CMNS 260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Likert Scale, Text Messaging, Design Issues
8 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
1
Survey Research & Question Design
History of Surveys
• Census
o For taxation, military service
o Originally an exhaustive inventory of all members of target population
o Recent modifications controversial
• Social survey
o Often sample surveys
Rise of Modern Social Survey
• Populait of sietifi ethods i late th and early 20th century
• New theories and methods of empirical social research
o E.g. sampling & measurement
• Demand for information: evidence-based science & policy
o Economic and political interests (market research and polls)
o Social goals (i.e. welfare, poverty relief programs, etc.)
o Health & population programs (epidemiology)
• Institutional factors & new technologies
Discontinuation of the Canadian mandatory census
• Interruption of longitudinal data collection on changing composition and distribution of
Caadia populatio […] the teiatio of a -year national series of modern nominal
esuses
• The eliiatio of Caadas plae i the Iteatioal Itegated Puli-Use Microdata Series
IPUM“i. Dillon 2010)
• Lack information for policies & planning at all levels of government (and in business & industry)
Common Methods of administering surveys
• Interviews:
o Telephone
o Face-to-face
o Text messaging
o Video conferencing
o Focus groups
• Self-administered Questionnaires:
o Mail: Printed and electronic interfaces (often for audience surveys at events or
customer surveys)
o Web
Survey Instruments:
• Questionnaires
o Self-administered surveys (sometimes interviews)
o Respondent reads questions & records answers
• Interview Schedules
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
2
o Can ressemble structured or semi-structured questionnaires (interviewer records
responses)
o Or guides with topics (ex. oral history interviews)
• Respondent: A person who provides data for analysis by responding to a survey questionnaire.
P.202
• Push poll: A telephone survey designed to influence respondents' attitudes and opinions for
political purposes. P.203
Developing Questions for Surveys
• Concepts are identified to express what the researcher has in mind.
• Concepts are then translated into variables through the process of operationalization.
• Instruments are constructed and then employed to measure the variables under consideration.
P.204
Steps in Designing and conducting a Survey
• Step 1
o Develop Hypotheses
o Decide on type of survey (self-administered or interview)
o Write survey questions & response categories (for closeended questions)
o Design layout
• Step 2
o Plan how to record data
o Pilot-test survey instrument
• Step 3
o Decide on target population
o Get sampling frame
o Decide on sample size
o Select sample
• Step 4
o Locate respondents
o Collect Data: Conduct Interviews or send out questionnaires
o Record data (or receive completed questionnaires)
• Step 5
o Enter data & clean it, (code open-ended questions, recode close-ended responses as
needed)
o Analyze data
• Step 6
o Prepare a report on methods & findings
o Present findings to others
Suitable Information for Surveys & Challenges in Multi-cultural and Cross-cultural studies
• Types of information characteristics (demographic i.e. marital status, age)
o Attitudes/beliefs/opinions
o Behaviour (self and others)
o Expectations
o Self-classification
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
History of surveys: census, for taxation, military service, originally an exhaustive inventory of all members of target population, recent modifications controversial, social survey, often sample surveys. Interruption of longitudinal data collection on changing composition and distribution of. Ca(cid:374)adia(cid:374) populatio(cid:374) (cid:858)[ ] the te(cid:396)(cid:373)i(cid:374)atio(cid:374) of a (cid:1005)(cid:1009)(cid:1008)-year national series of modern nominal (cid:272)e(cid:374)suses(cid:859) (cid:858)the eli(cid:373)i(cid:374)atio(cid:374) of ca(cid:374)ada(cid:859)s pla(cid:272)e i(cid:374) the i(cid:374)te(cid:396)(cid:374)atio(cid:374)al i(cid:374)teg(cid:396)ated pu(cid:271)li(cid:272)-use microdata series (cid:894)ipum i(cid:895). (cid:859) (cid:894)dillon 2010) Lack information for policies & planning at all levels of government (and in business & industry) Interviews: telephone, face-to-face, text messaging, video conferencing, focus groups, self-administered questionnaires, mail: printed and electronic interfaces (often for audience surveys at events or customer surveys, web. Survey instruments: questionnaires, self-administered surveys (sometimes interviews, respondent reads questions & records answers. 1: can ressemble structured or semi-structured questionnaires (interviewer records responses, or guides with topics (ex. oral history interviews, respondent: a person who provides data for analysis by responding to a survey questionnaire.
