Survey ResearchIntroduction to Survey ResearchSurvey Research is About Asking Questions About…Why Do A Survey?PowerPoint PresentationSlide 6Six steps in Survey ResearchResponse RateAcceptable Response RatesNon-attitudesDealing with non-attitudesStrengths of Survey ResearchWeaknesses of Survey ResearchSurvey ResearchExplain why social desirability is a problem in asking questions.Explain why the order in which questions are asked is important.Explain why it is important to pretest a questionnaire.List some strengths and weaknesses of survey design.Introduction to Survey ResearchIntroduction to Survey ResearchSurvey Research is About Asking Questions About…BehaviorsOpinions/AttitudesFactsBeliefsThere are lots of ways to ask these questionsTelephonesInterviewsMailInternetWhy Do A Survey?Interested in IndividualsInterested in Aggregation of ViewsInterested in Recent & Current EventsInterested in Big GroupsSurveys may be used for descriptive, explanatory, and exploratory purposes. They are typically used in studies that have the individual as the unit of analysis. Although the method may be used for other units of analysis, some individual persons must serve as respondents or informants.Survey research is probably the best method available to the social researcher who is interested in collecting original data for describing a population too large to observe directly.Careful probability sampling provides a group of respondents whose characteristics may taken to reflect those of the larger populationCarefully constructed standardized questionnaires provide data in the same form from all respondentsSix steps in Survey ResearchResearch DesignSelect SampleConstruct QuestionsAsk QuestionsAnalyze DataReport ResultsResponse RateResponse Rate is the percentage of surveys that are returned.Overall response rate is one guide to the representativeness of the sample respondents.A high response rate indicates there is a less chance of significant response bias than a low response rate.A low response rate is a danger signal, because the non respondents are likely to differ from the respondents in ways other than just their willingness to participate in the survey.Acceptable Response RatesAccording to Babbie, a response rate of 50% is adequate for analysis and reportinga response rate of 60% is gooda response rate of 70% is very goodNon-attitudesMany Assume Survey Research is Like ArcheologyAssumes Pre-Existing “Treasure”With the Right Tools You Can Find ItOften This Is A Perfectly Good ModelDo People Always Have Attitudes or Opinions?Dealing with non-attitudesConsumers: Be Wary of Opinion Polls About Very Complex IssuesScreen Respondents: Does the Person Know Anything About the Issue?Create a "Mushiness Index“Offer a Middle PositionOffer a "Don't Know" OptionStrengths of Survey ResearchOnly Way to Probe Opinion of a Very Large GroupA Very Flexible Tool:Medical, Educational, Political, Business, etc.Facilitates Hypothesis TestingEncourages Standardization and Systematic ComparisonWeaknesses of Survey ResearchStandardization Comes at a PriceSurveys Often Don’t Get at “Why”Respondents Might Not Have An OpinionRespondents May Not Actively EngageRespondents May