Science and Research

							Social Research Methods:
Qualitative and Quantitative
      Approaches, 5e
Chapter 10: Survey Research

Introduction
Logic of Survey Research.
Constructing the Questionnaire.
Types of Surveys: Advantages and
Disadvantages.
Interviewing.
Ethical Survey
Conclusion
                Introduction
What is a survey?
   A form of quantitative research in which the
    researcher:
   Develops a questionnaire
      A set of questions designed to measure one or
      more variables
   Administers the questionnaire to a sample
      Unit of analysis – most often individual, but can be
      family, organization, etc
   Records and analyzes the responses
           Surveys are
The most widely used data gathering
technique in sociology
Used in many fields
Research Questions Appropriate
         for a Survey
 Behavior
 How frequently do you or someone else do
 something?
 When is the last time you or someone else
 did something?
 Attitudes and opinions
 What kind of job is someone doing?
 What is the biggest problem in this
 community?
 Characteristics
 Are you married?
 What is your age?
   Questions continued…
Expectations
Do you plan to do something within the next
year?
What will change?
Self-classifications
Do you consider yourself liberal?
Are you more rural or urban?
Knowledge
What is the population of this community?
    History of Survey Research
Based on ancient census, e.g. Domesday Book
in England 1085-6
   For taxation, political representation
United States: research on urban poverty mid-
19th century, no scientific sampling or statistics
Social surveys: 1890s to 1930s – qualitative and
quantitative survey research on communities –
now would be called ‘action-oriented community
survey’ oriented toward social reform
By mid-1940s, eclipsed by modern quantitative
survey
The modern quantitative survey –
 factors in its rise to dominance:
Addition of scientific sampling and precise
measurement techniques, after Literary Digest
case
Researchers developed scales and indexes
Increasing use of surveys in other fields –
market research, journalism, government,
private non-profits
‘Professionalization’ of social science – shift
from non-academics seeking to solve social
problems – often at local level – to positivist
model, based on natural sciences
Factors leading to professionalization of social
    sciences and rise of survey research

 Competition among researchers and
universities for funding and prestige
Researchers turned away from reform ideals
after the end of the Progressive Era (1895-1915)
 Major foundations – Carnegie, Rockefeller,
Sage – poured money into quantitative positivist
research
          History, continued
WWII – great government use of surveys
Post-war: shift to universities and other
settings. Major growth due to:
   Computers
   New survey research centers
   Creation of data archives
   Funding – especially by federal government
   Improved methodology
     Survey Research Today
Survey research ‘industry’ employs more
than 60,000 people in U.S. alone,
including 6,000 full-time professionals
Surveys are used in
   Basic research
   Applied research
Chapter 10: Survey Research

Introduction
Logic of Survey Research.
Constructing the Questionnaire.
Types of Surveys: Advantages and
Disadvantages.
Interviewing.
Ethical Survey
Conclusion
Steps in Conducting a Survey
 Surveys follow a deductive process
 Begin with theoretical or applied research
 problem(s) or question(s)
 See specific steps in figure 10.1, page 268
Chapter 10: Survey Research

Introduction
Logic of Survey Research.
Constructing the Questionnaire.
Types of Surveys: Advantages and
Disadvantages.
Interviewing.
Ethical Survey
Conclusion
    Principles of Good Question Writing

A good questionnaire forms an integrated whole
   Introductory remarks and instructions
   Measure each variable with one or more questions
   Questions flow smoothly
Dilemma:
   Each respondent should hear the same question, but
   Respondents have different backgrounds and frames
    of reference, so the same wording may not have the
    same meaning to different people
   So, question writing is as much an art as a science
      Writing Questions
Avoid using jargon, slang, or
abbreviations.
Avoid ambiguity, confusion, and
vagueness.
Avoid emotional language and prestige
bias.
Avoid double-barreled questions.
Writing questions continued…

Avoid leading questions.
Avoid asking difficult questions.
Avoid false premises.
Avoid asking about future intentions.
Avoid double negatives.
Avoid overlapping or unbalanced response
categories.
     Aiding Respondent Recall

Memory is less trustworthy than social
scientists once assumed
Need to customize questions and interpret
results cautiously
Provide respondents with special
instructions and extra thinking time
     Types of Questions and Response
                Categories
Threatening (to self-image, etc.) questions
can be mitigated by
   ‘enhanced’ wording
   Gender of researcher
   Anonymity
Knowledge questions
   Pilot test questions
   Sleeper questions
    Types of Questions and Response
         Categories, continued
Skip or contingency questions
Open vs. Closed questions
   See box 10.2, page 278 – advantages and
    disadvantages of each
Agree/Disagree, Rankings or Ratings?
Wording Issues
Questionnaire Design Issues
Instrument length.
The order or sequence of the questions.
   Order effects
   Context effects
Format and Layout
Non-response, refusals.
Response rate
   See box 10.6, page 287
Chapter 10: Survey Research

Introduction
Logic of Survey Research.
Constructing the Questionnaire.
Types of Surveys: Advantages and
Disadvantages.
Interviewing.
Ethical Survey
Conclusion
 Types of Surveys: Advantages and
           Disadvantages
See Table 10.4, page 290
Chapter 10: Survey Research
Introduction
Logic of Survey Research.
Constructing the Questionnaire.
Types of Surveys: Advantages and
Disadvantages.
Interviewing.
Ethical Survey
Conclusion
Interviewing – the Survey Interview
 The survey research interview is:
    A special kind of interviewing
    A social relationship
 Role of the interviewer
    Gain cooperation, build rapport, but
    Remain neutral, unbiased, nonjudgmental
 “Stages” – see 294-295 for specific techniques
 Training Interviewers
 Interviewer Bias
 Cultural Meanings and Survey Interviews
   Feminist Approaches to Interviewing
        (Contrast with Positivist)

See box 10.11, p. 299
    Computer Assisted Telephone
Interviewing (CATI) and Web-Surveys
CATI
   Interviewers read questions from a computer screen and input
    responses
   Speeds interviewing and decreases interviewer errors.
   Well suited to contingency questions
   elemarketers are making this technique problematic as respondents
    have become suspicious of survey callers.

Web-Surveys
   Promising in terms of cost
   Can have high rates of coverage error in terms of who really completes
    the instrument
   Many people still lack access to the internet.
          The Ethical Survey
Key issues
   Privacy
   Voluntary participation
   Pseudosurveys
      “suppression polls”
      “push polls”
   Misuse of surveys
   Uncritical reporting of bad surveys