1. Chapter 9 Survey Research

2. Key Terms Respondent: Person who provides data for analysis by responding to a survey questionnaire. Questionnaire: Instrument designed to elicit information that will be useful for analysis.

3. Types of Questions Open-ended questions Respondent is asked to provide his or her own answer to the question. Closed-ended questions Respondent is asked to select an answer from among a list provided by the researcher.

4. Guidelines for Asking Questions Choose appropriate question forms. Avoid double-barreled questions and biased terms/ideas. Respondents must be competent and willing to answer. Questions should be relevant. Shorter is better.

5. Guidelines for Questionnaire Construction Be aware of issues with ordering items. Include instructions for the questionnaire. Pretest all or part of the questionnaire.

6. Bias Refers to any property of questions that encourages respondents to answer in a particular way.

7. Comparisons of Wording More SupportLess Support Assistance to the poorWelfare Halting rising crime rateLaw enforcement Dealing with drug addictionDrug rehabilitation Improving conditions of blacks Assistance to blacks Protecting social securitySocial security

8. Contingency Question Survey question intended only for some respondents, determined by their response to some other questions.

10. Self-Administered Surveys Mail surveys can be helpful, but it is often necessary to send several copies to the same group of people since responses are low Concern about validity of answers as well or confusion

11. Response Rate Number of people participating in a survey divided by the number selected in the sample. 50% adequate 60% good 70% very good

12. Interview A data-collection encounter in which one person (an interviewer) asks questions of another (a respondent). Probe A request for elaboration.

13. Telephone Surveys Advantages: Money and time. Control over data collection. Disadvantages: Surveys that are really ad campaigns. Answering machines.

14. New Technologies and Survey Research CAPI - computer assisted personal interviewing. CASI - computer assisted self interviewing. CSAQ - computerized self-administered questionnaires. TDE - touchtone data entry.

15. Strengths of Survey Research Useful in describing the characteristics of a large population. Make large samples feasible. Flexible - many questions can be asked on a given topic.

16. Weaknesses of Survey Research Can seldom deal with the context of social life. Inflexible in some ways. Subject to artificiality.

17. Secondary Analysis A form of research in which the data collected and processed by one researcher are reanalyzed—often for a different purpose—by another.

18. Ethics and Survey Research Surveys almost always requires people to provide information that is not readily available. “Cognitive Short-cuts” Some of this information could be embarrassing if it became public, so maintaining confidentiality is particularly important.