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 An Overview of the  Social Science Method of the Survey
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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
 
  The Content of a Survey should be constructed in light of all the needs of the Research Project, including the:
 
  - Research Design
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  - Topic
 
  - Thesis
 
  - Types of Analysis 
 
  - Literature
 
  - Operationalization
 
  Types of Surveys
 
  There are THREE Kinds of Surveys:
   a. questionnaires     b. telephone interviews     c. personal interviews 
 
  Each of the Kinds of Surveys affects the Data Gathering technique  
 
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
 
  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  
 
Survey Questions:  
 
There are TWO kinds of Survey Questions:
 
  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)   
 
Avoid loaded questions in surveys. 
 
 
Bias is the effect you get when you have a loaded question
 
 
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 
 
 
Example of a Likert scale:

Please mark the answer that most closely matches your belief: 

I study very hard
 
Strongly
 
Neutral / 
 
Strongly
Agree
Agree
No Opinion
Disagree
Disagree
______
______
______
______
______

 
 
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.)
 
 
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?"  
 
A Master Survey is a special survey in which only the researcher sees which indicates the function of each question
 
 
The Master Survey should label each question w/ respect to the:
 
 
- Four Types of Questions
 
 
- Thesis
 
 
- Research Objectives
 
 
- Variables
 
 
-Variables w/ respect to Independent, Dependent, ? Control Variables
 
 
The Master Survey should group the questions together by Independent, Dependent Variables, ? Control Variables
 
 
Make each question count 
Ask, "Is this important to my thesis or hypothesis?" 
Try to avoid sentiments
Use short statements 
 
 
Question ordering
Start w/ safe questions to try to gain trust, build rapport 
Put most controversial questions near end 
End w/ safe questions 
 
  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 
 
 
- In many cases, a sample of 50 gives one a scientifically valid sample for each variable examined 
 
 
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