Journalism 614: Survey Research

Survey Research  Structured interview of: –Sample of individuals in order to generalize to a larger population  Survey modes: –Face-to-face –Paper-and-pencil –RDD telephone –Direct mail –Internet

Advantages & Disadvantages 9 Generalizability - external validity 9 Representativeness - unbiased sample 9 Customizability - wide variety of research questions 4 Time - 6 months from start to finish 4 Cost - Face-to-face vs. Telephone vs. Mail 4 Hard to find facilities and experts 4 Causality - Non-experimental design

Misconceptions  Single time-point >>> Longitudinal, Panel Designs  Must be face-to-face >>> Can use telephone, mail  Interviewers read questions >>> Self-administered  Individuals as unit of observation >>> Family  Non-experimental >>> Can embed experiments  Atheoretical >>> Can test hypotheses Surveys are a very flexible research technique

Reliability of Survey Research  Stability: –In panel designs, test-retest correlations  Reproducibility: –In open-ended questions, coder agreement  Internal Consistency: –In scales, the consistency of item response

Validity of Survey Research  Face Validity: –Do items capture concepts?  Content Validity: –Are relevant dimensions represented by indicators?  Convergent Validity: –Are multiple indicators correlated?  Divergent Validity: –Do indicators allow us to differentiate from other concepts? –Do indicators differentiate between distinct concept dimensions?

Stages in Survey Research  General Research Questions  Specific Research Questions  Sampling Design  Questionnaire Development  Interviewer Training  Pretest  Fieldwork - Test  Content Coding  Analysis Computation  Report Writing

Questionnaire Construction  Length: –:30 for telephone, longer for personal/self-administered  Ordering: –Put an easy question first, funnel toward specific –Save sensitive question for the end  Transitions: –Ease them from one section to another  Probes: –Further information, elaboration

Training Interviewers  Two parts: –1. Basic interviewing skills –2. Specific interview schedule, questionnaire

Motivations and Barriers  Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivations: –expression, boredom, loneliness, politeness, curiosity, loyalty  Barriers: –Suspicion, fear, inadequacy, privacy, distractions, time to answer  Overcoming Barriers: –confidentiality, listening, probing, repeating, focus, and practice