EPE 619: Survey Research

1
EPE 619 Survey Research

• Dr. Kelly Bradley

2
Welcome

• Syllabus and course overview
• Lets say Hello
• A little group work
• Introduction Presentation

3
On your card

• Name
• Major, Advisor and/or current position
• Why are you here?
• Contact Information
• Fun fact ?

4
(No Transcript)
5
Hello I am

• Name
• Why are you here?
• Tell us something about you

6
Todays Group Work

• What is Survey Research?
• What is a Survey?
• Discuss your goals for the class.
• Any questions or concerns regarding the course.

7
Introduction to Survey Research

• Survey research is
• the most popular and common research method used
  in social sciences as well as in our society.
• 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.

8
What is a survey?

• A "survey" can be anything from a short
  paper-and-pencil feedback form to an intensive
  one-on-one in-depth interview.

9
Why conduct survey research?

• Gather information not available from other
  sources
• Unbiased representation of population interest
  (depending on sampling)
• Consistency of measurement

10
Purpose

• The aim of survey research is to measure certain
  attitudes and/or behaviors of a population or a
  sample.
• The purpose of a survey is to collect information
  from many individuals, hoping to understand them
  as a whole.

11
Focus

• Survey research focuses on naturally occurring
  phenomena. Rather than manipulating phenomena,
  survey research attempts to influence the
  attitudes and behaviors it measures as little as
  possible. Most often, respondents are asked for
  information.

12
Types of Data

• Survey research is primarily quantitative, but
  qualitative methods can be used.

13
Sampling

• A researcher may be able to gather data from all
  members of a population. Most of the time, the
  population is so large that researchers must
  sample only a part of the population and make
  conclusions about the population based on the
  sample.
• Because of this, a good sampling scheme is often
  critical in survey research.

14
Survey Research Classifications

• Classified according to PURPOSE
• Exploratory survey to form general ideas about
  the research questions
• Descriptive survey to collect more specific
  descriptions of the variables of interest
• Explanatory survey to develop understanding of
  relationships among variables of interest

15
Classification

• Classified according to TIME
• Cross-sectional survey Data are collected at one
  point in time from a sample selected to represent
  a larger population.
• Longitudinal surveys to collect data over time.
• Trend Studies Surveys of sample population at
  different points in time
• Cohort Studies Study of same population each
  time data are collected, although samples studied
  may be different
• Panel Studies Collection of data at various time
  points with the same sample of respondents.

16
Classification

• Classified according to DATA COLLECTION
  APPROACHES
• Face-to-Face Survey
• Mail Survey
• Telephone Survey
• Web Survey

17
Survey Research Process

• Survey research (like all research) begins with
  identifying a problem and posing it as a research
  question.
• In higher education,
• Problem "Freshman enrollments are down."
• Question "What do college-bound high school
  students think of the university?"

18
Survey Research Process

• The survey research process includes
• the design of a survey
• the acquisition of a sample
• the fielding of the survey
• the analysis of the collected data
• the presentation of results

19
Issues to consider in survey research

• What is your RESEARCH QUESTION?
• Population accessibility, literacy, and language
  issues?
• Sampling available data and participation of
  respondents?
• Questions type, length, and complexity?
  existing questionnaire?
• Content knowledge of?
• Bias honest responses and social desirability?
• Administrative cost, time, and equipment?

20
A little exploration

• Internet Sites Related to Survey Research
• http//www.srl.uic.edu/srllink/srllink.htm

21
Lets enjoy the semester