Survey Research Neuman and Robson Ch. 8. Introduction to Survey Research Survey research is a very old, and a very popular, research technique 1880 survey.
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Slide 1
Survey Research Neuman and Robson Ch. 8
Slide 2
Introduction to Survey Research Survey research is a very old,
and a very popular, research technique 1880 survey by Karl Marx in
France 25000 questionnaires sent to workers Late 19 th century
Chocolate Sociologists Rowntree and Cadbury Community surveys to
study poverty
Slide 3
Topics appropriate to survey research: descriptive,
explanatory, and exploratory research purposes best method
available to collect original information about a population To
measure attitudes and orientations
Slide 4
General features of survey research respondents are chosen
through probability sampling procedures Systematic questionnaire or
interview procedures Sophisticated statistical techniques
Slide 5
Strengths and Weaknesses of Survey Research: Advantages
Reliability Can describe large population Flexibility Standardized
Disadvantages Validity Superficiality Cannot modify questionnaire
in field Artificiality
Slide 6
Public Opinion Polling Canada No official or mandatory
regulation i.e. election polls Could influence voters bandwagon
phenomenon free will effect Problems and discrepancies: 20-40%
answer dont know or no answer Results often published as if out of
100% misrepresentation
Slide 7
Mail Surveys and Self-Administered Questionnaires
Hand-administered to a group or mailed to sample Mail distribution
and return practices Monitoring returns Follow-up mailings Response
rates: 50% adequate, 70% very good Additional factors: Sponsorship
Inducement to respond
Slide 8
Disadvantages of mail surveys: Requires simple questions Cannot
observe respondents No opportunity for probe No control over
conditions or who responds Not suited for people who are illiterate
or for whom English not first language Low response rate can be a
problem
Slide 9
Face-to-Face Interview Surveys Very expensive Interviewers
require training Use interview schedule Appearance and demeanour
crucial Need familiarity with questionnaire Must follow question
wording exactly Must record responses exactly Also record other
events during interview
Slide 10
Advantages and Disadvantages of Face-to-Face Interview Surveys
Advantages: Can probe for responses Can keep respondent on task
Disadvantages: Cost and training Interviewer bias
Slide 11
Telephone Surveys In past, could reach 95% of households Now,
between 20 and 26% of Canadians have no landline (see next slide)
Use of telephone interview schedules Selecting a sample for
telephone surveys Telephone directory Random Digit Dialing (RDD)
Selecting a respondent from a household
Slide 12
Percentage of households in Canada that use a cell phone only
(Source: Stats Can The Daily, 2014) 200820102013 All
households812.821 Households under 35 years of age26.139.360.6
Households aged 55 and older1.93.86.4
Slide 13
Telephone Surveys Can achieve higher response rates Can
decrease "don't knows" and "no answers Interviewers can help
clarify Telephone surveys have many advantages of face- to-face but
without high cost
Slide 14
Advantages and Disadvantages of telephone surveys Advantages:
cheaper to carry out than face-to-face interviews less time and
effort more impersonal Disadvantages: large number of tries to
achieve a small number of successes. less motivation generated
among respondents No visual cues/aids possible Limited interview
length
Slide 15
Computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) interviewers
sit at a computer terminal with a screen answers given are directly
entered into the computer Very fast Often used in polling (i.e.
Video: Ask a Silly Question)
Slide 16
Internet (Web) Surveys In Canada, 95 per cent of Canadians in
the highest income quartile are connected to the Internet, yet only
62 per cent in the lowest income quartile have Internet access
(2014) Use same basic design as mail surveys Advantages: Fast,
cheap Can use graphic and visual effects Disadvantages: Coverage
not all groups use computers Privacy need for encryption
Slide 17
Comparison of Survey Methods Criteria Interview Mail
TelephoneWeb
_________________________________________________________________
1. Cost high low moderatevery low 2. Response rate high low
highmoderate 3. Level of control of high low moderatelow situation
4. Applicability to moderate high moderatehigh geographically
dispersed populations 5. Applicability to high low highmoderate
heterogeneous populations 6. Obtaining detailed high moderate
moderatelow information 7. Speed slow slow fastfastest
Slide 18
Secondary Analysis of Survey Data New analysis of data
collected for another purpose Use of shared data and data archives
(i.e. Census and GSS) Advantages cheaper and faster Access to
larger datasets Disadvantages problems of validity Questions may
not meet your needs Sample may not be adequate
Slide 19
Questionnaire Construction usually includes a variety of
demographic questions, and one or more scales and indexes aimed at
collecting data on attitudes, beliefs, or behaviours purpose of a
survey is to try to collect information about a sample in order to
make generalizations about the larger population
Slide 20
The general structure of a good questionnaire: 1. Title 2. A
brief introduction and explanation of research. 3. A section of
general demographic questions re: gender, age, marital status,
education. Note: more sensitive demographic questions (i.e. income,
home value, etc.) might be better placed at the end of the
questionnaire. 4. Section of non-threatening or less sensitive
behavioural and attitudinal questions. 5. A section near the end
with any sensitive or threatening questions. 6. Any additional
demographic information. 7. Conclusion with brief statement again
thanking respondents for their time and effort
Slide 21
Additional Considerations: 1. Keep questionnaire as short as is
reasonably possible. 2. Appearance of the questionnaire is
important. Don't crowd your questions, and use an easy-to- read
font. Leave some space between questions. 3. Use bold font and
underlining for titles/headings. 4. Use examples and sample
questions for clarity, but be careful not to introduce bias. 5.
Include an open-ended question at the end of the questionnaire
asking for any additional information and/or feedback. This
question sometimes provides some interesting information!
Slide 22
Constructing the questions: Create questions that use
indicators which will specifically address your hypotheses. Use
existing scales or measures whenever possible. You can also modify
a scale or index to meet the needs of your particular study if an
existing scale is not quite appropriate. The advantage in using an
existing scale is that its reliability and validity are already
known.
Slide 23
Types of questions to use: a. Simple questions that use a
concrete indicator (i.e. What is your age in years?___). b. Likert
style questions are used for measuring simple attitudes, beliefs,
emotions, or behaviours (i.e. When you think back to your high
school years, you feel: 1. Very unhappy 2. Somewhat unhappy 3.
Don't feel anything 4. Happy 5. Very happy) c. Matrix questions are
useful when you have a number of related items. Matrix questions
are composed of a series of questions that have identical response
categories which are presented in table format with the response
category labels at the top of the chart.
Slide 24
Types (cont.) c. Guttman scales: These are useful for measuring
the strength or intensity of an attitude. d. Rank-ordering: Rank
ordering is a method that works well with a small number of
objects, such as 10. For example, instead of rating how interesting
each of a set of subject areas are, you could ask the respondent to
simply sort them in order of most to least interesting. e. Paired
comparisons: In this method, you present items two at a time, and
ask respondent to pick which one has more of some attribute. For
example, you can present behavioural problems and ask which one is
more serious.
Slide 25
Closed or open-ended question responses A closed response set
refers to those questions which have fixed categories for answers
(uses quantitative analysis) Open-ended questions allows for free
responses (qualitative analysis)
Slide 26
Filter questions and contingency questions Filter questions are
useful for sorting respondents. Contingency questions allow
respondents to skip portions of the survey that may not be relevant
to them.
Slide 27
Principles of Question-Writing 1. Keep questions as short and
concise as possible. 2. Choose your wording carefully. 3. Try not
to ask questions beyond a respondent's capabilities. 4. Avoid
emotional language and the use of "loaded" words. 5. Watch out for
prestige bias in your questions. 6. Don't use leading questions
like "You don't smoke, do you?" 7. Avoid ambiguity and
vagueness.
Slide 28
Principles (cont.) 8. Don't use double-barrelled questions. 9.
Avoid false premises or assumptions. 10. If possible, don't ask
respondent about future intentions. The link between intentions and
future behaviour is tenuous. 11. Try not to use negatives and
double negatives in your questions. 12. Watch for explanatory
statements that may bias the answer to the question. Watch out also
for questions that might influence the answers to subsequent
questions.
Slide 29
Other Issues Aiding recall Provide special instructions or
extra time Ask month by month, week by week, etc. Threatening
questions People under-report illness, disability, deviance,
illegal activity, income/wealth Create enhanced questions or embed
activity in list of more serious activities
Slide 30
Issues (cont.) Social desirability bias People tend to
over-report socially desirable behaviours (being cultured, voting,
giving to charity, being good spouses or parents, etc.) Try to
minimize importance of these activities or present alternatives in
questions Knowledge questions Make sure questions are appropriate
level Phrase questions so respondents feel comfortable not knowing
the answer