Survey As A Research Method: Difference between revisions
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Surveys are widely considered as a quantitative method which well situated to provide a factual and descriptive information, in contrast to qualitative methods that give a deeper understanding of participant views by using focus groups or unstructured interviews<ref>De Vaus, D.A. 2002, ''Surveys in social research,'' Psychology Press.</ref>. | Surveys are widely considered as a quantitative method which well situated to provide a factual and descriptive information, in contrast to qualitative methods that give a deeper understanding of participant views by using focus groups or unstructured interviews<ref>De Vaus, D.A. 2002, ''Surveys in social research,'' Psychology Press.</ref>. | ||
== '''Definition:''' == | == '''Definition:''' == | ||
A survey is defined as a “system for collecting information from or about people to describe, compare, or explain their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour.” <ref>Fink A. The survey handbook. Sage; 2003.</ref> | A survey is defined as a “system for collecting information from or about people to describe, compare, or explain their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour.” <ref>Fink A. The survey handbook. Sage; 2003.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 06:29, 25 March 2018
Introduction[edit | edit source]
Survey is a common research method used in health and social care services. Survey research is a form of inquiry that rests on the assumption that meaningful information can be obtained by asking the parties of interest what they know, what they believe, and how they behave.[1]
In survey research, the data usually collected by using standardised form whether by interview or questionnaire. Surveys are designed to give a snapshot of how things are at specific time or condition without any control or manipulation of participants or variables [2].
Surveys are widely considered as a quantitative method which well situated to provide a factual and descriptive information, in contrast to qualitative methods that give a deeper understanding of participant views by using focus groups or unstructured interviews[3].
Definition:[edit | edit source]
A survey is defined as a “system for collecting information from or about people to describe, compare, or explain their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour.” [4]
Process of survey research:[edit | edit source]
- Survey Design : There are different types of survey designs ( face to face or telephone interview- mailed surveys using postal or electronic media[5]. Choosing appropriate design for any research survey depends on sampling plan and sampling procedures[5].
- Sample selection: Depends on target population size, its homogeneity and sampling media .
- Sample size calculation: Depends on 5 factors:
- Statistical power
- ability of researcher to access target population .
- Degree of precision required( to measure precision by level of significance type 1 error or confidence interval)''
- Degree of population stratification .
- Selection of analysis unit [6][7].
- Survey Tool Development: survey should be worded carefully according to study aims and objectives using different styles of questions (open and closed-ended questions).Psychometrics is a branch of survey research that enables researchers to determine validity and reliability of questionnaire.[8]
- Execution of Survey: This process starts by stage starts by piloting questionnaire to test both survey instrument and procedures.After that the survey could be conducted and data collection starts.
- Data analysis and Reporting survey results: at that stage data analysis and effective presentation of results are important elements in a successful survey.[6]
Types of survey research:[edit | edit source]
- Postal surveys.
- Telephone interviewing .
- Fax surveys.[9]
- Internet based survey. (Recently usage of internet as a method for data collection has increased.Cyber space permits us to move beyond traditional face to face interviewing or postal surveys [10].
Advantages of internet based survey:[edit | edit source]
- Less cost .
- Easy access to thousands of social and vocational groups.
- Time saving.( In process of data collection and analysis).[11]
Disadvantages of internet based survey:[edit | edit source]
- Sampling problems ( like generating a sampling frame )
- Selection bias ( which may affect generalisation of study findings ).
- Access issues ( some of virtual community users could consider research invitations as a rude behaviour or email may be considered as a spam[11] [12].
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Carter R, Lubinsky J. Rehabilitation Research-E-Book: Principles and Applications. Elsevier Health Sciences; 2015 Jun 30.
- ↑ Kelley, K., Clark, B., Brown, V. & Sitzia, J. 2003, Good practice in the conduct and reporting of survey research, Oxford :.
- ↑ De Vaus, D.A. 2002, Surveys in social research, Psychology Press.
- ↑ Fink A. The survey handbook. Sage; 2003.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dillman, D.A., Smyth, J.D. and Christian, L.M., 2014. Internet, phone, mail, and mixed-mode surveys: the tailored design method. John Wiley & Sons.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Glasow, P.A., 2005. Fundamentals of survey research methodology. Retrieved January, 18, p.2013.
- ↑ Barlett, J.E., Kotrlik, J.W. and Higgins, C.C., 2001. Organizational research: Determining appropriate sample size in survey research. Information technology, learning, and performance journal, 19(1), p.43.
- ↑ Litwin, M.S. and Fink, A., 1995. How to measure survey reliability and validity (Vol. 7). Sage.
- ↑ Fowler Jr, F.J., 2013. Survey research methods. Sage publications.
- ↑ Fisher, B., Margolis, M. and Resnick, D., 1996. Breaking ground on the virtual frontier: Surveying civic life on the Internet. The American Sociologist, 27(1), pp.11-29.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Wright, K.B., 2005. Researching Internet-based populations: Advantages and disadvantages of online survey research, online questionnaire authoring software packages, and web survey services. Journal of computer-mediated communication, 10(3), p.JCMC1034.
- ↑ Andrews, D., Nonnecke, B. and Preece, J., 2003. Electronic survey methodology: A case study in reaching hard-to-involve Internet users. International journal of human-computer interaction, 16(2), pp.185-210.
