Introduction to Survey Research - Methodology of Educational Research - Lecture Slides, Slides of Research Methods for Managers

Download Introduction to Survey Research - Methodology of Educational Research - Lecture Slides and more Slides Research Methods for Managers in PDF only on Docsity! Introduction to Survey Research docsity.com Survey Research is About Asking Questions About… • Behaviors • Opinions/Attitudes • Facts • Beliefs • There are lots of ways to ask these questions – Telephones – Interviews – Mail – Internet docsity.com • Survey research is probably the best method available to the social researcher who is interested in collecting original data for describing a population too large to observe directly. – Careful probability sampling provides a group of respondents whose characteristics may taken to reflect those of the larger population – Carefully constructed standardized questionnaires provide data in the same form from all respondents docsity.com Six steps in Survey Research • Research Design • Select Sample • Construct Questions • Ask Questions • Analyze Data • Report Results docsity.com Response Rate • Response Rate is the percentage of surveys that are returned. – Overall response rate is one guide to the representativeness of the sample respondents. • A high response rate indicates there is a less chance of significant response bias than a low response rate. • A low response rate is a danger signal, because the non respondents are likely to differ from the respondents in ways other than just their willingness to participate in the survey. docsity.com Dealing with non-attitudes • Consumers: Be Wary of Opinion Polls About Very Complex Issues • Screen Respondents: Does the Person Know Anything About the Issue? • Create a "Mushiness Index“ • Offer a Middle Position • Offer a "Don't Know" Option docsity.com Strengths of Survey Research • Only Way to Probe Opinion of a Very Large Group • A Very Flexible Tool: – Medical, Educational, Political, Business, etc. • Facilitates Hypothesis Testing • Encourages Standardization and Systematic Comparison docsity.com Weaknesses of Survey Research • Standardization Comes at a Price • Surveys Often Don’t Get at “Why” • Respondents Might Not Have An Opinion • Respondents May Not Actively Engage • Respondents May Lie docsity.com