Surveys

SurveysSpring 2012MorinchinWhat Do Surveys Tell Us?1. Attitudes - How well do you think our committee has accomplished its objectives?

What Do Surveys Tell Us?2. Factual Information- Did you participate in any extracurricular activities during the 2011-2012 school year?What Do Surveys Tell Us?3. Needs or wants- To what extent do you think a bookstore in Lebanon would be necessary?What Do Surveys Tell Us?4. Knowledge- What did the guest speaker talk about last week?What Do Surveys Tell Us?5. Self-Perceptions- How much did you gain from this class?- Are you generally happy with this class?9-Step Process1. Formulate the survey keeping in mind your overall analytical needs- Define what you want to examine- Identify the population that will be surveyed- Determine what kinds of variables you want to measure- What questions do you want to have answered?- Whats the best way to go about getting those answers?

9-Step Process2. Determine specifically what mode of collecting the data will be used

- Personal interviews- Telephone surveys- Mailed questionnaires/drop-off surveys- Web or email-based surveys

9-Step Process3. Make an appropriate plan- How many interviews need to be completed? (sample size)- How do I plan on getting my surveys back?- Who should be included in the sample?- How can the sample be made to represent the population

9-Step Process4. Develop the questionnaire

- Each question should fit the overall goal of your research

9-Step Process5. If you have someone helping you to conduct your survey, make sure that they are properly trained

- Interviewer bias can wreck an otherwise well-developed survey

9-Step Process6. Conduct an early pretest (test run) of the survey, whenever possible

- Use these results to refine your survey, or work out any bugs

9-Step Process7. Execute the survey- Be ready to deal with problems such as:- The length of the survey- Questions that prove to be unnecessary/unhelpful- Questions that may have made sense to you may confuse your participants

9-Step Process8. Edit and process the data

- Code responses in a reasonable and useable way- Minimize any errors

9-Step Process9. Analyze the data- Develop your findings or conclusions- Write up a summary of what you have found

Sources of Bias1. Interviewer effects- physical appearance- how the interviewer conducts the survey

2. Respondent effects- the guinea pig effect- response set - the halo effect- social desirability

Sources of Bias3. Situational effects- location where the survey is conducted- survey being conducted around other people- distractions/timingSources of Bias4. Survey instrument

- some items being vague - leading wording- selectively providing possible responsesResponse Choices1. Ordinal Scales- Strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree- excellent, very good, fair, poor- always, often, sometimes, never- definitely true, true, dont know, false, definitely falseResponse Choices2. Catagorical (nominal)Ex: Which of the following books have you read? Check all that apply o Pride and Prejudiceo Emma o The Vicar of Wakefieldo Moby Dick o Catcher in the Ryeo Persuasion o Call of the Wildo Beloved

*Issue with catagorical and ordinal scales: respondents cannot explain, qualify, or clarify their answer

Response ChoicesAdvantages to Close-Ended Questions1. Easy to code, enter, analyze, and present2. Quick turnaround3. Enhanced reliability- difficult to misinterpret 4. Less researcher bias5. Higher degree of anonymityAdvantages of Open-Ended QuestionsAble to determine more informationParticipant may volunteer helpful information beyond what is askedAble to quantify or qualify an answer

Disadvantage more difficult to code, chart, present