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Survey Research
 Explain why social desirability is a problem in asking
questions.
 Explain why the order in which questions are asked is
important.
 Explain why it is important to pretest a questionnaire.
 List some strengths and weaknesses of survey design.
Introduction to Survey Research
Survey Research is About Asking
Questions About…
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Behaviors
Opinions/Attitudes
Facts
Beliefs
There are lots of ways to ask these questions
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Telephones
Interviews
Mail
Internet
Why Do A Survey?
 Interested in Individuals
 Interested in Aggregation of Views
 Interested in Recent & Current Events
 Interested in Big Groups
 Surveys may be used for descriptive, explanatory,
and exploratory purposes. They are typically used
in studies that have the individual as the unit of
analysis.
 Although the method may be used for other units
of analysis, some individual persons must serve as
respondents or informants.
 Survey research is probably the best method available to
the social researcher who is interested in collecting
original data for describing a population too large to
observe directly.
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Careful probability sampling provides a group of
respondents whose characteristics may taken to reflect
those of the larger population
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Carefully constructed standardized questionnaires provide
data in the same form from all respondents
Six steps in Survey Research
 Research Design
 Select Sample
 Construct Questions
 Ask Questions
 Analyze Data
 Report Results
Response Rate
 Response Rate is the percentage of surveys that are
returned.
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Overall response rate is one guide to the representativeness
of the sample respondents.
 A high response rate indicates there is a less chance of
significant response bias than a low response rate.
 A low response rate is a danger signal, because the non
respondents are likely to differ from the respondents in
ways other than just their willingness to participate in the
survey.
Acceptable Response Rates
 According to Babbie,
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a response rate of 50% is adequate for analysis
and reporting
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a response rate of 60% is good
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a response rate of 70% is very good
Non-attitudes
 Many Assume Survey Research is Like Archeology
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Assumes Pre-Existing “Treasure”
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With the Right Tools You Can Find It
 Often This Is A Perfectly Good Model
 Do People Always Have Attitudes or Opinions?
Dealing with non-attitudes
 Consumers: Be Wary of Opinion Polls About Very Complex
Issues
 Screen Respondents: Does the Person Know Anything About
the Issue?
 Create a "Mushiness Index“
 Offer a Middle Position
 Offer a "Don't Know" Option
Strengths of Survey Research
 Only Way to Probe Opinion of a Very Large Group
 A Very Flexible Tool:
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Medical, Educational, Political, Business, etc.
 Facilitates Hypothesis Testing
 Encourages
Comparison
Standardization
and
Systematic
Weaknesses of Survey Research
 Standardization Comes at a Price
 Surveys Often Don’t Get at “Why”
 Respondents Might Not Have An Opinion
 Respondents May Not Actively Engage
 Respondents May Lie