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Chapter 12
Survey Research
Survey Research
• Nonexperimental method using interviews or
questionnaires to assess attitudes, activities,
opinions, or beliefs
• Surveys often used to assess changes in
attitudes over time, to test theoretical models,
and to describe and predict behavior (i.e.,
political polls; Marketing Surveys).
Survey Research (cont'd)
• To insure high external validity random
samples should be used.
Steps in Conducting Survey Research
•
•
•
•
•
Plan and design the survey
Construct and refine the survey instrument
Collect the survey data
Enter and “clean” the data
Analyze & interpret the data
Cross-sectional and Longitudinal
Designs
• Cross-sectional studies involve collecting data
in a single, brief time period
• Longitudinal studies involve collecting data at
more than one point in time
– panel studies – type of longitudinal design in
which the same individuals are surveyed multiple
times over time
– trend study – same survey questions are asked of
different samples over time (Real Clear Politics)
Methods of Data Collection
• Face-to-face or personal interview
– advantages include ability to clear up ambiguities
and higher completion rate
– disadvantage - expense
• Telephone interview
– less expensive than face to face and comparable
data
Methods of Data Collection (cont'd)
• Mail questionnaires
– low cost but low return rate
• Group-administered questionnaire
Methods of Data Collection (cont'd)
• Electronic survey
– e-mail & Web-based
– advantages of electronic surveys
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•
•
•
cost
instant access to wide audience
download to spreadsheet
flexible in layout—especially web-based survey
Methods of Data Collection (cont'd)
• Electronic survey
– disadvantages of electronic surveys
• privacy and anonymity
• sample may not be representative of population
Constructing and Refining a Survey
Instrument
Principle 1.
Write Items to Match the Research Objectives
– conduct literature review
(don’t always need to reinvent the wheel)
– write items that will yield reliable and valid data
(may have to construct your own measurement).
Principle 2.
Write Items That Are Appropriate for the
Respondents to be Surveyed
– use easy-to-understand language based on
reading level, culture etc.
Principle 3. Write Short, Simple Questions
Principle 4.
Avoid Loaded or Leading Questions
– a loaded term is one that produced an emotional
response
• a leading question suggests to the respondent how
they should respond
When forty people were asked about headaches. Those
who were asked 'Do you get headaches frequently and, if
so, how often?' reported an average of 2.2 headaches per
week, whereas those who were asked 'Do you get
headaches occasionally and, if so, how often?' reported
only 0.7 per week (Loftus, 1975).
Principle 5.
Avoid Double-Barreled Questions
– double-barreled questions ask two or more things
in a single question
– “Have you stopped beating your wife yet.”
– “ 95% of respondents said “Current Gun laws need
to be changed”.
Principle 6.
Avoid Double Negatives
I don’t have no time.
- avoid negatives if you can!
• Principle 7. Determine Whether Closed-Ended
or Open-Ended Questions are Needed
– open-ended better if researcher is unsure what
respondent is thinking or variable is ill-defined
– closed-ended are easier to code and provide more
standardized data
Principle 8.
Construct Mutually Exclusive and Exhaustive
Categories
– mutually exclusive means that the categories do
not overlap
– exhaustive items include all possible responses
Principle 9.
Consider the Different Types of Closed-Ended
Response Categories
– rating scales
• multichotomous (more than two choices) usually
preferred
– ability to measure direction and strength of attitude
• distance between each descriptor should be the same
Anchors - descriptors places on points
on a rating scale.
Should Current Gun control Law be changed?
Yes
No
(binary forced choice)
Please rate agreement with the statements
according to rating scale.
Current Gun Control laws should be:
1
2
3
4
5
7
8
Greatly
Strengthened
Kept the
Same
9
10
Greatly
Lessened
Principle 9
Consider the Different Types of Closed-Ended
Response Categories
– binary forced choice
• participant chooses one of pair of attitudes
• typically not recommended
– Rankings (forces comparisons between options)
- not interval scale.
– Checklists ( allows for more than one answer)
Principle 10.
Use Multiple Items to Measure Complex or
Abstract Constructs
semantic differential
– scaling method in
which participants
rate an object on a
series of bipolar
rating scales.
Likert scaling (summated Rating Scale).
Characteristics of a Likert scale:
The scale contains several items.
Response levels are arranged horizontally.
Response levels are anchored with consecutive integers.
Response levels are also anchored with verbal labels which
connote more-or-less evenly-spaced gradations.
Verbal labels are bivalent and symmetrical about a neutral middle
Always measures attitude in terms of level of
agreement/disagreement to a target statement.
Principle 11.
Make Sure the Questionnaire is Easy to Use
From Beginning to End
– ordering of questions
• positive and interesting questions first
• demographic questions last
– limit the number of contingency questions (If yes,
go to)
– questionnaire length
Response bias
• social desirability bias occurs when participants
respond In a way to make themselves look good
– reduce by insuring anonymity
– Include a measure of social desirability
• response set – tendency to respond in a specific
way
– use even number of response categories on rating scale
– include multiple question types
– response bias
• response set – tendency to respond in a specific way
– use even number of response categories on rating scale
– include multiple question types
Principle 12.
Pilot Test the Questionnaire until it is perfected
Other Terms in Chapter 12
Population vs. Sample
Convenience sampling
Random sapling
Sampling error
Simple Random Samples vs. Representative
Samples