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Survey Research

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Populations and Samples Operationally defined by sampling frame Population Sample What s the difference ... Nonprobability Sampling Purposive sampling ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Survey Research


1
SurveyResearch
  • Passer Chapter 7
  • Slides Prepared by Alison L. OMalley

2
Surveys An Introduction
  • Surveys rely on interviews and questionnaires to
    gather info about people
  • What is the last survey you took?

Take Our Survey!
3
Populations and Samples
  • Operationally defined by
    sampling frame

Population
Sample
Representative or biased?
Whats the difference between representative and
nonrepresentative samples?
4
Surveys Can we trust the data?
  • Participants responses may be distorted by
    social desirability bias, or perhaps theyre
    misremembering
  • Response Truth ?
  • Fret not. High quality survey research is doable!

5
Selecting the Sample
  • Probability sampling
  • Every member of the population has chance of
    being sampled
  • Probability of selection can be specified
  • Nonprobability sampling
  • Probability sampling conditions do not apply

6
Probability Sampling
  • Simple random sampling
  • Build a sampling frame containing all population
    members
  • Stratified random sampling
  • Sampling frame divided into groups (based on
    demographic characteristics)
  • Random sampling applied to each group

7
Probability Sampling
What if theres no sampling frame?
  • Cluster sampling
  • Units (e.g., schools) containing population
    members are identified
  • Essentially, this step creates the sampling frame
  • These clusters are then randomly sampled
  • May not represent the entire population

8
Nonprobability Sampling
  • Convenience sampling
  • Grab whomever you can
  • Likely to generate a nonrepresentative sample
  • Quota sampling
  • Sample designed to mirror population
    characteristics (e.g., of females)
  • Uses convenience sampling to create sample within
    each quota group (e.g., males and females)

9
Nonprobability Sampling
  • Self-selected samples
  • Participants elect to participate (as opposed to
    being sought out by researcher)
  • A form of convenience sampling
  • Likely to generate a large sample size, but keep
    in mind that representativeness matters more than
    sample size!

10
Nonprobability Sampling
  • Purposive sampling
  • Sample created in line with study goals (e.g.,
    focus only on students in Top 10 graduate
    programs in research on the work habits of
    successful graduate students)
  • Two common strategies
  • Expert sampling
  • Snowball sampling participants recruit others
    to participate

11
Sampling Check Your Understanding
  • What is the difference between quota sampling and
    stratified random sampling?

12
Margin of Sampling Error
  • Sample results are estimates of the true
    population value
  • Sampling variability captures how sample
    characteristics fluctuate
  • If you roll two dice 100 times and encounter this
    5 and 2 pattern 13 times, its extremely
    unlikely youll see this pattern 13
    more times in the next 100 rolls

13
Margin of Sampling Error
  • Thus, sampling error acknowledges that our
    population estimates vary depending on the sample
  • Survey data are then accompanied by a margin of
    sampling error, a range of values within which
    the true population value falls
  • Keeping in mind that we can never be 100 certain
    in our results, we also report confidence levels
    (typically 95)

14
Sample Reporting
  • For results based on the total sample of
    national adults, one can say with 95 confidence
    that the margin of sampling error is 2
    percentage points.
  • Gallup Economy Poll - May 28, 2013
  • http//www.gallup.com/poll/162797/economic-confide
    nce-holds-steady-high-level.aspx

15
  • Taking the following data into account, why dont
    researchers aim for more precise estimates?

16
Constructing Questionnaires
  • Write a survey item asking participants about
    their exercise habits
  • Now, ask a classmate for feedback on your item
  • Developing a questionnaire takes a significant
    amount of time and effort, and typically several
    versions are piloted before the final version is
    rolled out.

17
Types of Questions
  • Open-Ended and Closed-Ended
  • Closed-ended questions provide specific response
    options, whereas open-ended questions do not,
    allowing participants to answer in whatever form
    they choose
  • Was your item about exercise behavior open- or
    closed-ended?
  • Open-ended questions generally are more difficult
    to work with. Why?

18
Closed-Ended Question Types
  • Multiple choice
  • Ranking scales

19
Closed-Ended Question Types
  • Forced choice
  • Rating scales

Describe the signature features of Likert
response formats.
20
Question Wording
  • Common Pitfalls to Avoid
  • Leading questions
  • Loaded questions
  • Double-barreled questions
  • Double negatives

Are you or are you not in favor of terrorists in
our country corrupting our young people and
threatening our core values?
Help! Identify whats wrong with this question
and rewrite it.
21
Putting the Survey Together
  • General Rules of Thumb
  • Group related questions together
  • Place open-ended questions before closed-ended
    questions
  • Move from more general to more specific questions
  • Place personally sensitive questions at or near
    the end

22
Administering Surveys
  • Supplements to ongoing behavioral observations
  • Face-to-face (in-person) interviews
  • Achieve higher response rates
  • Facilitate establishment of rapport
  • Enable standardized approach
  • Interviewer can clarify any participant confusion
  • But, theyre pricey!

23
Administering Surveys
  • What can interviewers do to aid each of the
    following?
  • Limitations in participant memory
  • Response distortion due to interviewer bias or
    other interviewer effects

24
Other Ways to Administer Surveys
  • Telephone
  • Mail
  • Online
  • Discuss the strengths and limitations of each
    mode of data collection.

25
Additional Survey Considerations
  • Nonresponse bias occurs when participants who
    declined to participate would have responded
    differently than participants did
  • Introduces more error into population estimates
  • Although lower response rates do not appear to
    drive nonresponse bias, declining participation
    rates are of concern
  • Many researchers offer incentives to encourage
    participation

26
Be a Smart Survey Consumer
  • What survey design features enable you to have
    greater confidence in the results?
  • Be on the lookout for bogus surveys!

Think Critically
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