Buss 1989; Procedures

Buss 1989; Procedures

1. The research method was a cross-cultural questionnaire (x2)

2. Buss' sample consisted of 10,047 pps from 33 countries (37 countries)

3. Sample size varied between 55 in Iran to nearly 1500 in USA. Sampling methods varied e.g volunteer in Germany & opportunist in New Zealand. Zulu's who could not read had the questions read out.

4. The mean sample size per country was 272 and the mean age of all the pps was 23.

5. The research involved;

6. Sending out 2 questionnaires, asking pps about their preferences in a partner based on 5 things: financial status, looks, age, chastity and ambition.

7. The questionnaire involved subsections that included biographical data (checking age, gender, at what age they would like to marry etc.) and a rating task of 18 characteristics.

8. 4 of the critical characteristics (exception = age) were buried within the list to be rated. The irrelevant characteristics included "dependable character" and "sociability." Each was rated on a 4 point scale; from 3 (indispensable) to 0 (irrelevant or unimportant.)

9. The second questionnaire asked pps to rank order 13, including critical characteristics - financial prospects and looks - this tested reliability across methods.

10. Buss got bilingual speaker to translate the questionnaires into all the necessary languages and then to translate the answers back again. THE NATIVE RESEARCHERS DID NOT KNOW THE HYPOTHESIS (DOUBLE BLIND)

11. Addressing Ethical Issues

    • Respected cultural differences by changing the Nigerian wording to allow for more than one wife.