only from time use survey data it could be produced and employed women were found to have the most workload due to much time is spent on unpaid work in addition to their paid work durations opposite of the situation in men. Thus, it's recommended for the decision makers to benefit from time use survey data for developing new policies on work-life balance in Turkey.
"Moving beyond qualitative and quantitative methods": Experimenting sequential mixed methods while studying spirituality
Researchers in social sciences often choose from qualitative, quantitative or mixed research methods while working on empirical research projects. It is often argued that in mixed methods designs, bias or weaknesses that are associated with a particular approach are expected to be balance each other (Creswell, 2013, p. 18-19). As mixed research methods blends quantitative and qualitative methods while studying the same event to be able to get a fuller understanding of the issue, mixed methods researches usually result in more profound findings because of "methodological pluralism" or "eclecticism" manifests (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004, p. 14). This study aims to discuss and present potentials that combine qualitative and quantitative methods. To be able to examine the argument above, issues regarding the design and major components of basic sequential mixed methods studies are discussed throughout this writing. Those issues may be summarized as decisions about the model and priority of methods, mixed methods sampling, timing, order, and sequence in different stages of the research as well as the issues related to the integration of both methods and databases. To carry out this discussion, this thesis will provide the necessary arguments and definitions in the literature on methodological challenges of mixed methods approach in addition to theoretical framework for the illustrative research which is designed to study "spirituality". As spirituality is a hard-to-grasp and rather sensitive subject with relatively small study population available, different aspects of mixed methods approach seemed to be suitable to reflect on it. Thus, this writing will be able to provide examples and illuminate the steps of sequential mixed methods researches and providing a discussion that is beyond theoretical. Combining different elements of these established methods and considering the solitary advantages, this research project will try to test the argument presented as well as the necessary design steps along the way.
Nonparametric statistical matching methods: An application on household surveys in turkey
The use of administrative registers and sample surveys together in estimation process has a significant effect on increasing the accuracy of statistical information and reducing the response burden, time, cost and labour. However, this requires integration of data sources. Record linkage and statistical matching are two techniques improved for data integration. Record linkage is a method used when there is a perfect agreement between indicators. If there is no such variable in the data set but there are some common variables and samples of the surveys refer to same target population then statistical matching is used. Common variables between surveys are used as matching variables and fused data sets are obtained using different matching approaches such as parametric, non-parametric and mixed. Aim of this dissertation was to apply different non-parametric statistical matching methods on household based sample surveys and compare their results regarding similarity of variables' distributions. 2014-2015 Time Use Survey of Turkey and 2014 Life Satisfaction Survey of Turkey were used in the implementation. Three non-parametric hot deck methods named as nearest neighbour distance, random and rank hot deck were used in the matching with their constrained and unconstrained versions.For each method, fused data sets were obtained using four different combinations of matching variables and four target variables. Comparisons were made both between methods, and within methods; through changes in applications for each specific method. It was found that results vary according to bothmatching variables and target variables.Moreover, contrary to expectations, constrained hot deck did not provide better result. Key words: Statistical matching, non-parametric hot deck, constrained and unconstrained hot deck
Evaluation of the use of content analysis in graduate theses
Qualitative content analysis has started to be used more in the recent years, especially in the last decade. This trend exists in Turkey as well. It can be said the method was founded in 1952 by Berelson, when his book Content Analysis in Communication Research was published. In this book, Berelson defined content analysis as a quantitative research technique. Criticisms arose shortly after, with Kracauer being the first critique. In the same year, Kracauer (1952) published an article titled The Challenge of Qualitative Content Analysis, in which he rejected content analysis being labeled as quantitative, and declared that the method, in fact, is a qualitative technique. The debate about if content analysis is quantitative or qualitative has been going on about since then, and content analysis has been studied methodologically as well as being used as a research technique. The motivation of this study is to identify the process and characteristics of qualitative content analysis. The aims of this study are, first, to contribute to the methodology literature in Turkey and, second, to explain how the technique is conducted and, if there is any, to overcome the misunderstandings about it. In this study, qualitative content analysis is used as the research technique. First, with literature review, it is aimed to understand the background of content analysis, where it is used, and how qualitative content analysis is conducted. With qualitative content analysis, it is aimed to identify the characteristics of the technique. For this aim, Master's and PhD theses which are written in Turkey and used qualitative content analysis in their studies are analyzed. The theses are selected from Council of Higher Education's online Thesis Center through consecutive unit type purposive sampling. There are 27 Master's and 15 PhD theses in the sample. After conducting qualitative content analysis on the sample, it is found that there is confusion about how to conduct qualitative content analysis. To overcome this confusion, some pathways are offered about conducting qualitative content analysis for researchers to reveal the difficulties related with the technique.
The contribution of rapport between interviewer and respondent on interview quality from non-sampling error perspective: Evidence from 2014 research on domestic violence against women in Turkey
The dissertation aims to introduce two latent constructs in surveys which are rapport between interviewer and respondent, and interview quality. The third main objective is to investigate rapport impact on interview quality. Furthermore, secondary objectives are to determine levels of rapport and interview quality, to reveal differences among women whose interviews were completed with high rapport according to selected characteristics, and to investigate effect of interviewer characteristics on interview quality. From quantitative perspective, sophisticated measurement models are utilized to achieve thesis objectives. Data set of Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey, which is a household survey conducted in 2014, is used for statistical analyses within the dissertation. The nationwide, cross-sectional, face-to-face survey was carried out by Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies (HUIPS) in collaboration with Turkish Republic Ministry of Family and Social Policies, the General Directorate on the Status of Women (GDSW). The Field Staff data set was constructed separately and merged with women data set. In the first stage of the thesis, rapport and interview quality operationalization were given with several models. Afterwards, all phases to reach final measurement models for latent constructs were discussed and, finally, rapport impact on interview quality was investigated on the basis of structural equation model. In the second stage of the results section, differences among women interviews in terms of high rapport according to selected characteristics were revealed based on significance levels. Lastly, interviewer characteristics' impact on interview quality was investigated under the control of covariates, and influential interviewer characteristics on the likelihood of high interview quality were given. Operationalization of rapport and interview quality are found useful to make interpretations on survey related constructs which we cannot measure directly. Findings showed that timing and frequency of visits, socio-demographic and socio-economic similarity between interviewer and respondent, and dynamic interview factors contribute to measurement of rapport. Interviewer workload, respondent burden and response quality are detrimental factors on interview quality in a negative way. Not only factors behind rapport and interview quality, but also the impact of rapport on interview quality showed importance of interviewer recruitment, workload allocation, interviewer training, field management, and motivation.
An evaluation of statistical matching methods: An application on Turkey income and living conditions survey and household budget survey
The dissertation aims to evaluate the effectiveness of statistical matching methods from a comparative perspective. Since the studies in the literature mostly focus on non-parametric micro methods, it is aimed to conduct a study that deals with macro, micro, mixed, parametric and non-parametric methods in a holistic and comparative way as well as to observe the effects of different donor classes, and interventions in the sample size. In addition, it is aimed to expand the procedures regarding the selection processes of matching variables by including survey design variables and weights for the first time and to re-evaluate their effectiveness. With the inclusion of options in the processes, it is also aimed to observe the efficiency of matching between methods, to determine the practical limitations and to test the issues that are open to intervention. Applications were made on the selection of matching variables and statistical matching methods using the 2018 datasets of the Turkey Statistics on Income and Living Conditions and Household Budget Survey, which have complex sample design features. After the survey data were harmonized, parametric, non-parametric and mixed methods were applied at the macro and micro levels, considering the mentioned breakdowns to produce the outputs. Imputation procedure, random hot deck, rank hot deck and nearest neighbor distance hot deck were used in non-parametric micro methods. Statistical matching methods, which allow the production of high quality, faster, lower cost and timeliness data by using existing data sources such as administrative records and survey data, also have the potential to provide positive contributions in terms of theoretical statistical approaches such as reducing the response burden and interviewer bias. The method is also used for demography studies that aim to find the correlation between poverty and fertility. The results show that weighted and unweighted micro matching applications provide us with highly accurate and reliable estimations. Although the limitations of the mixed methods regarding the size of the observations have been determined, it has been observed that they are effective in producing quality synthetic data. Parametric methods, on the other hand, did not give the expected quality results on data integration.
A new approach to poverty studies: Art deprivation and art poverty as missing dimensions
In this dissertation, my purpose is to probe the relationship between art and poverty measurements with a methodological approach. In accordance with this, I aim at, first, discussing the place of art deprivation and art poverty within poverty measurements by probing the definitions of art, poverty, deprivation and basic needs; second, elaborating the necessity and possibility of the integration of art with poverty measurements; and third, form the necessary conceptual ground for the measurements of art deprivation and art poverty. For this, I conducted an online fieldwork through 22 in-depth interviews and 6 synchronous focus group discussions with artists, academics, workers of public institutions and civil society with a Grounded Theory approach. As a requirement of my methodological approach, I conducted the phases of fieldwork-transcribing-analysis simultaneously by means of MAXQDA. Within this scope, explaining the reasons for the necessity of the integration of art deprivation and art poverty with poverty measurements in micro and macro levels by expanding the definitions of art and poverty, I propose lists of components towards how to do this, and claim the real poverty rates to increase when measured.