Academic Research on Sports fans

[Shipfans]

[Apologies if this is not permitted]

Hello, we are researchers from Shippensburg University conducting research on sports fans. We are looking for fans of college and professional sports teams to complete an online survey about what it means to be a fan and what your team means to you. During the survey, you will be asked to answer a series of questions related to your favorite team. The survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Your responses will be anonymous, and we will not collect any personal data. You can skip any questions that you do not feel comfortable answering.
If you would like to participate in our study, please click the link below.

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
Thank you for your help!

 

[malinoisvol]

[Apologies if this is not permitted]

Hello, we are researchers from Shippensburg University conducting research on sports fans. We are looking for fans of college and professional sports teams to complete an online survey about what it means to be a fan and what your team means to you. During the survey, you will be asked to answer a series of questions related to your favorite team. The survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Your responses will be anonymous, and we will not collect any personal data. You can skip any questions that you do not feel comfortable answering.
If you would like to participate in our study, please click the link below.

https://ship.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a4xz6U5DOAK7wQS
Thank you for your help!

Your link comes up as "Not Found".

 

[Shipfans]

Sorry about that! Here's the link, and I'll edit my original post.

https://ship.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a4xz6U5DOAK7wQS

 

[95 Vol Alum]

Just read a Grumors thread. You’ll get the idea.

 

[LouderVol]

I took the survey, and I am sure it is too late, and unwanted to give feedback on the survey itself: but I had a couple issues with the format of the survey.

you should keep the format of the questions the same. no spoilers, IIRC, you ask most of the questions from the "positive" side, as in "do you agree with this". but you throw in one framed from the negative side "do you not agree with this". even though the possible responses stay the same, it can confuse or lead people to misread the question giving you bad data.

also, while there is a neutral response, you should include a "there is not enough information to make a determination" response to give the responders a chance at a fair answer. Because the neutral response implies that people are indifferent, and they may not be, there is just not enough information presented to honestly answer the question. I get from the survey you are trying to get emotional responses but you are framing it in a way that is not going to give you an honest response. I responded to several of the question as neutral because that was the best option as not enough information had been presented. if there had been enough info, or if I could remember all of it, see below, I might have been more or less aligned to it than the neutral response I gave.

further, the set up needs to be reviewable upon reading the questions. I at least didn't find a way to go back and read the story/set up again, and had to go off of memory rather than giving an honest/correct response to actual set up. I get you may be fishing to see if the set up predetermines responses, but you are leading the people in the survey rather than getting honest results back.

my unwanted 2 cents. good luck.

 

[Shipfans]

Thanks for participating in the research and for the feedback. Most of the measures used in the study are one's that have been created and validated by other researchers so in order to maintain their validity, I can't modify them from their original format. Researchers will often frame some questions positively and others negatively to reduce the likelihood of response biases. In this case, you want people to slow down and think about their responses rather than get into the habit of replying "strongly agree" or "disagree." You're right that the neutral responses are not the most ideal response options, but they questions are set up to "force" people to make their best estimate. Ideally, all the questions would be open ended and then people could write more comprehensive responses, but those are difficult to code and quantify.
Thanks again for the help. I appreciate it!