Page 46 - DMGT404 RESEARCH_METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology

Notes read to some degree, your questionnaire may contain difficult or technical vocabulary.
Clearly, there are some populations that you would expect to be illiterate. Young children
would not be good targets for questionnaires.
3. Are there language issues?
We live in a multilingual world. Virtually every society has members who speak other
than the predominant language. Some countries (like Canada) are officially multilingual.
And, our increasingly global economy requires us to do research that spans countries and
language groups. Can you produce multiple versions of your questionnaire? For mail
instruments, can you know in advance the language your respondent speaks, or do you
send multiple translations of your instrument? Can you be confident that important
connotations in your instrument are not culturally specific? Could some of the important
nuances get lost in the process of translating your questions?
4. Will the population cooperate?
People who do research on immigration issues have a difficult methodological problem.
They often need to speak with undocumented immigrants or people who may be able to
identify others who are. Why would we expect those respondents to cooperate? Although
the researcher may mean no harm, the respondents are at considerable risk legally if
information they divulge should get into the hand of the authorities. The same can be said
for any target group that is engaging in illegal or unpopular activities.
5. What are the geographic restrictions?
Is your population of interest dispersed over too broad a geographic range for you to
study feasibly with a personal interview? It may be possible for you to send a mail
instrument to a nationwide sample. You may be able to conduct phone interviews with
them. But it will almost certainly be less feasible to do research that requires interviewers
to visit directly with respondents if they are widely dispersed.

Sampling Issues

The sample is the actual group you will have to contact in some way. There are several important
sampling issues you need to consider when doing survey research.
1. What data is available?: What information do you have about your sample? Do you
know their current addresses? Their current phone numbers? Are your contact lists up to
date?
2. Can respondents be found?: Can your respondents be located? Some people are very busy.
Some travel a lot. Some work the night shift. Even if you have an accurate phone or
address, you may not be able to locate or make contact with your sample.
3. Who is the respondent?: Who is the respondent in your study? Let's say you draw a sample
of households in a small city. A household is not a respondent. Do you want to interview
a specific individual? Do you want to talk only to the "head of household" (and how is that
person defined)? Are you willing to talk to any member of the household? Do you state
that you will speak to the first adult member of the household who opens the door? What
if that person is unwilling to be interviewed but someone else in the house is willing?
How do you deal with multi-family households? Similar problems arise when you sample
groups, agencies, or companies. Can you survey any member of the organization? Or, do
you only want to speak to the Director of Human Resources? What if the person you
would like to interview is unwilling or unable to participate? Do you use another member
of the organization?

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