Chapter 8:

Survey Research

I. Overview

II. Applications and Considerations for Survey Research

A. Applications

1. Describing behavior

2. Stimulating causal hypotheses

3. Measuring behavior in an experimental design

B. Considerations

1. Know your hypothesis

2. Ask pertinent questions

3. Don't try to establish causality

4. Don't accept respondents' answers as gospel

5. To whom do your results apply?

6. Summary

III. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Survey Instruments

A. Questionnaires

1. Self-administered surveys

a. Drawbacks

2. Investigator administered questionnaires

B. Psychological tests

C. Interviews

1. Telephone interviews

a. How to conduct a telephone interview

b. Conclusion about telephone interviews

IV. Planning a Survey

A. What is your hypothesis?

B. Format of questions

1. Fixed alternative

a. Nominal-dichotomous

1. Advantages of nominal-dichotomous

2. Disadvantages of nominal-dichotomous

b. Likert-type and interval items

c. Summating scores

2. Open-ended questions

C. Format of survey

1. Structured

2. Semi-structured

3. Unstructured

D. The art of asking good questions

1. Framing questions

a. Use words a third-grader would understand

b. Use words that won't be misinterpreted

c. Avoid personal questions

d. Make sure your sample has the information you seek

e. Avoid leading questions

f. Avoid questions loaded with social-desirability

g. Avoid double-barreled questions

h. Keep questions short and concise

i. Choose response options carefully

j. Avoid negations

k. Avoid irrelevant questions

l. Pretest your questions

2. Sequencing questions

a. Put innocuous questions first

b. Qualify early

c. Be aware of response sets

d. Keep similar questions together

3. Add demographic questions

4. Putting the final touches on your questionnaire

V. Sampling

A. Random sampling

1. The value of random sampling
2. Determining sample size

B. Stratified random sampling

C. Convenience sampling

D. Quota sampling

E. Conclusions about sampling techniques

VI. Administering the survey

VII. Analyzing survey data

A. Summarizing data

1. Summarizing interval data

2. Summarizing ordinal or nominal data

B. Using inferential statistics with interval data

1. Parameter estimation

2. Hypothesis testing

a. Relationships among more than two variables

b. More complicated procedures

C. Using inferential statistics with nominal data

1. Estimating overall percentages in population

2. Relationships between variables

VIII. Concluding remarks

Summary

Key terms and Issues

Exercises