Transcript What is a Survey?

Level 3
Methodology A
SURVEYS
Professor Rhona Flin
(Dr Margaret Crichton)
Examples of current public
opinion surveys
Social Science Research
Applied Psychology:
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Workforce attitudes eg safety climate surveys
Incidence of depression in undergraduate students
Experience of crime in the elderly
Use of decision support systems in intensive care
Primary teachers’ experience of web-teaching
Overview
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What is a survey?
Sampling
Survey designs
Data collection methods
Questionnaire design
– Asking questions
• Conducting a survey
What is a Survey?
‘A method of gathering information from a
number of individuals, a ‘sample’, in order
to learn something about the larger
population from which the sample is
drawn.’
(May 1993, Social Research p65)
Sampling
• random sample
– equal chance of selection
• stratified random sample
– strata = predetermined variables
• cluster sample
– e.g. geographical location
• opportunity sample
– taking advantage of opportunity
• snowball sample
– participants recruit new sample
Survey designs
• Cross-sectional
– one sample, one time
• Time series
– repeated survey, different samples
• Longitudinal
– repeated survey, same sample
Data collection methods
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postal questionnaire
emailed/ web-based questionnaire
telephone interview
face to face interview
(See handout for comparison)
Asking questions
1. Content -
facts; beliefs & attitudes;
self –report behaviours
2. Wording - terminology, leading & loaded questions
3. Structure - complexity,
length,
open vs closed questions,
rating scales
(coding and scoring)
4. Sequence - funnelling, transitional
statements, filters
Question Format
a) Open Questions
• How do you feel about investors from foreign
countries purchasing shares in British companies?
• What goes through your mind whenever you see
someone driving down the street in a MercedesBenz car?
Question format
b) Closed Questions
i) Dichotomous
washing powder?
•  Yes
Do
 No
you
buy
Persil
Question format
c) Multiple Choice
How far do you commute from your home to where
you work?
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0-5 miles round trip.
6-10 miles round trip
11-20 miles round trip
Over 20 miles round trip.
Question Format
d) Multiple response
Of the following activities, please indicate the one(s) in
which you have participated in the past month.
 Have attended the cinema.
 Have gone to the pub.
 Have invited friends over for an evening of cards.
 Have attended a play or concert.
 Have played tennis.
 Have watched the grass growing in the front lawn.
Rating Scales
Potential Source of Bias, Unbalanced Range
How would you rate the reliability of your
Snowchucker snowblower?
 Superior
 Very good
 Good
 Poor
How would your rate the reliability of your
Snowchucker snowblower?
 Extremely poor
 Very poor
 Poor
 Good
Ewell Carey’s Take-Out Chicken is:
Very reasonably priced
Priced far too high
x
The worst-tasting chicken in town
The best-tasting chicken in town
x
Compared to Colonel Sanders, Ewell Carey’s Take-Out Chicken:
Has an inferior taste
Tastes about the same
Has a superior taste
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Overall, how do you like your new Snowchucker?
Very dissatisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied
1
Somewhat satisfied
2
Very satisfied
3
4
What do you think of the food at Chung Ho’s Burrito?
Terrible
-3
Terrific
-2
-1
0
+1
+2
+3
Please rank the following restaurants according to the quality of
their food. Place a “1” beside the restaurant you believe has the
highest quality food, a “2” next to the second best establishment,
then continue until you’ve placed a “5” next to the one with the
lowest-quality food:
__________ Ewell Carey’s Take-Out Chicken
__________ Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken
__________ Wofgang Schmidt’s Genuine Italian Pizza
__________ Harold’s Hoagie Heaven
__________ Chung Ho’s Burrito Palace
Conducting a Survey
1. Mode of data collection -personal interview, mail, email, phone
2. Specific areas to be covered
3. Existing questions/scales
4. Writing questions - language, open v closed, rating scales
5. Draft - sequence, transition,
– balance open v closed, positive v. negative
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Circulate draft - revise from comments
Pretest with small sample (eg 10)
Analyse pretest - revise
Administer
Code & analyse data
Prepare Survey Report - summarising results, drawing conclusions
References
Further details and the reference list are
provided on the lecture handout.