Surveys

Approaches to Classroom Research

SURVEY RESEARCHAbdurrahman KUTLUAY

akutluay@gmail.com

What is a survey?

… a snapshot of conditions, attitudes, and/or events of an entire population at a single point in time by collecting data from a sample drawn from that population.

(Nunan & Bailey, 2009 p. 125)

Language surveys are any research studies that gather data on the characteristics and views of informants about the nature of language or language learning through the use of oral interviews or written questionnaires.

(Brown,2001 p. 2)

In this session, we focus on written questionnaires.

What do surveys offer?

According to Dörnyei (2003), surveys can produce data through three kinds of questions.1. Factual 2. Behavioral3. Attitudinal

Factual Questions Who are the respondents?

• Age• Gender• Ethnicity • Education• Profession • Location, etc.

Ex: How old are you?

Behavioral Questions

• What do/did they do?– Actions – Lifestyles – History– Experience

Ex: What kind of techniques do you use to teach grammar?

Attitudinal Questions

What do they think?Attitudes OpinionsBeliefsInterests Values

The trainer’s communicative skills were a) High b) Average c) Low

Respondents (Samples)

Sampling Types

• Simple random sampling• Systematic sampling (e.g. every tenth person)• Stratified sampling (random sampling from

homogenous subgroups like the males and the females)

• Cluster sampling (randomly selecting a specific number of schools and test all the students in those selected places)

Sampling Types

• Convenience or opportunity sampling (practical, accessible, available)

• Purposive sampling (researcher’s judgment of sample typicality e.g., a group of principals and senior managers of secondary schools to study the incidence of stress among them)

(Brown, 2001; Burns, 2010; Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2000; McKay 2006; Nunan & Bailey, 2009)

Questionnaire Design

• Closed-ended items• Open-ended items

Closed-ended items

LISTWhat is your higher level of education?BA, MA, Ph.D.

CATEGORYIndicate your grade on the KPDS A1, A2, B1, B2

YES / NO – TRUE / FALSEI like biology. _Yes _ No _ Sometimes

Closed-ended items

RATING SCALESSpeaking is more important than writing.□ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Neutral □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree

RANK ORDER ITEMSRank the following from 1 to 4 in order of difficulty.

_ Listening _ Speaking_ Reading_ Writing

Closed-ended items

QUANTITY/FREQUENCYHow many hours did you sleep?1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 or more

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONSHow many students are in your CR class?a) 1-5 b) 6-10 c) 11-15 d) 16-20Which grade do you teach at present (you may

choose more than one)?a) 9 b) 10 c) 11 d) 12

Open-ended items

• OPEN ITEMS• GUIDED ITEMS• STRUCTURED ITEMS

(Burns, 2010)

OPEN ITEMS

o Name (optional): __________________

o Please explain your reasons for selecting this course.

GUIDED ITEMS

• Do you think that learning English is difficult?

Yes □ No □If you checked “Yes”, please explain why:____________________________________________________________________________________

STRUCTURED ITEMS

• The thing I like best about studying CR is ____ _____________________________________

• The thing I like least about studying CR is __ _____________________________________

• My most difficult challenge in studying CR is _____________________________________

How to survey?

A good questionnaire should beclearpracticalreliableethical

A questionnaire should not be– leading – culturally biased– irritating.

References

Brown, J.D. (2001). Using surveys in language programs. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Burns, A. (2010). Doing action research in English language teaching. New York: RoutledgeCohen, L., Manion, L.,& Morrison, K. (2000). Research methods in education. London, UK: Routledge Falmer.Dornyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in second language research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Nunan D. & Bailey K. M. (2009) Exploring Second Language Classroom Research - A Comprehensive Guide. Boston: Heinle Cengage Learning.McKay, S. L. (2006). Researching second language classrooms. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates