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| - Courses Information Page |
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| - An Overview of Methods |
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| - An Overview of Research Design |
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| - Research Instruments |
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| - Conceptualization |
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| - Master Survey |
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| - Project: Surveying |
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| Surveys are systematic attempts to collect info to describe ? explain the beliefs, attitudes, values ? behavior of selected groups of people |
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| The Content of a Survey should be constructed in light of all the needs of the Research Project, including the: |
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| - Research Design |
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| - Topic |
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| - Thesis |
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| - Types of Analysis |
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| - Literature |
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| - Operationalization |
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| Types of Surveys: |
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| There are THREE Kinds of Surveys:
a. questionnaires b. telephone interviews c. personal interviews |
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| Each of the Kinds of Surveys affects the Data Gathering technique | |||||||||||||||||
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The Data Gathering techniques of surveys include
a. individual self-administered questionnaires b. group self-administered questionnaires c. face-to-face interviews d. telephone surveys |
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| A Sample Survey surveys only a selected, representative sample of the entire population of possible respondents | |||||||||||||||||
| An example of a Sample Survey is the Gallop Poll, who generally surveys about 1,100 people to determine the opinion of the general population of the US, which is 285 mm, on a given topic | |||||||||||||||||
| See Also: Sampling | |||||||||||||||||
| A Population Survey surveys the entire population of possible respondents | |||||||||||||||||
| An example of a Population Survey is when the administration of UVaWise surveys the entire student population of UVaWise | |||||||||||||||||
| A Cross-Sectional Survey is administered once to a sample of respondents | |||||||||||||||||
| With a Cross-Sectional Survey, the same questionnaire may be administered again to a different sample of respondents | |||||||||||||||||
| The repeated use of cross sections is for detecting trends | |||||||||||||||||
| The US Census is an example of a Cross-Sectional Survey in that they typically ask the same or similar questions over a period of years or decades | |||||||||||||||||
| A Longitudinal Survey, which is also known as a Panel Study, the same or similar survey is given repeatedly over a period of time to the same or similar group of respondents | |||||||||||||||||
| An Establishment Survey is a survey that has, in effect, been institutionalized because of its widely recognized validity, reliability, ? generalizability | |||||||||||||||||
| An Example of an Establishment Survey is the National Organization's Survey which asks a series of standard questions about the characteristics of companies ? their employees | |||||||||||||||||
| An Example of an Establishment Survey is the Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI) which asks a series of questions to quantify a person's personality | |||||||||||||||||
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Survey Questions: | ||||||||||||||||
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There are TWO kinds of Survey Questions: |
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| a. Fixed-response questions are like multiple-choice exam questions | |||||||||||||||||
| b. Open ended questions: respondent states or writes an answer to the question in their own words. (Similar to an interview) | |||||||||||||||||
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Avoid loaded questions in surveys. |
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Bias is the effect you get when you have a loaded question |
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In closed ended questions many formats are used, but try ? give a clear range of choices ( Likert Scale ) on a 5 or 7 pt scale |
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Example of a Likert scale:
Please mark the answer that most closely matches your belief: I study very hard
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There are FOUR Types of Questions typically used in Surveys that may
either be Fact Based (Objective) or Belief Based (Subjective)
a. Background (demographics) b. Activities c. Knowledge d. Sentiments (opinions, values, attitudes, feelings, etc.) |
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In general, the survey should try ? use Fact Based, Objective type questions wherever possible, even on topics that may be subjective in nature | ||||||||||||||||
| Example, in asking people about family values, the survey may ask a question such as: "How many times does your family have meals (include all meals, morning, noon ? night) together per week?" | |||||||||||||||||
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A Master Survey is a special survey in which only the researcher sees which indicates the function of each question |
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The Master Survey should label each question w/ respect to the: |
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- Four Types of Questions |
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- Thesis |
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- Research Objectives |
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- Variables |
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-Variables w/ respect to Independent, Dependent, ? Control Variables |
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The Master Survey should group the questions together by Independent, Dependent Variables, ? Control Variables |
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Make each question count
Ask, "Is this important to my thesis or hypothesis?" Try to avoid sentiments Use short statements |
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Question ordering
Start w/ safe questions to try to gain trust, build rapport Put most controversial questions near end End w/ safe questions |
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| The Advantages ? Disadvantages of Survey: | |||||||||||||||||
| Compared to an Ethnography or a Case Study, surveys are more easily generalized to the population they were designed to represent | |||||||||||||||||
| By directly questioning respondents, a survey can measure subjective indicators such as job satisfaction | |||||||||||||||||
| Changes in facts ? attitudes an be traced ? studied if the same question is asked in repeated surveys | |||||||||||||||||
| One problem w/ surveys is Selection Bias in which only certain types of people respond to a survey | |||||||||||||||||
| Selection Bias can be minimized through strong Sampling Procedures | |||||||||||||||||
| See Also: Sampling |
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| One problem w/ surveys is Response Error in which results when a respondent misunderstands a question or intentionally give an untrue answer | |||||||||||||||||
| Response Error can be minimized through strong Survey Construction | |||||||||||||||||
| See Also: Survey Construction |
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Survey Construction |
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Survey Sampling is the process by which you chose who will take the survey |
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- If you compare two or groups of people, survey equal numbers of each |
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- In many cases, a sample of 50 gives one a scientifically valid sample for each variable examined |
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Survey Construction discusses the process of creating a survey |
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Survey Sampling discusses the issues of acquiring a representative sample |
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Surveys may be pre-tested in the Pilot Study |
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Data Collection discusses the process of administering Surveys |
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The Preparation of the Data of the survey goes through THREE
Steps
a. Precoding b. Coding c. Construct the Data Matrix |
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The End