SURVEY RESEARCH

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.
 A Classification of Survey
Methods
Survey
Methods

Telephone Personal Mail Electronic

In-Home Mall Computer-Assisted Internet

E-mail
Intercept Personal
Interviewing

Traditional Computer-Assisted
Mail Mail
Telephone Telephone
Interview Panel
Interviewing
 Advantages of Survey
Research
► Relatively large sample size, increases
generalizability of results
► Standardized format, ease of
administering and recording questions and
answers
► Probe feelings, thoughts, activities,
unobservables
► Statistical analysis/Group comparisons
 Disadvantages of Survey
Methods
► Difficultiesassociated with developing accurate
survey instruments
► Limits to the in-depth detail of data structure
► Lack of control over timeliness--response rate
► Uncertainties regarding respondents’ truthfulness
► Misinterpretations of data results and inappropriate
use of data analysis procedures
 TYPES OF SURVEY
► Surveyscan 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.
 TYPES OF Questionnaire
► When most people think of questionnaires, they
think of the mail survey. All of us have, at one
time or another, received a questionnaire in the
mail. There are many advantages to mail
surveys. They are relatively inexpensive to
administer. You can send the exact same
instrument to a wide number of people. They
allow the respondent to fill it out at their own
convenience. But there are some disadvantages
as well. Response rates from mail surveys are
often very low. And, mail questionnaires are not
the best vehicles for asking for detailed written
responses.
 TYPES OF Questionnaire
► A second type is the group administered
questionnaire. A sample of respondents is brought
together and asked to respond to a structured
sequence of questions. Traditionally, questionnaires
were administered in group settings for
convenience. The researcher could give the
questionnaire to those who were present and be
fairly sure that there would be a high response rate.
If the respondents were unclear about the meaning
of a question they could ask for clarification. And,
there were often organizational settings where it
was relatively easy to assemble the group (in a
company or business, for instance).
 TYPES OF Questionnaire
► A less familiar type of questionnaire is
the household drop-off survey. In
this approach, a researcher goes to
the respondent's home or business
and hands the respondent the
instrument.
 TYPE OF INTERVIEWS
► Interviews are a far more personal form of
research than questionnaires. In the
personal interview, the interviewer
works directly with the respondent. Unlike
with mail surveys, the interviewer has the
opportunity to probe or ask follow-up
questions. And, interviews are generally
easier for the respondent, especially if
what is sought is opinions or impressions.
Interviews can be very time consuming
and they are resource intensive. The
interviewer is considered a part of the
measurement instrument and interviewers
have to be well trained in how to respond
to any contingency.
 TYPE OF INTERVIEWS
► Almost everyone is familiar with the telephone
interview. Telephone interviews enable a researcher to
gather information rapidly. Most of the major public
opinion polls that are reported were based on telephone
interviews. Like personal interviews, they allow for some
personal contact between the interviewer and the
respondent. And, they allow the interviewer to ask follow-
up questions. But they also have some major
disadvantages. Many people don't have publicly-listed
telephone numbers. Some don't have telephones. People
often don't like the intrusion of a call to their homes. And,
telephone interviews have to be relatively short or people
will feel imposed upon.
 TYPES OF SURVEY
► MAIL SURVEYS
► ADVANTAGES:
► Generally lowest cost
► Can be administered by smaller team of people (no field staff)
► Access to otherwise difficult to locate, busy populations
► Respondents can look up information or consult with others
DISADVANTAGES:
► Most difficult to obtain cooperation
► No interviewer involved in collection of data
► Need good sample
► More likely to need an incentive for respondents
► Slower data collection period than telephone
 TYPES OF SURVEY
► TELEPHONE INTERVIEWING

ADVANTAGES:
► Less expensive than personal interviews
► Shorter data collection period than personal interviews
► Interviewer administration (vs. mail)
► Better control and supervision of interviewers (vs. personal)
► Better response rate than mail for list samples

DISADVANTAGES:
► Biased against households without telephones, unlisted numbers
► No response
► Questionnaire constraints
► Difficult to administer questionnaires on sensitive or complex
► topics
 SELECT THE SURVEY
METHOD
► Population Issues
 Can the population be enumerated?
 Is the population literate?
 Are there language issues?
 Will the population cooperate?
 What are the geographic restrictions?
 SELECT THE SURVEY
METHOD
► Sampling Issues
 What data is available?
 Can respondents be found?
 Who is the respondent?
 Can all members of population be
sampled?
 Are response rates likely to be a problem?
 SELECT THE SURVEY
METHOD
► Question Issues
 What types of questions can be asked?
 How complex will the questions be?
 Will screening questions be needed?
 Can question sequence be controlled?
 Will lengthy questions be asked?
 Will long response scales be used?
 SELECT THE SURVEY
METHOD
► Content Issues
 Can the respondents be expected to know
about the issue?
 Will respondent need to consult records?
Bias Issues
Can social desirability be avoided?
Can interviewer distortion and subversion
be controlled?
Can false respondents be avoided?
 SELECT THE SURVEY
METHOD
► Administrative Issues

 costs
 facilities
 time
 personnel
 TYPES OF SURVEY
► Panel Studies :
Panel studies allow the researcher to find out why
changes in the population are occurring, since they
use the same sample of people every time. That
sample is called a panel. A researcher could, for
example, select a sample of UT graduate students,
and ask them questions on their library usage. Every
year thereafter, the researcher would contact the
same people, and ask them similar questions, and ask
them the reasons for any changes in their habits.
Panel studies, while they can yield extremely specific
and useful explanations, can be difficult to conduct.
They tend to be expensive, they take a lot of time,
and they suffer from high attrition rates. Attrition is
what occurs when people drop out of the study.
 TYPES OF SURVEY

► Observation
This is the most classical and natural of techniques. It simply involves
looking at what is going on - watching and listening. We all do it,
most of us badly because we do not know what to look for or how to
record it. Work study practitioners are probably the most competent
of observers - after all, they have been trained to do it. So, too, are
most researchers and teachers. Important in being a good observer
is to have a wide scope, great capacity for being alert, and the ability
to pick up significant events. Here, technology can aid us, offering
services ranging from simple pen and paper through tape recorders
and cameras to videotapes. If carried out quietly, unobtrusively, and
shrewdly, observation can be a useful, if not powerful, technique. It
does not allow much scope for probing, exploring relationships
further, unless used in conjunction with other techniques. The
combinational use of techniques is now quite widespread and has
much to commend it. Since, however, observation is ''simple'' (if
time-consuming) and opportunities for using it often present
themselves, it can be used quite effectively for its purpose - enabling
a general picture to be built up.
 Research procedures
designed to identify
consumers’
subconscious feelings
and motivations.
Projective
These tests often
Techniques require consumers to
interpret ambiguous
stimuli such as
incomplete sentences,
cartoons, or inkblots.
 Projective Techniques
► Consist of a variety of disguised
“tests” that contain ambiguous stimuli.
► Sometimes administered as part of a
focus group, but usually used with
depth interviews.
► The theory is that respondents’ inner
feelings influence how they perceive
stimuli.
 A qualitative
research method in
which about eight to
ten persons
Focus Group participate in an
unstructured group
interview about a
product or service
concept.
 Focus Groups
► Consists of 8 to 10 respondents who meet with a
moderator-analyst for a focused group discussion.
► Respondents encouraged to discuss their interests,
attitudes, reactions, motives, lifestyles, feelings
about the product or product category, usage
experience, etc.
► Respondents recruited on the basis of consumer
profiles, based on specifications defined by
marketing management.
 SOCIOMETRY
is the measurement of social distance between group
members. More precisely, it is the assessment of
attractions and repulsions between individuals in a
group and with the group structure as defined by
feelings. The method was first established by the
social psychologist J.L. Moreno in 1934, and to this
day, always involves a graphical depiction of the
structure of group relations called a sociogram. The
procedure for constructing a sociogram begins with
a questionnaire-based sociometric test which asks
each group member the following:
► name two or three peers you like the most, like
working with, or are your best friends
► name two or three peers you least like, dislike
working with, or that you reject as friends
► rate every member of the group in terms of like or
dislike on a 5-point scale   
►thankyou