L4 SURVEYS

• useful way of obtaining information about people's opinions, attitudes, preferences by asking

  survey research
• useful for collecting data on sensitive topics bc it can be given anonymously

  surveys
• useful for making inferences about behavior

  survey data
• gather large amounts of data efficiently

  surveys
• survey technique

  written questionnaires

  interviews
• can be handed out or sent thru mail

  written questionnaires
• can be conducted face to face or over telephone

  interviews
• constructing surveys

  map out your research objectives

  design the survey items

  constructing question
• specify each aspect you want to evaluate, write one or more questions, put objectives in writing

  map out your research objectives
• how are going to address the imposition of units, use closed questions and open-ended, categorize possible responses

  design the survey items
• keep items simple, avoid double-barreled questions, responses choices need to be exhaustive

  constructing question
• named

  nominal
• rank ordering

  ordinal
• magnitude with equal intervals

  interval
• equal intervals and true zero

  ratio
• characteristic of first question

  relevant to the topic

  easy to answer

  interesting

  answerable by most respondents

  closed format
• important consideration for survey items

  get subjects involved by asking interesting questions

  consider placing demographic questions at the end

  make sure the questions are not value laden
• tendencies to respond to questions or test items

  response styles
• response styles

  willingness to answer

  position preference

  manifest content
• guess or omit items when unsure

  willingness to answer
• selecting an answer based on its position

  position preference
• plain meaning of the words printed

  manifest content
• yea-sayers, apt to agre

  acquiescence
• nay-sayers, disagree

  deviation
• changes in question interpretation, when 2 questions are related, too complex for us to predict them

  context effects
• collecting survey data

  self-administered questionnaires

  mail surveys

  computer and internet surveys

  telephone surveys

  interviews

  focus group
• consistency and repeatable

  reliability
• qualities of reliable survey

  consistent responses to similar questions

  generate very similar responses

  similar responses if given to same person more than once
• survey actually measures the intended topic

  validity
• sampling

  population

  samples of subjects

  representativeness
• all people

  population
• subset of population

  sample of subjects
• how closely the sample mirrors the larger population

  representativeness
• equal opportunity to be selected

  random selection
• portion of population selected in unbiased way

  simple random sampling
• all members are known and listed in unbiased way, may select every nth person

  systematic random sampling
• when population contain distinct subgroups

  stratified random sampling
• sample entire clusters or naturally occurring groups within the population

  cluster sampling
• subjects not chosen at random

  non-probability sampling
• predetermined quotas that are intended to reflect the makeup of the population

  quota sampling