LAWS 3908 Study Guide - Final Guide: Epistemological Pluralism, Participant Observation, Active Listening

84 views12 pages

Document Summary

Short answer questions: compare surveys versus interview research methods by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each. (chapter 6) Effective for collecting information from a larger group of people. Surveys provide flexibility in that you can ask so many questions on the same topic. Surveys are standardized so that everyone completing the survey is asked exactly the same questions in the same order, and is given the same response options which increases reliability of the data. Standardization has its benefits, but questions can lead to inadvertently missing information that is important to the respondents (standardized questions increase reliability but can simultaneously reduce the validity of the data) Flexibility also has its drawbacks, due to standardized questions and administration, researchers are unable to change the survey at any point. Surveys are not appropriate for understanding the context in which attitudes form or behavior occurs.