SFM 651: Research Methods Dr. Johnson Chapter 15: Surveys SFM 651: Research Methods Dr. Johnson

Surveys Most common type of descriptive research Seeks to determine present practices or opinions of a population Questionnaire Interview Normative survey

Questionnaire Answering questions in writing Interviews are the same, but oral Participants SAY what they do Don’t actually prove it Can lie

Objective What information is wanted How will it be analyzed How will they be described How do you protect participants

Delimiting the sample Usually already know the sample Based partly on the question Need the sample to be representative Make sure it represents who it should

Sampling error +/- 3% this is the sampling error Standard error = variance / sample size Variance = square root of…. (p(1-P)/n) P is proportion that have the characteristic Look on page 287 Lets try this out

Sample size How many people are in the study Adequately represent the population Time and money are considered

Questionnaires Open ended questions Closed ended questions Allows for lots of answers No real length limit on response Hard to analyze responses Closed ended questions Limits responses Usually scaled in some way 1-5 Excellent – poor Yes / no etc

Appearance and design Organize them well Make them appealing Include contact info for investigator Easy to answer questions first Shorter = more responses

Electronic surveys More difficult because of distance Cant talk to people Usually sent to large amounts More can be sent out Lower percentage returned Higher total number sometimes

Electronic issues Need to be more exact Better “look” to survey What software will be used / purchased Cover letter Explaining what is needed and how completed Typing errors Emails responses