Are Consumer Survey Results Distorted? Systematic Impact of Behavioral Frequency and Duration on Survey Response Errors

2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunkyu Lee ◽  
Michael Y. Hu ◽  
Rex S. Toh
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Personal Communication ◽  
Consumer Survey ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Behavioral Frequency ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Behavioral Frequencies ◽  
Response Errors

Using a large-scale consumer database created by AT&T, the authors investigate how actual behavioral frequency and duration systematically affect the direction of errors in consumer survey responses. By analyzing errors in consumers' reports on their frequency of using long-distance telephone calls, letters, cards, and visits for personal communication, the authors demonstrate that high-frequency groups underreported their behavioral frequencies, whereas low-frequency groups overreported them. Similarly, the results show that consumers underestimate the duration of lengthy telephone conversations, whereas they overestimate the duration of short ones. Overall, the authors find that people tend to overestimate both frequency and duration. These compressive regressive effects toward the mean and overall upward bias for both frequency and duration estimations result in a distorted view of the market, which will be incorrectly perceived to be more homogeneous and larger than it really is.

Empirical Tests on Regressive Estimations: Implications on Surveys and Diaries

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 1061-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rex S. Toh ◽  
Eunkyu Lee ◽  
Michael Y. Hu
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Average Frequency ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Estimation Errors ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Telephone Calls ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Behavioral Frequencies

Using a large real-life corporate database initially consisting of 3,990 heads of households stratified on the basis of various demographic and geographic variables, and whose communication activities (long distance telephone calls, letters, cards, and visits) were surveyed and monitored, this study investigated the direction as well as magnitude of estimation errors in survey responses and diary entries. Supporting the 1994 Fiedler and Armbruster psychometric formulation and conjecture, we show that estimation errors in reports of the frequency and duration of people's own communication activities exhibit a consistent tendency to regress toward the mean. This regressive estimation is greater for those who are further away from the mean in actual behavior and is proportional to the actual deviation from the mean. Furthermore, this regressive estimation is inversely related to the average frequency across behavioral categories. An important implication of our findings is that the distribution of estimated behavioral frequencies and durations appear more concentrated in surveys than they actually are in the general population, although the general shape of the distribution is unaffected.

Social Desirability Bias in Diary Panels is Evident in Panelists' Behavioral Frequency

2006 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rex S. Toh ◽  
Eunkyu Lee ◽  
Michael Y. Hu
Keyword(s):  
Social Desirability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Social Desirability Bias ◽  
Population Mean ◽  
Coefficients Of Variation ◽  
Behavioral Frequency ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Regression Toward The Mean ◽  
Behavioral Frequencies

The purpose was to analyze a large-scale database, a national sample of 1,108 heads of households collected by AT&T, to show that behavioral frequencies of the activities of consumer diary panelists may regress toward the population mean during the diary-keeping period given social desirability bias produced by the conditioning effect of keeping diaries. This effect is distinguished from regression toward the mean, a statistical phenomenon reflecting happenstance of extreme initial values. Social desirability bias is demonstrated in two ways—by observing decreasing coefficients of variation over time and by detecting a greater proportion of panelists' behavioral frequencies moving toward the population mean than moving away from it. Both cannot be explained by regression toward the mean. Social desirability bias was manifest only during the early stages of the diary-keeping period and only for activities high in involvement. The presence of social desirability bias in diary panels implies that, when people are subjected to observation, diary observations may be contaminated, leading to the mistaken impression that the population is more homogeneous than it actually is. Thus it is important for researchers to monitor the diary panel carefully to detect social desirability bias when engaged in longitudinal studies.

scholarly journals INVESTIGATION OF WRITING ASSESSMENT LITERACY OF UKRAINIAN UNIVERSITY TEACHERS

2019 ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
Olga Kvasova ◽  
Tamara Kavytska ◽  
Viktoriya Osidak
Keyword(s):  
Writing Assessment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Assessment Literacy ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Assessment Feedback ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Survey Responses

The rating process of students’ writing has been a long-standing concern in L2 large-scale standardized and classroom-based assessment. Several studies have tried to identify how the raters make scoring decisions and assign scores to ensure validity of writing assessment. The current paper addresses the issue of writing assessment practices of Ukrainian university teachers, how they approach rating scales and criteria with an attempt to understand culturally specific challenges of teachers’ writing assessment in Ukraine. To investigate the issue, this study employs the analysis of the survey results obtained from 104 university teachers of English. The survey consisted of 13 questions that provided insight into current practices in assessment of writing, such as frequency of assessment, use of rating scales, rater’s profile, criteria of assessment, feedback and rewriting, training in assessment of writing. The survey responses show that assessment in Ukraine is not regulated by common standard, and thus the approach to students’ writing assessment is often intuitive. A frequent practice is that teachers tend to rely on errors – as observable features of the text – to justify their rating decisions, Consequently, by shifting focus onto the surface features of writing, grammar mistakes in particular, the teachers underrate such criteria as “register”, “compliance with textual features” and “layout”. Additionally, the data reveal contradictory findings about writing assessment literacy of the teachers questioned. Even though most teachers claim they apply scales while rating, many confess they cannot tell the difference between holistic and analytic scales. Moreover, the results indicate that feedback is not yet a meaningful interaction between a Ukrainian teacher and a learner. Therefore, the results of the study demonstrate the need for the improvement in writing assessment practices, which could be achieved through providing training and reorientation to help Ukrainian teachers develop common understanding and interpretation of task requirements and scale features.

Going the Distance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Harris
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Global Trade ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Business Corporation ◽  
Modern Economy ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Silk Route ◽  
Passive Investors

Before the seventeenth century, trade across Eurasia was mostly conducted in short segments along the Silk Route and Indian Ocean. Business was organized in family firms, merchant networks, and state-owned enterprises, and dominated by Chinese, Indian, and Arabic traders. However, around 1600 the first two joint-stock corporations, the English and Dutch East India Companies, were established. This book tells the story of overland and maritime trade without Europeans, of European Cape Route trade without corporations, and of how new, large-scale, and impersonal organizations arose in Europe to control long-distance trade for more than three centuries. It shows that by 1700, the scene and methods for global trade had dramatically changed: Dutch and English merchants shepherded goods directly from China and India to northwestern Europe. To understand this transformation, the book compares the organizational forms used in four major regions: China, India, the Middle East, and Western Europe. The English and Dutch were the last to leap into Eurasian trade, and they innovated in order to compete. They raised capital from passive investors through impersonal stock markets and their joint-stock corporations deployed more capital, ships, and agents to deliver goods from their origins to consumers. The book explores the history behind a cornerstone of the modern economy, and how this organizational revolution contributed to the formation of global trade and the creation of the business corporation as a key factor in Europe's economic rise.

scholarly journals Helping Students FIG-ure It Out: A Large-Scale Study of Freshmen Interest Groups and Student Success

AERA Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233285842110218
Author(s):  
Lovenoor Aulck ◽  
Joshua Malters ◽  
Casey Lee ◽  
Gianni Mancinelli ◽  
Min Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Racial Minority ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Racial Minority Students ◽  
Freshman Seminars ◽  
Enrollment Rates ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

Freshman seminars are a ubiquitous offering in higher education, but they have not been evaluated using matched comparisons with data at scale. In this work, we use transcript data on over 76,000 students to examine the impact of first-year interest groups (FIGs) on student graduation and retention. We first apply propensity score matching on course-level data to account for selection bias. We find that graduation and re-enrollment rates for FIG students were higher than non-FIG students, an effect that was more pronounced for self-identified underrepresented racial minority students. We then employ topic modeling to analyze survey responses from over 12,500 FIG students to find that social aspects of FIGs were most beneficial to students. Interestingly, references to social aspects were not disproportionately present in the responses of self-identified underrepresented racial minority students.

scholarly journals Experiment Investigation of Bistable Vibration Energy Harvesting with Random Wave Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 3868
Author(s):  
Qiong Wu ◽  
Hairui Zhang ◽  
Jie Lian ◽  
Wei Zhao ◽  
Shijie Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Cantilever Beam ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Random Wave ◽  
Periodic Signal ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Motion Activity

The energy harvested from the renewable energy has been attracting a great potential as a source of electricity for many years; however, several challenges still exist limiting output performance, such as the package and low frequency of the wave. Here, this paper proposed a bistable vibration system for harvesting low-frequency renewable energy, the bistable vibration model consisting of an inverted cantilever beam with a mass block at the tip in a random wave environment and also develop a vibration energy harvesting system with a piezoelectric element attached to the surface of a cantilever beam. The experiment was carried out by simulating the random wave environment using the experimental equipment. The experiment result showed a mass block’s response vibration was indeed changed from a single stable vibration to a bistable oscillation when a random wave signal and a periodic signal were co-excited. It was shown that stochastic resonance phenomena can be activated reliably using the proposed bistable motion system, and, correspondingly, large-scale bistable responses can be generated to realize effective amplitude enlargement after input signals are received. Furthermore, as an important design factor, the influence of periodic excitation signals on the large-scale bistable motion activity was carefully discussed, and a solid foundation was laid for further practical energy harvesting applications.

scholarly journals Future Power Train Solutions for Long-Haul Trucks

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2225
Author(s):  
Ralf Peters ◽  
Janos Lucian Breuer ◽  
Maximilian Decker ◽  
Thomas Grube ◽  
Martin Robinius ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Co2 Reduction ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Transport Sector ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Production Of Hydrogen

Achieving the CO2 reduction targets for 2050 requires extensive measures being undertaken in all sectors. In contrast to energy generation, the transport sector has not yet been able to achieve a substantive reduction in CO2 emissions. Measures for the ever more pressing reduction in CO2 emissions from transportation include the increased use of electric vehicles powered by batteries or fuel cells. The use of fuel cells requires the production of hydrogen and the establishment of a corresponding hydrogen production system and associated infrastructure. Synthetic fuels made using carbon dioxide and sustainably-produced hydrogen can be used in the existing infrastructure and will reach the extant vehicle fleet in the medium term. All three options require a major expansion of the generation capacities for renewable electricity. Moreover, various options for road freight transport with light duty vehicles (LDVs) and heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) are analyzed and compared. In addition to efficiency throughout the entire value chain, well-to-wheel efficiency and also other aspects play an important role in this comparison. These include: (a) the possibility of large-scale energy storage in the sense of so-called ‘sector coupling’, which is offered only by hydrogen and synthetic energy sources; (b) the use of the existing fueling station infrastructure and the applicability of the new technology on the existing fleet; (c) fulfilling the power and range requirements of the long-distance road transport.

scholarly journals Variation of Low-Frequency Time-Code Signal Field Strength during the Annular Solar Eclipse on 21 June 2020: Observation and Analysis

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1216
Author(s):  
Xin Wang ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Fan Zhao ◽  
Xinyu Luo ◽  
Luxi Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Field Strength ◽  
Solar Eclipse ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Signal Propagation ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Time Code ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Time Service ◽  
Annular Solar Eclipse ◽  
Signal Field

Due to the occlusion of the moon, an annular solar eclipse will have an effect on the ionosphere above the earth. The change of the ionosphere, for the low-frequency time-code signal that relies on it as a reflection medium for long-distance propagation, the signal field strength, and other parameters will also produce corresponding changes, which will affect the normal operation of the low-frequency time-code time service system. This paper selects the solar eclipse that occurred in China on 21 June 2020, and uses the existing measurement equipment to carry out experimental research on the low-frequency time-code signal. We measured and analyzed the signal field strength from 20 June 2020 to 23 June 2020, and combined solar activity data, ionospheric data, and geomagnetic data, and attempted to explore the reasons and rules of the change of signal parameters. The results showed that the field strength of the low-frequency time-code signal changed dramatically within a short time period, the max growth value can reach up to 17 dBμV/m and the variation trend yielded ‘three mutations’. This change in signal field strength is probably due to the occurrence of a solar eclipse that has an effect on the ionosphere. When the signal propagation conditions change, the signal strength will also change accordingly.

scholarly journals A Novel Methodology for Adaptive Coordination of Multiple Controllers in Electrical Grids

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (13) ◽  
pp. 1474
Author(s):  
Ruben Tapia-Olvera ◽  
Francisco Beltran-Carbajal ◽  
Antonio Valderrabano-Gonzalez ◽  
Omar Aguilar-Mejia
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Power System ◽  
Electric Power ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Dynamic Performance ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Electric Power System ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Positive Interaction

This proposal is aimed to overcome the problem that arises when diverse regulation devices and controlling strategies are involved in electric power systems regulation design. When new devices are included in electric power system after the topology and regulation goals were defined, a new design stage is generally needed to obtain the desired outputs. Moreover, if the initial design is based on a linearized model around an equilibrium point, the new conditions might degrade the whole performance of the system. Our proposal demonstrates that the power system performance can be guaranteed with one design stage when an adequate adaptive scheme is updating some critic controllers’ gains. For large-scale power systems, this feature is illustrated with the use of time domain simulations, showing the dynamic behavior of the significant variables. The transient response is enhanced in terms of maximum overshoot and settling time. This is demonstrated using the deviation between the behavior of some important variables with StatCom, but without or with PSS. A B-Spline neural networks algorithm is used to define the best controllers’ gains to efficiently attenuate low frequency oscillations when a short circuit event is presented. This strategy avoids the parameters and power system model dependency; only a dataset of typical variable measurements is required to achieve the expected behavior. The inclusion of PSS and StatCom with positive interaction, enhances the dynamic performance of the system while illustrating the ability of the strategy in adding different controllers in only one design stage.

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