Survey Research

Survey Research

1. What is Survey?

   • Researchers are often interested in the opinions of a large group of people about a particular topic or issue. They ask a number of questions, all related to the issue, to find answers.

2. Why are Surveys Conducted?

   • The major purpose of surveys is to describe the characteristics of a population.

3. Types of Survey

   • There are two major types of surveys: cross-sectional surveys and longitudinal surveys.
   • Three longitudinal designs commonly employed in survey research are trend studies, cohort studies, and panel studies.
   • In a trend study, different samples from a population whose members change are surveyed at different points in time.
   • In a panel study, the same sample of individuals is surveyed at different times over the course of the survey.

4. Survey Research and Correlational Research

   • It is not uncommon for researchers to examine the relationship of responses to one question in a survey to another.

5. Steps in Survey Research

   • The focus of study in a survey is called the unit of analysis.
   • As in other types of research, the group of persons that is the focus of the study is called the target population.
   • The sample to be surveyed should be selected randomly if possible.

6. Questions asked in Survey Research

   • The nature of the questions, and the way they are asked, are extremely important in survey research.
   • Most surveys use some form of closed-ended question.
   • The survey instrument should be pretested with a small sample similar to the potential respondents.

7. The Cover Letter

   • A cover letter is sent to potential respondents in a mail survey explaining the purpose of the survey questionnaire.

8. Interviewing

   • Both telephone and face-to-face interviewers need to be trained before they administer the survey instrument.
   • Both total nonresponse and item nonresponse are major problems in survey research that seem to be increasing in recent years.

9. Threats to Internal Validity in Survey Research

   • Threats to the internal validity of survey research include location, instrumentation, instrument decay, and mortality.

10. Data Analysis in Survey Research

    • The percentage of the total sample responding for each item on a survey questionnaire should be reported, as well as the percentage of the total sample who chose each alternative for each question.