Survey/Descriptive Research “30% of me says ‘yes’, 30% says ‘no’, and 40% of me is just plain confused.”

What is a Survey? Descriptions Descriptions of a sample characteristic(s) (hopefully to infer about a population) How (most?) people think, behave, feel? How the members of a population distribute themselves on one or more variables? What is described? AbilitiesPreferences Attitudes Beliefs KnowledgePolicies Object Clubs CompaniesSchools Government agencies etc.

Characteristics Describe Asking questions Sample (from a population)

Main concern WHAT IS? Bring to light WHAT IS? Not WHY SOMETHING IS?

Types Cross-sectional survey Cross-sectional survey – collects info from a sample from a predetermined population at one point in time (cuts across demographics) Longitudinal survey Longitudinal survey – info collected at different points in time (census?) 1. Trend study 1. Trend study – different samples from a population whose members may change are surveyed at different points in time 2. Cohort study 2. Cohort study – samples a particular population whose members do not change over the course of the survey 3. Panel study 3. Panel study – same sample of individuals at different times (explore the reasons for these changes) – loss of individuals? – Jean Piaget?

Steps Trivial questions? Examples? Objectives → research questions → survey questions should reflect research questions and objectives Hierarchical approach Hierarchical approach → begin with the broadest, most general questions → end with the most specific Let’s do it… Questionnaire Interview schedule

Generalizing Possible by defining (comprehensively, in detail, clearly) the sample involved in the study cancan not Whom the study can and can not generalize to? ‘redefine’ the following target population more precisely (to allow effective sampling and generalization):  “all of the counselors in the school.”  “all of the parents of the students in our school.”  “all of the administrators in the school district.”  “all chemistry students.”  “all of the teachers of the gifted.”

Mode of data collection “Live” Mail Telephone Face-to-face interviews Work in Pair: Identify advantages and disadvantages of each of these modes of data collection for a survey research Give examples of topics for each of the mode of data collection

Sampling Major concerns? possess the info  Do participants selected for the survey possess the info the researcher wants to obtain? willing  Are they willing to answer these questions? Overcoming these?  Preliminary inquiry among potential respondents  Assess receptivity  Use persons in authority (connections)

Instrument Most common types: Questionnaire Interview schedule standard Meeting the standard of good ‘questions’: 1. Is this a question that can be asked exactly the way it is written? 2. Is this a question that will mean the same thing to everyone? 3. Is this a question that people can answer? 4. Is this a question that people will be willing to answer, given the data-collection procedures?

Give an example of a question to assess each of the following characteristics of a group of counselors: Their income Their counseling style Their biggest worry Their knowledge of developments in the area of counseling and psychotherapy Their opinions about the rise of cyber-chat- suicide among ‘loners’ in Japan and South Korea

Pre-testing the questionnaire To a group of respondents similar (in characteristics) to the actual sample Reveals…  Ambiguities  Poorly worded questions  Questions that are not understood  Unclear choices  Clarity of instructions/directions

“Next question: I believe that life is a constant striving for balance, requiring frequent tradeoffs between morality and necessity, within a cyclic pattern of joy and sadness, forging a trail of bittersweet memories until one slips, inevitably, into the jaws of death. Agree or disagree?”

1. Which subject do you like least? a.Social studies b.English c.Science d.Mathematics e.Other (specify) ____________________ 2. Rate each of the following parts of your master’s degree program by circling the number under the phrase that describes how you feel. Very DissatisfiedDissatisfiedSatisfiedVery Satisfied a. Coursework1234 b. Professors1234 c. Advising1234 d. Requirements1234 e. Cost1234 f. Other (Specify) _______________ 1234

1.What characteristics of a person would lead you to rate him or her as a good administrator? 2.What do you consider to be the most important problem facing classroom teachers in high schools today? 3.What were the three things about this class you found most useful during the past semester?

Please rate and comment on each of the following aspects of this course: Very Dissatisfied DissatisfiedSatisfiedVery Satisfied a. Coursework1234 Comment ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ b. Professor1234 Comment ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Advantages and Disadvantages of Closed-Ended versus Open-Ended Questions Closed-Ended Open-Ended Advantages Enhances consistency of response across respondents Allows more freedom of response Easier and faster to tabulateEasier to construct More popular with respondents Permits follow-up by interviewer Disadvantages May limit breadth of responses Responses tend to be inconsistent in length and content across respondents Takes more time to construct Both questions and responses subject to misinterpretation Requires more questions to cover the research topic Harder to tabulate and synthesize

Internal validity in a survey research… Mortality Mortality – lost subjects (longitudinal studies) Location Location – collection of data is carried out in places that may affect responses (e.g. survey of attitude toward policemen conducted in a police station) Instrument decay Instrument decay – if the interviewers get tired or rushed Instrumentation Instrumentation – defective items introduce systematic bias

Last question… What can you do to discourage respondents from engaging in NONRESPONSES?