Introduction to Survey Research

Survey Research is About Asking Questions About…  Behaviors  Opinions/Attitudes  Facts  Beliefs  There are lots of ways to ask these questions 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. Careful probability sampling provides a group of respondents whose characteristics may taken to reflect those of the larger population 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. 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, a response rate of 50% is adequate for analysis and reporting a response rate of 60% is good a response rate of 70% is very good

Non-attitudes  Many Assume Survey Research is Like Archeology Assumes Pre-Existing “Treasure” 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: Medical, Educational, Political, Business, etc.  Facilitates Hypothesis Testing  Encourages Standardization and Systematic Comparison

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