Grandparents raising grandchildren Survey design and implementation Dr Christiane Purcal CRN Mixed Methods Workshop, Lismore 2012

Outline  Why include a survey?  How did we develop the survey?  How was it administered?  How did we recruit respondents?  How did the survey relate to the other research strands?  How did we analyse the data?  What were the survey’s limitations?  Conclusions

Why include a survey?  Find out about the individual circumstances and experiences of grandparent-headed families  Give grandparents a voice  Collect data from a large sample  Include grandparents from various states/territories

How did we develop the survey?  Selecting questions  Combining quantitative and qualitative: tick-boxes and open-ended questions  Reference group  Piloting

How was the survey administered?  Online and paper-based  Online version hosted by a web survey company  July to November 2010  335 respondents: 188 online, 147 paper

How did we recruit respondents?  Designed a recruitment flyer  Recruited through media and organisations: o Newspaper and magazine articles o Articles in newsletters of support groups o Information on websites of research partners and support organisations o Distribution via mailing lists o Support group convenors and support workers handed out surveys o Research team members – at conferences and meetings

How did the survey relate to the other research strands?  Literature review – context and comparison  Data analysis – how representative is the sample?  Focus groups – viewpoints of other stakeholders  Indigenous interviews – complementary methodology  Policy audit – socio-legal framework

How did we analyse the data?  Survey company provided clean data in an excel spreadsheet  Excel  SPSS  Thematic analysis

What were the survey’s limitations?  It was not a random sample  Recruitment through support groups and agencies But:  High number of respondents: 335  Wide variation with regard to demographic characteristics  Triangulation with other strands of the research validates the survey findings

Our sample: Demographics  87% were women  93% were born in Australia or the UK  5% were Aboriginal  55% lived with a partner  respondents from all states and the ACT except the NT  city, regional and rural locations  varied ages and levels of education  Care status: 76% had a formal arrangement

Conclusions  Careful planning of design, implementation, and integration with the other strands  Collected a dataset that is complementary, rich and authentic

Thank you and contacts We would like to thank: the grandparents who have given their time to complete our survey and share their stories with us; the organisations and individuals who helped us recruit grandparents for the survey; the Australian Research Council, and research partner organisations Mission Australia, Dept of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Dept of Children and Families (NT), Dept for Families and Communities (SA), and Family and Community Services (NSW); Chief Investigators Bettina Cass, Deborah Brennan and Sue Green, and Partner Investigator Anne Hampshire; research team members Megan Blaxland, Saul Flaxman, Trish Hill, Bridget Jenkins, Marilyn McHugh, Christiane Purcal and kylie valentine. Dr Christiane Purcal Prof Bettina Cass Prof Deborah Brennan