A Common Method of Data Collection Survey Research A Common Method of Data Collection

Kinds of Surveys “Paper and pencil” Interview Observation “Cursor and mouse” Interview Observation

Purposes Sampling a large population Needs assessment Complicated information Point-in-time information Longitudinal studies

Steps Create the survey instrument Create a sampling plan Collect the data

What’s a Good Response Rate? It depends … Underlying population Questions being asked Degree of accuracy needed In General … 50% ok 60% good 70% very good 80% excellent

Strategies for Increasing Response Rate What has hooked you to complete a survey? Review of an awful survey Strategies, in general Increase interest in responding Make it impossible not to respond

Specific Strategies Mailing-related strategies Cover letter strategies Survey appearance strategies Questions, and question order Follow-up

Interviewing Data collection, not therapy Probing for responses Exact wording and responses Probing for responses

On-line Surveys Biggest advantage: low cost and hassle Biggest disadvantage? You say

Secondary Analysis Secondary study of already-collected data Why? Low hassle Lots of datasets on the internet You inherit the original researcher’s problems as well as triumphs