Survey Research in Criminology

Survey Survey is a series of questions asked of a number of people and designed to measure the attitudes, beliefs, values, and personality traits Measurement tool Some variables are easy to measure (demographics)

Measurement Reliability refers to the extent to which a measuring instrument contains variable errors, that is, errors that appear inconsistently each time a given unit is measured Validity is concerned with the question “Am I measuring what I intend to measure?”

Vague concepts Social capital Commitment to school Attachment to parents/friends

Measuring “Attachment to Parents ” a) time spent with family; b) importance of parental influence; c) parents’ involvement in youths’ lives; High scores on these dimensions will reflect emotionally close attachment to parents.

Types of Surveys Face-to-face (interview) Self-administered (mail, web) Phone Provide different answers

Reasons for differences Social desirability Acquiescence (culturally-based tendency to agree) Norm of even-handedness

Mail Survey Very popular instrument for research because it promises to deliver fairly wide coverage for a study (at reasonable cost, time, and effort) Compared to personal interview the mail survey requires no field staff, no money associated with that No interviewer bias Greater privacy for respondents

Disadvantages of Mail Surveys Nonresponse (20 %) A number of respondents might misinterpret the questions Item nonresponse

Surveys same way accuratelybe willing The goal of writing questions for self- administered questionnaire is to develop a query that every potential respondent will interpret in the same way, be able to respond accurately, and be willing to answer

Types of survey questions Closed-ended format: Are you _____male ______female? Open-ended format: What is the thing that you like most about your criminology class? Why?

Questionnaire wording Wording of the questions has an important impact on results Respondents can misinterpret even well-formulated questions Avoid grammatical complexity that can lead to trouble

Bad Question “Living where you do now and meeting the expenses you consider necessary, what would be the smallest income (before any deductions) you and your family would need to make ends meet EACH MONTH?”

How answer categories might impact results of the study How many hours per day do you typically study?  Less than 0.5 hours  hour  hours  2.1 – 2.5 hours  More than 2.5 hours How many hours per day do you typically study?  Less than 2.5 hours  2.6 – 3 hours  3.1 – 4 hours  4.1 – 4.5 hours  More than 4.5 hours

Reported Hours of studying MailTelephoneReported Hours/Day 2.5 hours or more Less than 2.5 hours Low versionHigh version MailTelephone 23% 77%58% 42%69%70% 30% 31%

Vagueness and ambiguity “Do you think that children suffer any ill effects from watching programs with violence in them, other than ordinary Westerns?” What is wrong with this question?

Avoid threatening questions “Do you happen to have murdered your wife?” “As you know, many people have been killing their wives these days. Do you happened to have killed yours?”

Rules for writing questions Each respondent has to have a chance to answer a question

What is wrong with the following question? If you fixed dinner at home last night, did you eat meat as part of that meal?  Yes  No

What is wrong with the following question? How often did you attend religious services during the past year?  Never  Rarely  Occasionally  Regularly

A revision How often did you attend religious services during the past year?  Not at all  A few times  About once a month  Two to three times per month  About once a week  More than once a week

Use equal numbers of positive and negative categories for scalar questions How satisfied were you with the service you received when you bought air conditioner?  Completely satisfied  Mostly satisfied  Somewhat satisfied  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied  Dissatisfied How satisfied were you with the service you received when you bought air conditioner?  Completely satisfied  Mostly satisfied  Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied  Somewhat dissatisfied  Dissatisfied

Avoid double-barreled questions Should the city build a new swimming pool that includes lanes for swimming laps that is not enclosed for winter use?  Yes  No

A revision Should the city build a new swimming pool that includes lanes for swimming laps?  Yes  No Should the city build a new swimming pool that is not enclosed for winter use?  Yes  No

What is wrong with this question? (Panel for the evaluation of Crime Surveys) Were the police informed of this incident in any way?  No  Do not know –Skip to check item G  Yes-Who told them? 1.Household member 2.Someone else

What is wrong with this question? (Panel for the evaluation of Crime Surveys) What were the injures you suffered, if any?  None-skip to question 10  Raped  Attempted rape  Knife or gunshot wounds  Broken bones or teeth knocked out  Internal injures, knocked unconscious  Bruises, black eye, cuts, scratches, swelling  Other____________(specify)

Constructing the Questionnaire Easy to understand and answer Each respondent must comprehend the questions as well as visual layout in the same way

In self-administered questionnaires, information is communicated through four distinct languages, each of which may independently influence question meaning. Verbal language: The words used to communicate questions and directions in questionnaires. Numeric language: Numbers used to convey a sense of sequence or order. Symbolic language: Symbols defined by one’s culture, used to convey meaning independent of any words. Graphical language: Variations in the display of words, numbers, and/or symbols that affect the meaning of words, numbers, and symbols, because…

Eye Movement Patterns with Equal and Unequal Information Under conditions of visually “equal” information, we tend to follow culturally prescribed patterns. When information is visually “unequal” what we see and comprehend is often influenced by visual qualities of the information.

Eye Movement Pattern

Eye Movement Pattern; Unequal Information

Eye Movement Pattern

Gestalt Psychology Principles of Visual Perception Principle of Proximity: We tend to group together things that are close to one another and more distant from other (similar) objects.

Principle of Proximity (Similar figures in closer proximity will be seen as a group)

Principle of Similarity (Similar figures will be seen as a group.) Do you see groups?

Principle of Similarity (Similar figures will be seen as a group.) Do you see groups?

Figure/Ground Variations Can Also Facilitate Grouping It is difficult to switch from one grouping to the other To what extent to you agree or disagree that this sentence is difficult to read? Would you say that you strongly agree, somewhat agree, have opinion, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree that this sentence is difficult to read. extent to you agree or strongly agree, no opinion, somewhat

Visual Elements: Meaning from Brightness Meaning comes from culture; brightness variations allows culture to be expressed.

Visual Elements: Meaning from Brightness Meaning comes from culture; brightness variations allow culture to be expressed.

Figure and Ground

PAGE 1, Original Survey

BeforeAfter

PAGE 2, Original Version

BEFOREAFTER