Conducting surveys

Good practice in the conduct and reporting of survey research

 Importance

 Survey research is sometimes regarded as an easy

research approach. However, as with any other
research approach and method, it is easy to conduct a
survey of poor quality rather than one of high quality
and real value.
 The term ‘survey’ is used in a variety of ways, but generally
refers to the selection of a relatively large sample of people
from a pre-determined population followed by the collection
of a relatively small amount of data from those individuals. 
 Primary sources
  A document giving first-hand account, or other source that
constitutes direct evidence of an object of study.

 Some examples of primary source formats include: archives and

manuscript material photographs, audio recordings, video
recordings, films journals, letters and diaries speeches scrapbooks
published books, newspapers and magazine clippings.
 Secondary Sources
 Not original,  a book, article, or other source that provides
information about an object of study but does not constitute direct,
first-hand evidence.
 Secondary sources involve generalization, analysis, synthesis,
interpretation, or evaluation of the original information. Secondary
sources are invaluable to sociologists, but they have to be used with
caution.
 Research objectives
 Sometimes written as research questions, these are used to
summarize what the study is expected to achieve. In developing
research objectives for your study you should keep in mind that they
should be:

■ relevant and directly linked to the research problem;

■ informed by the sources you have selected;
■ clearly written
 Identifying the research problem/Problem statement

 For the inquiry to develop further the researcher needs to focus on a

specific problem or issue coming out of this general issue. Although we
have identified a research topic which impacts on human development and
we have thought about possible resources of data for the study, we cannot
begin to collect data until we have focused the inquiry in such a way that
it isolates a specific problem or issue.
 Statement of the problem
 This statement of the problem says explicitly what the situation
seems to be to the researcher and where the emphasis of the
research lies. It does not mean that if contrary or different
information crops up it would be excluded.
 It is a concise description of the nature of the problem you are
undertaking to investigate and what you deem important about it;
for example, the emphasis you will be bringing to bear.
 It is not a restatement of the topic or a restatement of the
research problem itself but at least a short paragraph fleshing out the
problem in some depth, giving some idea of the context of the research
and why this problem is worthy of our attention (its purpose, its
educational value, its perceived impact on human development).
 A Hypothesis
 A hypothesis is an expectation or prediction about the relationship
between two variables in a research study. You do not have to have
both research questions and hypotheses in your study. Usually a
hypothesis is required for studies based on mainstream research and
scientific research.
 (H 1) is the statement created by researchers when they speculate
upon the outcome of a research or experiment. Every true
experimental design must have this statement at the core of its
structure, as the ultimate aim of any experiment. ... This means that
the research showed that the evidence supported the hypothesis and
further research is built upon that.
 Difference between hypothesis and the problem

 (H 1) is the statement created by researchers when they

speculate upon the outcome of a research or experiment. Every
true experimental design must have this statement at the core of its
structure, as the ultimate aim of any experiment. ...

 This means that the research showed that the evidence supported the
hypothesis and further research is built upon that.
 Population

 The ‘population of interest’; this is the wider group of people in

whom the researcher is interested in a particular study.
 Examples..................
 Descriptive research
 Descriptive research is a most basic type of enquiry that aims to
observe (gather information on) certain phenomena, typically at a
single point in time: the ‘cross-sectional’ survey.
 Essential steps in survey research

 Good research has the characteristic that its purpose is to address a single clear and
explicit research question; conversely, the end product of a study that aims to answer
a number of diverse questions is often weak. 
 Be knowledgeable about the area you wish to research.

 Widen the base of your experience, explore related areas, and talk to
other researchers and practitioners in the field you are surveying.
 Consider using techniques for enhancing creativity, for example
brainstorming ideas.
Avoid the pitfalls of:

 allowing a decision regarding methods to decide the questions to be asked

 posing research questions that cannot be answered

 asking questions that have already been answered satisfactorily

 Validity
 Validity is important because it measures the accuracy of
results within a study and therefore the degree to which
you can make assumptions, correlations and relationships
from data. Evidence cannot be reliable if it has poor validity,
however if it has poor reliability it cannot be valid.
 Reliability

  Reliability, like validity, is a way of assessing the quality of the

measurement procedure used to collect data in a dissertation. In
order for the results from a study to be considered valid, the
measurement procedure must first be reliable.
 Reliability

 Reliability is a measure of the stability or consistency of

test scores. You can also think of it as the ability for a test
or research findings to be repeatable. For example, a
medical thermometer is a reliable tool that would measure
the correct temperature each time it is used.
 Sources
 Research objectives have to be informed by sources. One of the
reasons for choosing a particular topic is that you know there will be
some sources of information which you can tap to provide adequate,
relevant and objective or trustworthy data.
 These should follow the design as stipulated by your faculty, APA,
MLA etc.
 Quantitative Research
 Uses statistical or numerical data:-
 Social surveys
 Questionnaires
 Structured interviews
 Official statistics
 Qualitative Research
 Collects, in-depth subjective data:-
 Unstructured interviews
 Participant observation, overt & covert
 Non -direct non- participant observation
 Case Studies
 Documents
 Common survey methods
  Common survey methods include:-
 postal questionnaires,

 face-to-face interviews

 telephone interviews
 Postal questionnaires

 This method involves sending questionnaires to a large sample of

people covering a wide geographical area.
 Postal questionnaires are usually received ‘cold’, without any
previous contact between researcher and respondent.
 The response rate for this type of method is usually low, ∼20%,
depending on the content and length of the questionnaire. 
 As response rates are low, a large sample is required when using postal
questionnaires, for two main reasons:
 first, to ensure that the demographic profile of survey respondents
reflects that of the survey population;

and secondly,
 to provide a sufficiently large data set for analysis.
 Face-to-face interviews

 Face-to-face interviews involve the researcher approaching respondents

personally, either in the street or by calling at people’s homes.
 The researcher then asks the respondent a series of questions and notes
their responses.
 The response rate is often higher than that of postal questionnaires as the
researcher has the opportunity to sell the research to a potential
respondent.
 Questions may be open (where the respondent composes the
reply) or closed (where pre-coded response options are available,
e.g. multiple-choice questions).
 Closed questions with pre-coded response options are most
suitable for topics where the possible responses are known.
 Interview questions

 Open questions are used more frequently in unstructured interviews,

whereas closed questions typically appear in structured interview
schedules.

 A structured interview is like a questionnaire that is administered face to

face with the respondent. When designing the questions for a structured
interview, the researcher should consider the points highlighted above
regarding questionnaires.
 If carrying out a semi-structured interview, the researcher
should have a clear, well thought out set of questions; however,
the questions may take an open form and the researcher may
vary the order in which topics are considered.
 Sample and sampling

 The method by which the sample is selected from a sampling

frame is integral to the external validity of a survey: the sample
has to be representative of the larger population to obtain a
composite profile of that population.
 Types of Samples
 Probability sampling is based on the fact that every member of a population has
a known and equal chance of being selected. For example, if you had a
population of 100 people, each person would have odds of 1 out of 100 of being
chosen.

 With non-probability sampling, those odds are not equal. For example, a person
might have a better chance of being chosen if they live close to the researcher or
have access to a computer. Probability sampling gives you the best chance to create
a sample that is truly representative of the population.
 Probability and Non Probability sampling 

 Prob  Non
 Simple Random sampling  Quota
 Stratified Random Sampling  Snowballing
 Systematic Random sampling  Non- Representative
 Multistage Random sampling
 References
 https://academic.oup.com/intqhc/article/15/3/261/1856193

 London School of Economics, UK. Http://booth.lse.ac.uk/  (accessed 15

January 2003).
 Vernon A.  A Quaker Businessman: Biography of Joseph Rowntree (1836–
1925. London: Allen & Unwin, 1958.

 Denscombe M.  The Good Research Guide: For Small-scale Social

Research Projects . Buckingham: Open University Press, 1998.