Survey Research

1
Chapter 9

• Survey Research

2
Chapter Outline

• Introduction
• Topics Appropriate to Survey Research
• Guidelines for Asking Questions
• Questionnaire Construction
• Self-administered Questionnaires
• Interview Surveys

3
Chapter Outline

• Telephone Surveys
• New Technologies and Survey Research
• Comparison of the Different Survey Methods
• Strengths and Weaknesses of Survey Research
• Secondary Analysis

4
Topics Appropriate to Survey Research

• Descriptive
• Exploratory
• Explanatory

5
Respondent

• Person who provides data for analysis by
  responding to a survey questionnaire.

6
Questionnaire

• Instrument designed to elicit information that
  will be useful for analysis.

7
Question

• When is survey research the best method
  available?
• when collecting original data
• when describing a population too large to observe
  directly
• when measuring attitudes
• all of these choices

8
Answer D

• Survey research is the best method available when
  collecting original data, when describing a
  population too large to observe directly and when
  measuring attitudes.

9
Types of Questions

• Open-ended questionsRespondent is asked to
  provide his or her own answer to the question.
• Closed-ended questionsRespondent is asked to
  select an answer from among a list provided by
  the researcher.

10
Questions

• _________________ questions have a respondent
  select an answer from among a list provided.
• open-ended
• pretest
• experimental
• closed-ended

11
Answer D

• Closed-ended questions have a respondent select
  an answer from among a list provided.

12
Guidelines for Asking Questions

• Choose appropriate question forms.
• Make items clear.
• Avoid double-barreled questions.
• Respondents must be competent to answer.

13
Guidelines for Asking Questions

• Respondents must be willing to answer.
• Questions should be relevant.
• Short items are best.
• Avoid negative items.
• Avoid biased items and terms.

14
Guidelines for Questionnaire Construction

• One question per line.
• Use contingency questions when necessary.
• Format matrix questions so they are easily
  answered.

15
Guidelines for Questionnaire Construction

• Be aware of issues with ordering items.
• Include instructions for the questionnaire.
• Pretest all or part of the questionnaire.

16
Question

• As a general rule, a questionnaire should be
• spread out
• uncluttered
• relevant
• all of these choices

17
Answer D

• As a general rule, a questionnaire should be
  spread out, uncluttered and relevant.

18
Bias

• Refers to any property of questions that
  encourages respondents to answer in a particular
  way.

19
Wording

• Kenneth Rasinski analyzed the results of
  General Social Survey studies of attitudes toward
  government spending.
• He found the way programs were identified
  impacted their support.

20
Wording
21
Circling the Answer
22
Contingency Question

• Survey question intended only for some
  respondents, determined by their response to some
  other questions.

23
Contingency Question Format
24
Contingency Table
25
Questions to Skip
26
Matrix Question Format
27
Response Rate

• Number of people participating in a survey
  divided by the number selected in the sample.

28
Interview

• A data-collection encounter in which one person
  (an interviewer) asks questions of another (a
  respondent).
• ProbeA request for elaboration.

29
Acceptable Response Rates

• 50 - adequate for analysis and reporting
• 60 - good
• 70 - very good

30
Question

• Read the following item and then answer the
  question that follows
• The main cause of highway accidents is speeding
  by truckers. Dont you agree that the use of
  radar detectors by truckers should be made
  illegal?
• yes
• not sure
• no

31
Question

• What is the major weakness with the previous
  question?
• It is socially desirable.
• It is too long.
• It is biased.
• It is double-barreled.
• It is not clear.

32
Answer C

• The major weakness with the following question
  is that it is biased.
• The main cause of highway accidents is speeding
  by truckers. Dont you agree that the use of
  radar detectors by truckers should be made
  illegal?

33
Guidelines for Survey Interviewing

• Dress in a similar manner to the people who will
  be interviewed.
• Study and become familiar with the questionnaire.
• Follow question wording exactly.
• Record responses exactly.
• Probe for responses when necessary.

34
Training for Interviewers

• Discussion of general guidelines and procedures.
• Specify how to handle difficult or confusing
  situations.
• Conduct demonstration interviews.
• Conduct real interviews.

35
Telephone Surveys

• Advantages
• Money and time.
• Control over data collection.
• Disadvantages
• Surveys that are really ad campaigns.
• Answering machines.

36
New Technologies and Survey Research

• CAPI - computer assisted personal interviewing.
• CASI - computer assisted self interviewing.
• CSAQ - computerized self-administered
  questionnaires.
• TDE - touchtone data entry.
• VR - voice recognition.

37
Question

• Which of these are among the many advantages that
  underlie the growing popularity of telephone
  surveys?
• money
• time
• convenience
• all of these choices
• none of these choices

38
Answer D

• Money, time and convenience are among the many
  advantages that underlie the growing popularity
  of telephone surveys.

39
Strengths of Survey Research

• Useful in describing the characteristics of a
  large population.
• Make large samples feasible.
• Flexible - many questions can be asked on a given
  topic.

40
Weaknesses of Survey Research

• Can seldom deal with the context of social life.
• Inflexible in some ways.
• Subject to artificiality.
• Weak on validity.

41
Secondary Analysis

• A form of research in which the data collected
  and processed by one researcher are
  reanalyzedoften for a different purposeby
  another.
• This is especially appropriate in the case of
  survey data.
• Data archives are repositories or libraries for
  the storage and distribution of data for
  secondary analysis.

42
Quick Quiz
43

• 1. A___________ is an instrument specifically
  designed to elicit information that will be
  useful for analysis.
• questionnaire
• statement
• query
• none of these choices

44
Answer A

• A questionnaire is an instrument specifically
  designed to elicit information that will be
  useful for analysis.

45

• 2. A ____________is a survey question intended
  for only some respondents, determined by their
  responses to some other question.
• snowball question
• contingency question
• purposive question
• regressive question

46
Answer B

• A contingency question is a survey question
  intended for only some respondents, determined by
  their responses to some other question.

47

• 3. Which is not an advantage of survey
  research?
• increased validity
• increased reliability
• increased generalizability
• increased flexibility in analysis
• feasibility of larger samples

48
Answer A

• Increased validity is not an advantage of survey
  research.

49

• 4. The major problem with secondary analysis
  pertains to
• theory.
• hypotheses.
• validity.
• sampling.
• empirical generalization.

50
Answer C

• The major problem with secondary analysis
  pertains to validity.