1- Survey
1 – Survey
Why Should I Care?
Surveys are very common. However, many are not done well. There are many traps most people don’t know about that reduce their scientific validity.
Definitions
Survey: the act of measuring objects.
Questionnaire: a written set of questions organized in a sequence appropriate to the purpose of a survey, or psychological test.
Interview: a loose set of questions, mostly designed to produce an open-ended conversation.
Usefulness
Allows for a “real-time” expression of opinions and attitudes on a particular topic.
In politics, allows to identify shifts in opinions, and relate them to a particular event (speech, riot, etc.)
Business people need them to prepare marketing strategies, advertising campaigns, etc.
Objects of Measurement
Type of Object |
Yes |
No |
Maybe |
Example |
Personal Characteristic |
X |
|
|
Eye colour, Height, Accent |
Socio-Demographic Characteristic |
X |
|
|
Religion, Language, Income, Gender, Ethnicity, Marital Status |
zOpinion |
X |
|
|
I don’t like Rice Krispies Cereal |
Motivations |
|
|
X |
Fear, Hope, Ambition, Greed |
Ideology |
X |
|
|
Right-Wing, Left-Wing |
Biases / Prejudice |
X |
|
X |
I trust tall people more than short people |
Preferences |
X |
|
X |
Commercial example: pricing, marketing |
Personal History / Background |
X |
|
X |
Immigration, Settler, Indigenous, Divorce |
Family Dynamics |
X |
|
X |
Number of siblings, Rank in Family, Class |
Cultural History |
X |
|
X |
Military History, Political History, Class |
Perception / Self-Perception |
X |
|
X |
Other people are smarter than me |
Aptitude /Ability |
X |
|
X |
Can hit 3-point shot. Can manipulate others |
Behaviour / Actions |
|
X |
|
Domestic Violence. Narcissist. Kind. |
Personality |
|
|
|
|
Moods / Emotions |
|
|
|
|
Performance |
|
|
|
|
Level of Knowledge |
X |
|
|
School test. Diagnostic quiz. |
Sampling
Hopefully _random___ and _large____.
Possible using phonebooks as lists of population, but not so much through _email and internet_ .
With interviews, samples are non-random and tiny.
Types of Surveys
- Cross-sectional: compare many independent variables to a dependent variable
- Longitudinal: compare a few variables over time
- Trend: similar samples taken at different time points
- Panel: same sample followed through time
Instruments
- Questionnaire (116): set question list, closed-ended questions, larger sample
- In-person
- Telephone
- Internet
- Group
- Interview: starting question list, open-ended questions, smaller sample
- Field interview
- Formal Face-to-face interview
Scientific Power
Exploratory: possible but not likely if the topic is taboo or difficult to discuss.
Mostly descriptive studies, which focus on who, where, how and what.
But may also be used for explanatory studies which validate hypotheses and their causal relationships (why).
Warning – “Surveys” are also used as a commercial ploy to build email mailing lists for advertising.