1. Survey Designs Used to collect descriptive data
Study attitudes or values of a group
Common practices of a group
May be used to describe elements of a specific group or generalize to a larger population
May study relationships between/among variables

2. Survey Methods Interviews
Investigator asks specific questions of a respondent and records responses
Affords opportunity for in-depth analysis
Types
Structured - investigator uses a specific set of questions
Unstructured - no fixed agenda
Has flexibility to diverge from the nature of a question vs. questionnaire “Go where the discussion leads you”

3. Survey Methods Questionnaires
“Pen and paper response” a pre-determined set of questions
Provides anonymity and encourages honest responses
Questions should be standardized (everyone answers the same question) and determined to be valid and reliable
Requires self-reporting & subject to bias recall

4. Questionnaires
Disadvantage - may not be able to explore a response in depth
This problem may be alleviated with a good design

5. Question Types Closed-ended
Respondent selects from among several choices
Example - simple structure (dichotomous response)
“Are you currently practicing physical therapy?”
a. Yes
b. No

6. Question Types Response over a continuum
“How important do you feel clinical research is to the practice of physical therapy?”
a. Very important
b. Important
c. Somewhat important
d. Not important
e. Not sure

7. Question Types Branching
1. “Do you read a professional journal such as PHYSICAL THERAPY at least one time per month?
A. No > Go to question 3.
B. Yes
2. “How many hours do you spend reading this journal? _________
3. ….

8. Question Types Rank-order
“The following are characteristics of a researcher. Please order them in terms of importance from 1(most important) to 4 (least important.”
_____methodical
_____careful
_____persistent
_____on-time

9. Question Types Open-ended
“Describe the characteristics that you feel are important to be an effective physical therapy practitioner.”
_______________________________

10. Analysis Descriptive statistics Frequency analysis
65% of the respondents were female
35% of the respondents were male
Frequency analysis
Chi square examines significant relationships between variables