Survey Research
I. Definition of Survey Research
II. Planning Stage
III. Questionnaire Construction
IV. Data Collecting / Interviewing
V. Data Analysis
Survey Research
I. Definition of Survey Research
Self-Report instrument involving systematic sampling of a
population to measure its relevant characteristics and to
see how these characteristics relate.
There are Four Parts to this Definition
Survey Research
I. Definition of Survey Research
Self-Report instrument involving systematic sampling
of a population to measure its relevant characteristics and
to see how these characteristics relate.
Survey Research
I. Definition of Survey Research
Self-Report instrument involving systematic sampling
of a population to measure its relevant characteristics and to
see how these characteristics relate.
Survey Research
I. Definition of Survey Research
Self-Report instrument involving systematic sampling of a
population to measure its relevant characteristics
and to see how these characteristics relate.
Survey Research
I. Definition of Survey Research
Self-Report instrument involving systematic sampling of a
population to measure its relevant characteristics and to
see how these characteristics relate.
Survey Research
II. The Planning Stage
1. Establishing Hypotheses
2. Understanding Financial Constraints
3. Resource Planning
4. Creating the Sampling Frame
Survey Research
Resource Planning - Three Types of Surveys
1. Mail-out Questionnaires
2. Telephone Interviewing
3. Field (face-to-face) Interviews
Mail-Out Telephone Face-to-Face
Personnel Low Moderate High
Equipment Low High Moderate
Travel Low Low High
Response Low (<20%) Moderate (>60%) High (>80%)
Survey Research
III. The Questionnaire Construction Stage
1. Drafting Questions
2. Questionnaire Construction
3. Pre-testing Questions
4. Final Questionnaire Construction
Survey Research
Questionnaire Construction
1. Type of Format
2. Type of Questions
3. Wording Issues
Survey Research – Type of Format
a. Close-ended What is your age?
__ 1. < than 30
__ 2. > 30
b. Open-ended How do you feel about
U.S. forces going into Iraq?
Survey Research - Type of Question
a. Information Questions Do you commute to CSUN?
__ 1. Yes
__ 2. No
b. Opinion Questions Technology helps education.
__ 1. Agree
__ 2. Disagree
c. Demographic Questions What is your current marital status?
__ 1. Married
__ 2. Not Married
d. Special Questions Could you tell us more?
Survey Research – Wording Issues
a. No extreme statements (e.g. Abortion is murder.)
b. No ambiguous wording (e.g. Did you vote?)
c. No indefiniteness of time (e.g. Do you often commute?)
d. No connotative statements (e.g. War is evil.)
e. No two part questions (e.g. How old is your child?)
f. No pedantic words (e.g. Bush’s demeanor is
sophistry.)
Survey Research
IV. The Data Collection / Interviewing Stage
1. Training Interviewers
3. Briefing Interviewers
3. Performing the Interviews
4. Quality Control Follow-up
Survey Research
V. Data Collection
1. Verifying Response Range
2. Coding the Data
3. Processing the Data
4. Analyzing the Data
5. Reporting the Data
Survey Research
Creating Attitude Scales from Opinion Questions
1. Likert Scaling (aka summated rating)
2. Thurstone Scaling (aka EAI)
3. Gutman Scaling (aka Unidimensional Scaling)
