Explains what a survey is as well as the different types of surveys used in psychological research (descriptive and analytic). Also explains the different methods of data collection within surveys as well as the strengths and weaknesses of using each one. Includes Warwick and Liniger's (1975) seven...
Research Methods- Surveys:
What is a Survey?
- Warwick and Lininger (1975): ‘A survey is a method of collecting information about a human
population in which direct contact is made with the units of study (individuals, organizations,
communities, etc) through such systematic means as questionnaires and interview
schedules'
- Fink and Kosecoff (1985): ‘Survey research employs questionnaires and interviews to ask
people to provide information about themselves – their attitudes and beliefs, demographics
(age, gender, income, marital status, and so on) and other facts, and past or intended future
behaviours’
- In all surveys, the type of data obtained from participants = self report.
Different Types of Surveys:
- Descriptive Surveys= main aim is to ‘count’ some variable(s) to indicate the proportion of a
population that have a certain opinion, characteristic, etc.
- Analytic Surveys= main aim is to explore associations between particular variables, i.e.
correlations and regression.
Descriptive Surveys:
- Study almost any behaviour, e.g. consumer behaviour, attitudes, psychological effects of
many types of experiences, etc.
- Surveys are often used to study very ‘personal’ issues, e.g. human sexual activity,
psychopathologies.
- Obtain data where experiments or direct observations would be tricky.
- Allow researchers to compare ‘groups’.
- E.g. Hochard et al. (in prep.) surveyed 783 individuals recovering from Eating Disorders
about their engagement in self harm:
To test hypothesis that depending on stage of recovery, self-harm rates would differ.
Found 91.8% of sample overall reported having previously self-harmed and 65.8%
made a suicide attempt.
Why Perform a Descriptive Survey?
3 reasons to perform a descriptive survey (Fink and Kosecoff, 1985):
1) A policy needs to be set or a programme planned- information e.g. SU survey students to
know what type of beer they want.
2) There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of programmes to change peoples knowledge,
attitudes, health, welfare, etc. e.g. prior to, and then following, an AIDS awareness course, a
survey is carried out to assess participants’ willingness to use a condom.
3) To help answer a research question. E.g. survey to assess the level of bullying among high
school pupils.
Analytic Surveys:
- Data from analytic survey provides insights into cause and effect relationships, but always be
cautious about accepting conclusion about cause and effect relationships based on data
from (cross-sectional) surveys.
- E.g. my survey revealed a significant positive correlation between amount of alcohol
consumed and level of violence. But can we conclude that alcohol CAUSES violence? No.
Other Surveys are Concerned with Prediction:
- e.g. opinion polls to forecast election results.
1
, 29th October 2018- Research Methods
- but opinion surveys can go ‘spectacularly’ wrong, e.g. Brexit, Trump election. Because:
The sample might not be representative of the population.
Respondents might change their minds
Respondents might deliberately give the wrong information.
Methods of Data Collection in Surveys:
- Multiple options are open to researchers.
- The top 5 most common methods are:
1) Face-to-face interviews
2) Telephone interviews
3) Questionnaires
4) Postal questionnaires
5) Internet
Face-To-Face Interviews:
Advantages:
- People are more likely to agree to participate
- People are more likely to agree to longer interviews
- Interviewer can ‘probe’ questions to follow up things of interest that emerge in the
interview (e.g. can you explain that further? What do you mean when you say…?)
Disadvantages:
- Tend to be costly
- Data collection period is likely to be relatively long- time consuming
- Some issues may be too personal/embarrassing for face-to-face discussion
Telephone Interviews:
Advantages:
- Cheaper than face-to-face interviews
- Random-digit dialling enables random sampling (or does it?)
- Higher response rate than postal surveys
Disadvantages:
- Sampling limitations – those without telephones excluded
- Cannot use visual aids to generate responses
- Response rate lower than face-to-face interviews
Questionnaires:
Advantages:
- Respondents don’t have to ‘share’ answer with interviewer – may be more honest
- Can ask questions with long/complex response categories
- Can use visual aids to generate responses
Disadvantages:
- Open questions tend not to be answered in depth
- Questions cannot be explained to respondents
- Respondents need good reading and writing skills
Postal Questionnaires:
Advantages:
- Can be used to reach people not available for telephone of face-to-face surveys
- Respondents have more time to answer
- Less expensive than face-to-face interviews
Disadvantages:
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