Chapter 9: Survey Research PDF

Chapter 9: Survey Research © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 1  Learning Objectives Understand that survey research involves the administration of questionnaires in a systematic way to a sample of respondents selected from some populatio...

Chapter 9: Survey Research © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 1  Learning Objectives Understand that survey research involves the administration of questionnaires in a systematic way to a sample of respondents selected from some population Describe how survey research is especially appropriate for descriptive or exploratory studies of large populations Describe examples of surveys as the method of choice for obtaining victimization and self-reported offending data Summarize differences between open-ended or closed- ended questions, and offer examples of the advantages and disadvantages of each Recognize how bias in questionnaire items encourages respondents to answer in a particular way or to support a particular point of view © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 2  Learning Objectives, cont. Describe different ways to administer questionnaires, and offer examples of how they can be varied Recognize why it is important for interviewers to be neutral in face-to-face surveys Provide examples of the advantages and disadvantages of each method of survey administration Discuss how survey data can be somewhat artificial and potentially superficial Understand how specialized interviews with a small number of people and focus groups are different from surveys as examples of collecting data by asking questions © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 3  Introduction Survey research is perhaps the most frequently used mode of observation in sociology and political science, and surveys are often used in criminal justice research as well You have no doubt been a respondent in some sort of survey, and you may have conducted a survey yourself © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 4  Survey Research Topics Counting Crime: asking people about victimization counters problems of data collected by police Self-Reports: dominant method for studying the etiology of crime Frequency/type of crimes committed Prevalence (how many people commit crimes) committed by a broader population © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 5  Survey Research Topics, cont. Perceptions and Attitudes: To learn how people feel about crime and CJ policy Targeted Victim Surveys: Used to evaluate policy innovations and program success Other Evaluation Uses: e.g., measuring community attitudes, citizen responses, etc. Chicago Community Policing Evaluation Consortium General Purpose Crime Surveys © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 6  Guidelines for Asking Questions How questions are asked is the single most important feature of survey research Open-Ended: Respondent is asked to provide his or her own answer Closed-Ended: Respondent selects an answer from a list Choices should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive Questions and Statements: Likert scale © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 7  Guidelines for Asking Questions, cont. Make Items Clear: Avoid ambiguous questions; do not ask “double-barreled” questions Short Items are Best: Respondents like to read and answer a question quickly Avoid Negative Items: Leads to misinterpretation Avoid Biased Items and Terms: Do not ask questions that encourage a certain answer Designing Self-Report Items: Use of computer- assisted interviewing techniques © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 8  Questionnaire Construction General questionnaire format: critical, must be laid out properly and uncluttered Contingency Questions: Relevant only to some respondents—answered only based on the previous response Matrix Questions: Same set of answer categories used in multiple questions © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 9  Ordering Questions Ordering may affect the answers given Estimate the effect of question order Perhaps devise more than one version Begin with most interesting questions End with duller, demographic data Do the opposite for in-person interview surveys © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 10  Self-Administered Questionnaires Can be home-delivered Researcher delivers questionnaire to home of sample respondent, explains the study, and then comes back later Mailed (sent and returned) survey is most common Researchers must reduce the trouble it takes to return a questionnaire © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 11  Warning Mailings & Cover Letters Used to increase response rates Warning Mailings: “Address correction requested” card sent out to determine incorrect addresses and to “warn” residents to expect questionnaire in mail Cover Letters: Detail why survey is being conducted, why respondent was selected, why is it important to complete questionnaire Include institutional affiliation or sponsorship © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 12 Self-Administered Questionnaires, cont. Monitoring returns: Pay close attention to the response rate; assign #’s serially Follow-up mailings: Nonrespondents can be sent a letter, or a letter and another questionnaire; timing Acceptable response rates: 50% is adequate, 60% is good, and 70% is very good Would we rather have a lack of response bias than a high response rate? © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 13  Computer-Based Self-Administration Via Fax, Email, Web Site/Page Issues Representativeness Mixed in with, or mistaken for, spam Requires access to Web Sampling frame? © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 14  Discussion Question 1 What if you administered a survey? Would you use the Internet? Why or why not? © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 15  In-Person Interview Surveys Typically achieve higher response rates than mail surveys (80-85% is considered good) Demeanor and appearance of interviewer should be appropriate; interviewer should be familiar with questionnaire and ask questions precisely Can probe for additional responses When more than one interviewer administers, efforts must be coordinated and controlled Practice interviewing © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 16  Discussion Question 2 What if you were interviewed as part of a research project? How would you expect the researchers to behave? © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 17  Computer-Assisted Interviews Reported success in enhancing confidentiality Reported higher rates of self-reporting Computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI): Interviewers read questions from screens and then type in answers from respondents’ Computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI): Respondent keys in answers, which are scrambled so that interviewer cannot access them © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 18  Telephone Surveys 95.5% of all households have telephones (2005, U.S. Census Bureau) Random-Digit Dialing Obviates unlisted number problem Often results in business, pay phones, fax lines Saves money and time, provides safety to interviewers, more convenient May be interpreted as bogus sales calls; ease of hang-ups © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 19 Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing A set of computerized tools that aid telephone interviewers and supervisors by automating various data collection tasks Easier, faster, more accurate, but more expensive Formats responses into a data file as they are keyed in Can automate contingency questions and skip sequences © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 20  Discussion Question 3 What if researchers called your landline or mobile and asked you to participate in a survey over the phone? Would you agree to do it? Why or why not? © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 21  Methods Comparison Self-administered questionnaires are generally cheaper, better for sensitive issues than interview surveys Using mail: Local and national surveys cost the same Interviews: More appropriate when respondent literacy may be a problem, produce fewer incompletes, achieve higher completion rates Validity low, reliability high in survey research Surveys are also inflexible, superficial in coverage © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 22  Strengths of Survey Research Particularly useful in describing large populations Standardized questionnaires can ensure uniform responses and measurement Protects against respondents interpreting concepts differently © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 23  Weaknesses of Survey Research Standardized questionnaire items often represent the least common denominator in assessing people’s attitudes, orientations, circumstances, and experiences Superficial coverage of complex topics Survey research cannot readily deal with the specific contexts of social life Some populations might be hard to contact through customary sampling methods © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 24  Should You Do It Yourself? Consider start-up costs Finding, training, and paying interviewers is time-consuming and not cheap, and requires some expertise Mail surveys are less expensive, and can be conducted well by 1–2 persons The method you use depends on your research question © 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 25