Surveys

Surveys

1. research design

   • opinions and attitudes
   • unit of analysis mostly individuals
   • includes census

2. questions

   • open vs close ended
   • clear wording
   • question order

3. sampling

   • representative through random sampling
   • coverage bias
     • systematically underrepresents groups
       • way data is collected
   • non-response bias
     • systematic difference in non response rates
       • only problem if not random

4. experiment

   • randomly assign groups
     • both receive different survey
       • different on one variable
         • attribute differences to variable
           • high internal validity
     • makes groups essentially equal

5. observation

   • all participants have same survey
     • look for patterns
       • control for confounding variables
         • no control over X
           • lower internal validity

6. strengths

   • some phenomena need opinion data
     • random sampling
       • some representativeness
       • confounding variables
         • experiment survey

7. weaknesses

   • observation survey
     • confounding variables
       • no control
         • divide and compare
   • non-random sampling
     • selection method
     • non-response bias