Page 45 - DMGT404 RESEARCH_METHODOLOGY

Unit 3: Research Design

3.3.3 Survey Notes

The survey is a research technique in which data are gathered by asking questions of respondents.
Survey research is one of the most important areas of measurement in applied social research.
The broad area of survey research encompasses any measurement procedures that involve
asking questions of respondents. A "survey" can be anything form a short paper-and-pencil
feedback form to an intensive one-on-one in-depth interview.

Types of Surveys

Surveys can be divided into two broad categories: the questionnaire and the interview.
Questionnaires are usually paper-and-pencil instruments that the respondent completes.
Interviews are completed by the interviewer based on the respondent says. Sometimes, it's hard
to tell the difference between a questionnaire and an interview. For instance, some people think
that questionnaires always ask short closed-ended questions while interviews always ask broad
open-ended ones. But you will see questionnaires with open-ended questions (although they do
tend to be shorter than in interviews) and there will often be a series of closed-ended questions
asked in an interview.

Survey research has changed dramatically in the last ten years. We have automated telephone
surveys that use random dialing methods. There are computerized kiosks in public places that
allows people to ask for input. A whole new variation of group interview has evolved as focus
group methodology. Increasingly, survey research is tightly integrated with the delivery of
service. Your hotel room has a survey on the desk. Your waiter presents a short customer
satisfaction survey with your check. You get a call for an interview several days after your last
call to a computer company for technical assistance. You're asked to complete a short survey
when you visit a web site.

Selecting the Survey Method

Selecting the type of survey you are going to use is one of the most critical decisions in many
social research contexts. You'll see that there are very few simple rules that will make the
decision for you – you have to use your judgment to balance the advantages and disadvantages
of different survey types. Here, all I want to do is give you a number of questions you might ask
that can help guide your decision.

Population Issues

He first set of considerations have to do with the population and its accessibility.
1. Can the population be enumerated?

For some populations, you have a complete listing of the units that will be sampled. For
others, such a list is difficult or impossible to compile. For instance, there are complete
listings of registered voters or person with active drivers licenses. But no one keeps a
complete list of homeless people. If you are doing a study that requires input from homeless
persons, you are very likely going to need to go and find the respondents personally. In
such contexts, you can pretty much rule out the idea of mail surveys or telephone interviews.
2. Is the population literate?

Questionnaires require that your respondents can read. While this might seem initially
like a reasonable assumption for many adult populations, we know from recent research
that the instance of adult illiteracy is alarmingly high. And, even if your respondents can

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