Conducting a Survey

Techniques for a Term Project

Lawrence T. Orcher

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781351974554
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Research & Methodology in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

• The detailed step-by-step directions make it ideal for use by students who are conducting their first research project.

• The large number of examples throughout the text makes the steps in conducting a survey clear and easy to follow.

• Covers only methods that are realistic for use by students who are conducting a survey within a single semester.

• For data analysis, the emphasis is on the use of basic statistics, with the computation of a small number of descriptive statistics illustrated. Easy-to-calculate margins of error are also illustrated.

• The firsthand experience of conducting a survey as a term project helps students understand both the contributions and limitations of survey research methods.

• Successfully conducting a term-project survey can give students the confidence to work on more elaborate studies in the future, such as research for a master's degree project.

Chapter 1
A Survey As a Term Project

A survey is a study in which data are collected to describe the characteristics of a population. Unlike an experiment, in which treatments are given to influence the participants, in a survey, researchers avoid influencing participants. This is because the researchers' goal in conducting surveys is to describe respondents as they naturally exist without intervention.¹

Overview of Steps in Conducting a Survey

Conducting a survey as a term project involves the same basic steps as a survey conducted by a professional survey research organization. However, for a term project, a survey is usually conducted in a limited timeframe with limited resources by students who have limited training in research methods and statistics. This book is designed to help students conduct satisfactory surveys despite these limitations.

Identifying Broad Problem Areas

The first step in conducting a survey is to identify a broad problem area from which a topic for a survey will be identified.

For a content-area course such as Speech Pathology (in Special Education) or Ethnicity and Race Relations (in Sociology), the broad problem area for a survey typically will be dictated by the content of the course. Skimming the course textbook as well as the instructor's syllabus usually will help in selecting a broad problem area for a survey for such a course. (See Examples 1.1 and 1.2 on the next page.)

For a research methods course, such as Methods of Research in Psychology, the scope of suitable broad problem areas typically is much wider than in a content-area course. The instructor of a methods course might allow selection of any problem area that relates to the student's major discipline.

Note that in either type of course an instructor may put delimitations on the topics for the term projects or may even assign a broad problem area (or even a narrow problem area) for all students to explore in a survey.

Ideally, a student should identify two or more potential broad problem areas and request feedback. Feedback from other students and the instructor on the suitability of the areas can assist in selecting among them. In most cases, the broad problem area will need to be narrowed in order to make the project manageable within a single semester.

Narrowing the broad problem area that is selected as the basis for a survey is illustrated in the examples below and is discussed in more detail in Chapters 2 and 3.

Formulating Research Purposes and Hypotheses

For a term project, the research purpose for a survey should usually be rather narrow in order to keep the project focused and manageable. Examples 1.1 and 1.2 show research purposes for two types of courses.

Example 1.1

A broad problem area and a related research purpose for a course in speech communication:

Course title: Fluency Disorders

Broad problem area: Stuttering

Narrower problem area: Teachers' knowledge of stuttering

Research purpose for a survey: To determine elementary school teacher-candidates' knowledge of techniques for working with students who stutter.

Example 1.2

A broad problem area and a related research purpose for a course in sociology:

Course title: Ethnicity and Race Relations

Broad problem area: Racial/ethnic self-segregation

Narrower problem area: Self-segregation by college students

Research purpose: To identify the reasons college students cite for engaging in self-segregation in the college cafeteria.

In Example 1.1, the purpose involves measuring knowledge. In Example 1.2, the purpose involves measuring reasons respondents give for engaging in a certain type of behavior. Surveys can also be used to examine attitudes (such as attitudes toward students who stutter) and opinions (such as opinions on the adequacy of teacher preparation courses for working with students who stutter).²

A research hypothesis is a prediction of the outcome of a survey. Based on a hunch or based on the findings of previous research, a hypothesis might be formulated. Example 1.3 shows a hypothesis that is related to the research purpose in Example 1.1. Note that the term "inadequate knowledge" should be defined before conducting the research (e.g., an average score of less than 70% on a specific test).

Example 1.3

A research hypothesis for the research purpose in Example 1.1:

Research hypothesis: Elementary school teacher-candidates have inadequate knowledge of techniques for working with students who stutter.

Note that all surveys should have one or more specific purposes. However, it is not necessary to formulate a hypothesis before undertaking a survey. Hypotheses should be formulated only if the researcher believes he or she can predict the outcome of the survey.

Practical versus Theoretical Underpinnings

The underpinnings of the purpose for a survey may be of a purely practical, applied nature. For instance, a survey on the hours of operation of the college cafeteria might be conducted for the practical purpose of determining which hours will best suit the needs of students.

On the other hand, the underpinnings of the purpose for a survey may be of a theoretical nature. A scientific theory³ is a unified explanation of how variables relate to each other and why they do so. A survey that contributes to the understanding of a theory makes a contribution to a broader understanding of an issue than a survey that is conducted only for practical decision-making purposes. In addition, the explanations provided by theories can serve as the underpinnings for a research hypothesis (i.e., a hypothesis that, if confirmed, would support the theory).

Issues in formulating research purposes and research hypotheses and their practical and theoretical bases are explored and illustrated in more detail in Chapter 3.

Locating Related Literature and Writing a Literature Review

On almost any broad problem area, there is a large volume of related literature, often published in academic journals. This literature should be examined at the same time that the problem area is being narrowed and the research purposes or hypotheses are being formulated because interesting ideas for a term-project survey can often be found in such literature.

In addition to getting topic ideas by surveying literature, ideas can be obtained for methods to use in conducting a survey on a particular topic. For instance, survey instruments (such as questionnaires) used in previous research can be identified for possible use in a term-project survey.

With permission of the instructor, a survey conducted as a term project might be a replication of a published survey described in the literature. A replication is an attempt to mimic a previous study to see if the same types of results can be obtained again. Replicability is an important criterion in the evaluation of research findings. Researchers put more faith in those results that can be clearly replicated than in results that may be viewed as idiosyncratic because other researchers have difficulty independently replicating them.

For a term project, it could be interesting to conduct a modified replication in which the term-project survey has the same purpose and basically the same research methodology as a previously published survey but with some variations, such as using a different type of respondent or modified measuring instruments.

Techniques for surveying literature and using literature in refining the topic for a term project are described in Chapter 4. Preparing a formal literature review to include in a term-project research report is described in Chapter 5.

Preparing a Research Proposal

Preparing a full-fledged research proposal can be a term project in and of itself. In fact, some instructors may require students only to write research proposals for surveys, without actually conducting the surveys.

Most students who are using this book will be conducting surveys (not just proposing them). For these students, it is very desirable to prepare a proposal before conducting their surveys, even if the proposals are very brief and informal. Sharing the proposals with other students and the instructor for feedback can help in refining research plans and avoiding misunderstandings regarding the instructor's expectations. In addition, most of the material in a proposal can be used in the final term-project research report, making it easier to complete the project on time. Writing the final report is discussed in Chapter 14.

In addition, colleges very often require that students obtain permission before conducting research. Those who provide permission (such as a faculty committee) will almost always need to see a written proposal before granting permission.

Appendix A provides guidelines on preparing a research proposal.

Identifying a Population and Selecting a Sample

A population is any group in which a researcher is interested. It could be large, such as all undergraduate sociology majors in public universities, or it could be small, such as all students in a college who declared sociology to be their major within the previous academic year.

A sample is a subgroup of the population. It is more efficient to study a sample than to study an entire population. Of course, the adequacy of any inferences about a population depends on the adequacy of the method used to select the sample from the population as well as the adequacy of the sample size.

When formulating a research purpose or hypothesis for a term project, it is crucial to consider the accessibility of a suitable population and sample. For instance, if the research purpose is to determine the degree of self-reported depression among high school students and the only way to obtain a sufficient number of high school students is by seeking permission to survey within a high school, a college student planning the survey may find that obtaining permission from the administrators of the high school is a lengthy process that exceeds the student's timeline. Even if time permits, permission may not be granted in the end because of the sensitive nature of the topic. Thus, to complete the term project on time, a purpose or hypothesis for which there is a readily accessible population should be formulated.

Issues in identifying a population and selecting a sample suitable for a term project are described in Chapter 6.

Identifying or Constructing an Instrument

In the social and behavioral sciences, measur...