Even with clear advantages to using internet based survey research, there are still some uncertainties to which survey methods are most conducive to an online platform. Most survey method literature, whether focusing on online, telephone, or in-person formats, tend to observe little to no differences between using various survey modes and survey results. Despite this, there is little research focused on the interaction effect between survey formatting, in terms of design and framing, and public opinion on social issues, specifically child immigration policies - a recent topic of popular debate. This paper examines an anomalous result found within the 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) public opinion immigration question focusing on a DACA-related policy, where support was evenly split on the typically highly favored policy. To decipher the unprecedented result, an experimental survey design was conducted via Qualtrics by comparing various survey formats (single-style, forced choice, Likert scale) and inclusionary policy details to the original CCES “select all that apply” matrix style. By comparing the experimental polls, the results indicated that the “select all that apply” matrix again produced anomalous results, while the various other methods produced a breakdown similar to typical DACA-related polling data. These findings have necessary implications for future survey designs and those examining public opinion on child immigration policies.

[pt] Inteligência Emocional (IE) é um tema que vem ganhando cada vez mais espaço no mundo corporativo, sobretudo no que se refere a sua avaliação entre os profissionais que ocupam cargos de liderança. No entanto, atualmente não existem instrumentos devidamente validados para este contexto que, especificamente, avaliem a IE de líderes. Adicionalmente, considerando que tal grupo compõe uma amostra high-stake (i. e. amostras que naturalmente são mais voltadas a terem suas respostas contaminadas de forma a agradar o avaliador), surge a necessidade de um instrumento que possa ter um controle mais preciso do viés da desejabilidade social. Diante disso, o estudo objetivou construir e buscar evidências iniciais de validade da escala Avaliação da Inteligência Emocional de Líderes (AIEL), uma medida que pretende aferir quatro habilidades da inteligência emocional com base no método da escolha forçada. Foram realizados estudos para buscar evidências de validade de conteúdo e de estrutura interna mediante a utilização de índices de concordância dos itens, análise fatorial exploratória, análise fatorial confirmatória e análises com base na Teoria de Resposta ao Item Thurstonian (TRI-T). A versão final do instrumento foi respondida por uma amostra de 215 líderes. Após todas as análises realizadas, foram selecionados 36 itens (sociabilidade = 11, bem-estar = 6, autocontrole = 10 e emocionalidade = 9) com cargas fatoriais que variaram de 0,387 até 0,902 e um valor médio de 0,64. O modelo também apresentou um bom ajuste. A precisão dos escores fatoriais foi elevada em todos os fatores, variando de 0,97 a 0,98. Apesar de uma boa estrutura interna e possibilidade de uso em pesquisas científicas, cabe destacar algumas limitações da AIEL: a amostra utilizada foi pequena e existiu alta discrepância dos valores médios da desejabilidade social entre os itens dos blocos triplets. Sugere-se a criação de novos itens com maior balanceamento e em formato de quádruplas. Adicionalmente, faz-se necessária a aplicação em amostras maiores e mais diversas, possuindo respondentes com características demográficas distintas, para proceder estudos acerca de sua padronização. Sugere-se também a realização de estudos de validade baseados nas relações com medidas externas. Por fim, espera-se que o presente estudo contribua para o desenvolvimento de medidas de IE no formato de escolha forçada específicas para o contexto organizacional, contribuindo, assim, com o trabalho do(a) psicólogo(a) organizacional e com o avanço do campo brasileiro da psicologia organizacional e do trabalho, no que se refere à criação de mais instrumentos devidamente validados e próprios para esta área de atuação. / [en] Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a theme that is gaining more and more space in the corporate world, especially with regard to its evaluation among professionals who occupy leadership positions. However, there are currently no properly validated instruments for this context that specifically assess the EI of leaders. Additionally, considering that this group composes a high-stake sample (i.e. samples that are naturally more focused on having their responses contaminated in order to please the evaluator), the need for an instrument that can have a more precise control of the social desirability bias arises. Therefore, the study aimed to construct and seek initial evidence of validity of the Evaluation of Emotional Intelligence of Leaders (AIEL) scale, a measure that aims to assess four emotional intelligence skills based on the forced choice method. Studies were conducted to search for evidence of contente validity and internal structure through the use of item agreement indices, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and analyses based on the Thurstonian Item Response Theory (TRI-T). The final version of the instrument was answered by a sample of 215 leaders. After all the analyses performed, 36 items were selected (sociability = 11, well-being = 6, selfcontrol = 10 and emotionality = 9) with factor loadings ranging from 0.387 to 0.902 and an average value of 0.64. The model also presented a good fit. The accuracy of factorial scores was high in all factors, ranging from 0.97 to 0.98. Despite a good internal structure and possibility of use in scientific research, it is worth highlighting some limitations of the AIEL: the sample used was small and there was a high discrepancy of the mean values of social desirability among the items of the triplet blocks. It is suggested to create new items with greater balancing and in quadruple format. Additionally, it is necessary to apply it to larger and more diverse samples, with respondents with different demographic characteristics, to carry out studies about their standardization. It is also suggested to conduct validity studies based on relations with external measures. Finally, it is expected that the present study will contribute to the development of EI measures in the forced choice format specific to the organizational context, thus contributing to the work of the organizational psychologist and the advancement of the Brazilian field of organizational and work psychology, with regard to the creation of more properly validated and suitable instruments for this activity área

La tâche de kinématogramme de points aléatoires est utilisée avec le paradigme de choix forcé entre deux alternatives pour étudier les prises de décisions perceptuelles. Les modèles décisionnels supposent que les indices de mouvement pour les deux alternatives sont encodés dans le cerveau. Ainsi, la différence entre ces deux signaux est accumulée jusqu’à un seuil décisionnel. Cependant, aucune étude à ce jour n’a testé cette hypothèse avec des stimuli contenant des mouvements opposés. Ce mémoire présente les résultats de deux expériences utilisant deux nouveaux stimuli avec des indices de mouvement concurrentiels. Parmi une variété de combinaisons d’indices concurrentiels, la performance des sujets dépend de la différence nette entre les deux signaux opposés. De plus, les sujets obtiennent une performance similaire avec les deux types de stimuli. Ces résultats supportent un modèle décisionnel basé sur l’accumulation des indices de mouvement net et suggèrent que le processus décisionnel peut intégrer les signaux de mouvement à partir d’une grande gamme de directions pour obtenir un percept global de mouvement. / Random dot kinematograms are used in visual psychophysics with the two-alternative forced-choice paradigm to study the process of simple perceptual decisions. Mathematical models of this process assume that stochastic motion evidence for the two alternative choices is encoded in the brain, and that the difference in evidence is accumulated towards a decision bound. However, no study to date has tested this assumption using stimuli with different levels of mutually opposing evidence in both directions. This thesis presents the results of two experiments using two novel stimuli with opposing coherent motion evidence. Over a variety of competing evidence combinations, subject performance was based on the net difference in the opposing signals. Furthermore, task performance was similar with both types of stimuli. These results support a decision model based on the accumulation of net evidence, and suggest that the decision process is capable of integrating motion evidence from a wide range of directions to obtain a global percept of motion.

This thesis explores item response theory (IRT) in the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) from Thomas International. The study contains two parts (Part 1 and Part II) for which two sample groups were collected. For Part I of the research 650 participants were collected via the old form (CPPA25/C7) in the Beijing office of Thomas International in China (male=323, Female=267, missing=60). Part II of the research used the amended form in the same area and collected a sample of 307 (male=185, female=119, missing=3). The study postulates that IRT methods are applicable to forced-choice psychometrics. The results of Part I showed that the current CPPA form functions, to some extent, according to PPA’s original constructs. Part I of the research identified 16 items that need to be amended (called Amend A in this research). The amended form was returned to China for the collection of samples for Part II, and the results are deemed acceptable. The study concludes with a research protocol for PPA-IRT research generated from the current research. The research protocol suggests four levels of analysis for forced choice (FC) psychometrics, namely: 1. Textual analysis, 2. Functional analysis, 3. Dynamic analysis, and 4. Construct analysis. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

This thesis explores item response theory (IRT) in the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) from Thomas International. The study contains two parts (Part 1 and Part II) for which two sample groups were collected. For Part I of the research 650 participants were collected via the old form (CPPA25/C7) in the Beijing office of Thomas International in China (male=323, Female=267, missing=60). Part II of the research used the amended form in the same area and collected a sample of 307 (male=185, female=119, missing=3). The study postulates that IRT methods are applicable to forced-choice psychometrics. The results of Part I showed that the current CPPA form functions, to some extent, according to PPA’s original constructs. Part I of the research identified 16 items that need to be amended (called Amend A in this research). The amended form was returned to China for the collection of samples for Part II, and the results are deemed acceptable. The study concludes with a research protocol for PPA-IRT research generated from the current research. The research protocol suggests four levels of analysis for forced choice (FC) psychometrics, namely: 1. Textual analysis, 2. Functional analysis, 3. Dynamic analysis, and 4. Construct analysis. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)