1.

Definition of Social Research:

The term ‘social research’ has been defined by different scholars differently. The few definitions
are as follows:
• Prof. C.A. Moser defined it as “systematized investigation to give new knowledge about
social phenomena and surveys, we call social research”.
• Rummel defined it as “it is devoted to a study to mankind in his social environment and is
concerned with improving his understanding of social orders, groups, institutes and ethics”.
• M.H. Gopal defined it as “it is scientific analysis of the nature and trends of social
phenomena of groups or in general of human behavior so as to formulate broad principles and
scientific concepts”.
• Mary Stevenson defined it as “social research is a systematic method of exploring,
analyzing and conceptualizing social life in order to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether
that knowledge aid in the construction of a theory or in the practice of an art.
A broad comprehensive definition of social research has been given by P.V. Young which is as
follows:
“Social Research may be defined as a scientific undertaking which by means of logical and
systematized techniques, aims to discover new factor verify a test old facts, analyze their
sequence, interrelationship and causal explanation which were derived within an appropriate
theoretical frame of reference, develop new scientific tolls, concepts and theories which would
facilities reliable and valid study of human behavior. A researcher’s primary goal distant and
immediate is to explore and gain an understanding of human behavior and social life and thereby
gain a greater control over time”.
Steps in Social Research:
Although different methods are used in social science research, the common goal of a social
research is one the same, i.e. furthering our understanding of society and thus all share certain
basic stages such as:
1. Choosing the research problems and stating the hypothesis.
2. Formulating the Research Design.
3. Gathering the Data.
4. Coding and Analysis the Data.
5. Interpreting the results so as to test the hypothesis.
Each of these steps is dependent upon the others. The researcher needs to have adequate
knowledge of the later stages before he undertakes research.
The research process is best conceived as circle. The researcher has to select suitable research
design among different designs. Thereafter he has to collect the data (primary as well as
secondary data). Once the data are collected those have to be coded and analyzed and finally
the researcher in social science has to interpret the data so collected.
Objectives of Social Research:
Social Research is a scientific approach of adding to the knowledge about society and social
phenomena. Knowledge to be meaningful should have a definite purpose and direction. The
growth of knowledge is closely linked to the methods and approaches used in research
investigation. Hence the social science research must be guided by certain laid down objectives
enumerated below:
• Development of Knowledge: As we know ‘science’ is the systematic body of knowledge
which is recorded and preserved. The main object of any research is to add to the knowledge.
As we have seen earlier, research is a process to obtain knowledge. Similarly social research is
an organized and scientific effort to acquire further knowledge about the problem in question.
Thus social science helps us to obtain and add to the knowledge of social phenomena. This is
one of the most important objectives of social research.
• Scientific Study of Social Life: Social research is an attempt to acquire knowledge
about the social phenomena. Man being the part of a society, social research studies human
being as an individual, human behavior and collects data about various aspects of the social life
of man and formulates law in this regards. Once the law is formulated, then the scientific study
tries to establish the interrelationship between these facts. Thus, the scientific study of social life
is the base of the sociological development which is considered as the second best objective of
social research.
• Welfare of Humanity: The ultimate objective of the social science study is often and
always to enhance the welfare of humanity. No scientific research makes only for the sake of
study. The welfare of humanity is the most common objective in social science research.
• Classification of facts: According to Prof. P.V.Young, social research aims to clarify
facts. The classification of facts plays important role in any scientific research.
• Social control and Prediction: “The ultimate object of many research undertaking is to
make it possible, to redict the behavior of particular type of individuals under the specified
conditions. In social research we generally study of the social phenomena, events and the
factors that govern and guide them.”
In short, under social research we study social relation and their dynamics.
-o-

2. Descriptive Research Methods

Descriptive research is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the
phenomena to describe “what exists” with respect to variables or conditions in a situation. The
methods involved range from the survey which describes the status quo, the correlation study
which investigates the relationship between variables, to developmental studies which seek to
determine changes over time.
1. Case Studies
Detailed analysis of a single (or limited number) of people or events. Case studies are usually
interesting because of the unusualness of the case .The major problem with case studies is the
problem of objectivity. The person who is presenting the case usually has some theoretical
orientation. It is acceptable for a theoretical orientation to affect one’s interpretation of events. In
a case study the theoretical orientation can also lead to the selection of the facts to include in the
case. It is not surprising that case studies often seem to provide very compelling evidence for a
theory. Case studies can therefore assist psychology by illustrating how a theory could be applied
to a person or events and by assisting with the development of hypotheses for more systematic
testing.
2. Observational Research
Accounts of the natural behavior of individuals or groups in some setting. Unless the observation
is unobtrusive, there may be some subject reactivity to being observed. This often decreases
with time, a process called habituation. Observers cannot usually observe all behaviors all of the
time. They may use a behavioral checklist and may also use time sampling or event sampling
procedures. It is important to assess observer bias by the use of interobserver reliability.
Observational research may also pose ethical problems. These can arise when the behaviors
being observed are not public behaviors and when the observer joins a group in order to observe
the members’ behavior – participant observation.
3. Survey Research
Structured questions to assess peoples beliefs, attitudes, and self-reports of behavior. If the
researcher wishes to generalize the responses to a population, it is important to have a
representative sample. Surveys that rely on self-selection (respond if you are interested) produce
non-generalizable results. Surveys also provide information for co relational research. One can
correlate responses to some questions (often demographic questions) with responses to other
questions (often attitudes or reports of behavior). Survey question must be clear and
unambiguous. Even if the questions are unambiguous and non-leading, people may display a
social desirability bias and give positive or socially acceptable and desirable answers. Survey
methods include: (1) the interview or face-to-face method which is generally viewed as the best
method for obtaining a high rate of responses but is also very costly; (2) phone surveys, which
are less expensive but have a higher non-response rate (which has probably increased with caller
ID); and (3) written or mail surveys, which are least expensive but have a very high non-response
rate. Follow-up messages can help increase the response rate.
4. Archival Research
Analysis of pre-existing data or records. Archival research often involves content analysis, a
qualitative analysis of material. For example, one would use content analysis to determine
whether there had been an increase in the frequency with which women and minorities were
mentioned in US history books between 1920 and 2000. Some archival research is quasi-
experimental.

-o-
3. experimental research?
Science revolves around experiments, and learning the best way of conducting an experiment is
crucial to obtaining useful and valid results. When scientists speak of experiments, in the strictest
sense of the word, they mean a true experiment, where the scientist controls all of the factors and
conditions. Real world observations, and case studies, should be referred to as observational
research, rather than experiments. For example, observing animals in the wild is not a true
experiment, because it does not isolate and manipulate an independent variable.
THE BASIS OF CONDUCTING AN EXPERIMENT
With an experiment, the researcher is trying to learn something new about the world, an
explanation of ‘why’ something happens. The experiment must maintain internal and external
validity, or the results will be useless. When designing an experiment, a researcher must follow all
of the steps of the scientific method, from making sure that the hypothesis is valid and testable, to
using controls and statistical tests.
Whilst all scientists use reasoning, operationalization and the steps of the scientific process, it is
not always a conscious process. Experience and practice mean that many scientists follow an
instinctive process of conducting an experiment, the ‘streamlined’ scientific process. Following the
basic steps will usually generate valid results, but where experiments are complex and
expensive, it is always advisable to follow the rigorous scientific protocols.
Conducting a experiment has a number of stages, where the parameters and structure of the
experiment are made clear. Whilst it is rarely practical to follow each step strictly, any aberrations
must be justified, whether they arise because of budget, impracticality or ethics.
STAGE ONE
After deciding upon a hypothesis, and making predictions, the first stage of conducting an
experiment is to specify the sample groups. These should be large enough to give a statistically
viable study, but small enough to be practical. Ideally, groups should be selected at random, from
a wide selection of the sample population. This allows results to be generalized to the population
as a whole. In the physical sciences, this is fairly easy, but the biological and behavioral sciences
are often limited by other factors.
For example, medical trials often cannot find random groups. Such research often relies upon
volunteers, so it is difficult to apply any realistic randomization. This is not a problem, as long as
the process is justified, and the results are not applied to the population as a whole. If a
psychological researcher used volunteers who were male students, aged between 18 and 24, the
findings can only be generalized to that specific demographic group within society.
STAGE TWO
The sample groups should be divided, into a control group and a test group, to reduce the
possibility of confounding variables. This, again, should be random, and the assigning of subjects
to groups should be blind or double blind. This will reduce the chances of experimental error, or
bias, when conducting an experiment.
Ethics are often a barrier to this process, because deliberately withholding treatment is not
permitted. Again, any deviations from this process must be explained in the conclusion. There is
nothing wrong with compromising upon randomness, where necessary, as long as other
scientists are aware of how, and why, the researcher selected groups on that basis.
STAGE THREE
This stage of conducting an experiment involves determining the time scale and frequency of
sampling, to fit the type of experiment. For example, researchers studying the effectiveness of a
cure for colds would take frequent samples, over a period of days. Researchers testing a cure for
Parkinson’s disease would use less frequent tests, over a period of months or years.
STAGE FOUR
The penultimate stage of the experiment involves performing the experiment according to the
methods stipulated during the design phase. The independent variable is manipulated, generating
a usable data set for the dependent variable.
STAGE FIVE
The raw data from the results should be gathered, and analyzed, by statistical means. This allows
the researcher to establish if there is any relationship between the variables and accept, or reject,
the null hypothesis.
These steps are essential to providing excellent results. Whilst many researchers do not want to
become involved in the exact processes of inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning and
operationalization, they all follow the basic steps of conducting an experiment. This ensures that
their results are valid.

4. Exploratory research?
Exploratory research is conducted to clarify ambiguous problems. Management may have
discovered general problems, but research is needed to gain better understanding of the
dimensions of the problems. Exploratory studies provide information to use in analyzing a
situation, but uncovering conclusive evidence to determine a particular course of action is not the
purpose of exploratory research. Usually, exploratory research is conducted with the expectation
that subsequent research will be required to provide conclusive evidence, It is a serious mistake
to rush into detailed surveys before less expensive and more readily available sources of
information have been exhausted.
In an organisation considering a program to help employees with childcare needs, for example,
exploratory research with a small number of employees who have children might determine that
many of them have spouses who also work and that these employees have positive reactions to
the possibility of an on-site child-care program. In such a case exploratory research helps to
crystallize a problem and identify information needs for future research.
Exploratory research methods:
The quickest and the cheapest way to formulate a hypothesis in exploratory research is by using
any of the four methods:
• Literature search
• Experience survey
• Focus group
• Analysis of selected cases
Literature Search
This refers to “referring to a literature to develop a new hypothesis”. The literature referred are –
trade journals, professional journals, market research finding publications, statistical publications
etc Example: Suppose a problem is “Why are sales down?” This can quickly be analyzed with the
help of published data which should indicate “whether the problem is an “industry problem” or a
“firm problem”. Three possibilities exist to formulate the hypothesis.
• The company’s market share has declined but industry’s figures are normal.
• The industry is declining and hence the company’s market share is also declining.
• The industry’s share is going up but the company’s share is declining.
If we accept the situation that our company’s sales are down despite the market showing an
upward trend, then we need to analyse the marketing mix variables.
Example 1: A TV manufacturing company feels that its market share is declining whereas the
overall television industry is doing very well.
Example 2: Due to a trade embargo imposed by a country, textiles exports are down and hence
sales of a company making garment for exports is on the decline.
The above information may be used to pinpoint the reason for declining sales.
Experience Survey
In experience surveys, it is desirable to talk to persons who are well informed in the area being
investigated. These people may be company executives or persons outside the organisation.
Here, no questionnaire is required. The approach adopted in an experience survey should be
highly unstructured, so that the respondent can give divergent views. Since the idea of using
experience survey is to undertake problem formulation, and not conclusion, probability sample
need not be used. Those who cannot speak freely should be excluded from the sample.
Examples :
1) A group of housewives may be approached for their choice for a “ready to cook product”.
2) A publisher might want to find out the reason for poor circulation of newspaper introduced
recently. He might meet (a) Newspaper sellers (b) Public reading room (c) General public (d)
Business community; etc.
These are experienced persons whose knowledge researcher can use.
Focus Group
Another widely used technique in exploratory research is the focus group. In a focus group, a
small number of individuals are brought together to study and talk about some topic of interest.
The discussion is co-ordinated by a moderator. The group usually is of 8-12 persons. While
selecting these persons, care has to be taken to see that they should have a common
background and have similar experiences in buying. This is required because there should not be
a conflict among the group members on the common issues that are being discussed. During the
discussion, future buying attitudes, present buying opinion etc., are gathered.
Most of the companies conducting the focus groups, first screen the candidates to determine who
will compose the particular group. Firms also take care to avoid groups, in which some of the
participants have their friends and relatives, because this leads to a biased discussion. Normally,
a number of such groups are constituted and the final conclusion of various groups are taken for
formulating the hypothesis. Therefore, a key factor in focus group is to have similar groups.
Normally there are 4-5 groups. Some of them may even have 6-8 groups. The guiding criteria is
to see whether the latter groups are generating additional ideas or repeating the same with
respect to the subject under study. When this shows a diminishing return from the group, the
discussions stopped. The typical focus group lasts for 1-30 hours to 2 hours. The moderator
under the focus group has a key role. His job is to guide the group to proceed in the right
direction.
Analysis of selected cases
Analysing a selected case sometimes gives an insight into the problem which is being
researched. Case histories of companies which have undergone a similar situation may be
available. These case studies are well suited to carry out exploratory research. However, the
result of investigation of case histories arc always considered suggestive, rather than conclusive.
In case of preference to “ready to eat food”, many case histories may be available in the form of
previous studies made by competitors. We must carefully examine the already published case
studies with regard to other variables such as price, advertisement, changes in the taste, etc.

3. MEASUREMENT CONCEPTS

Measurement
Measurement is the process observing and recording the observations that are collected as part of a

research effort. There are two major issues that will be considered here.

First, you have to understand the fundamental ideas involved in measuring. Here we consider two of major

measurement concepts. In Levels of Measurement, I explain the meaning of the four major levels of

measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Then we move on to the reliability of measurement,

including consideration of true score theory and a variety of reliability estimators.

Second, you have to understand the different types of measures that you might use in social research. We

consider four broad categories of measurements. Survey research includes the design and implementation

of interviews and questionnaires. Scaling involves consideration of the major methods of developing and

implementing a scale. Qualitative research provides an overview of the broad range of non-numerical

measurement approaches. And unobtrusive measures presents a variety of measurement methods that

don't intrude on or interfere with the context of the research.

Levels of Measurement

The level of measurement

refers to the relationship among

the values that are assigned to

the attributes for a variable.

What does that mean? Begin

with the idea of the variable, in

this example "party

affiliation." That variable has a number of attributes. Let's assume that in this particular election context the

only relevant attributes are "republican", "democrat", and "independent". For purposes of analyzing the

results of this variable, we arbitrarily assign the values 1, 2 and 3 to the three attributes. The level of

measurement describes the relationship among these three values. In this case, we simply are using the

numbers as shorter placeholders for the lengthier text terms. We don't assume that higher values mean

"more" of something and lower numbers signify "less". We don't assume the the value of 2 means that

democrats are twice something that republicans are. We don't assume that republicans are in first place or

have the highest priority just because they have the value of 1. In this case, we only use the values as a

shorter name for the attribute. Here, we would describe the level of measurement as "nominal".

Why is Level of Measurement Important?

First, knowing the level of measurement helps you decide how to interpret the data from that variable. When

you know that a measure is nominal (like the one just described), then you know that the numerical values

are just short codes for the longer names. Second, knowing the level of measurement helps you decide

what statistical analysis is appropriate on the values that were assigned. If a measure is nominal, then you

know that you would never average the data values or do a t-test on the data.
There are typically four levels of measurement that are defined:

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

• Ratio

In nominal measurement the numerical values just

"name" the attribute uniquely. No ordering of the

cases is implied. For example, jersey numbers in

basketball are measures at the nominal level. A

player with number 30 is not more of anything than

a player with number 15, and is certainly not twice

whatever number 15 is.

In ordinal measurement the attributes can be rank-

ordered. Here, distances between attributes do not

have any meaning. For example, on a survey you

might code Educational Attainment as 0=less than

H.S.; 1=some H.S.; 2=H.S. degree; 3=some college; 4=college degree; 5=post college. In this measure,

higher numbers mean more education. But is distance from 0 to 1 same as 3 to 4? Of course not. The

interval between values is not interpretable in an ordinal measure.

In interval measurement the distance between attributesdoes have meaning. For example, when we

measure temperature (in Fahrenheit), the distance from 30-40 is same as distance from 70-80. The interval

between values is interpretable. Because of this, it makes sense to compute an average of an interval

variable, where it doesn't make sense to do so for ordinal scales. But note that in interval measurement

ratios don't make any sense - 80 degrees is not twice as hot as 40 degrees (although the attribute value is

twice as large).

Finally, in ratio measurement there is always an absolute zero that is meaningful. This means that you can

construct a meaningful fraction (or ratio) with a ratio variable. Weight is a ratio variable. In applied social

research most "count" variables are ratio, for example, the number of clients in past six months. Why?

Because you can have zero clients and because it is meaningful to say that "...we had twice as many clients

in the past six months as we did in the previous six months."

It's important to recognize that there is a hierarchy implied in the level of measurement idea. At lower levels

of measurement, assumptions tend to be less restrictive and data analyses tend to be less sensitive. At

each level up the hierarchy, the current level includes all of the qualities of the one below it and adds

something new. In general, it is desirable to have a higher level of measurement (e.g., interval or ratio)

rather than a lower one (nominal or ordinal).

Scaling
Scaling is the branch of measurement that involves the construction of an instrument that associates

qualitative constructs with quantitative metric units. Scaling evolved out of efforts in psychology and

education to measure "unmeasurable" constructs like authoritarianism and self esteem. In many ways,

scaling remains one of the most arcane and misunderstood aspects of social research measurement. And, it

attempts to do one of the most difficult of research tasks -- measure abstract concepts.

Most people don't even understand what scaling is. The basic idea of scaling is described in General Issues

in Scaling, including the important distinction between a scale and a response format. Scales are generally

divided into two broad categories: unidimensional and multidimensional. The unidimensional scaling

methods were developed in the first half of the twentieth century and are generally named after their

inventor. We'll look at three types of unidimensional scaling methods here:

• Thurstone or Equal-Appearing Interval Scaling

• Likert or "Summative" Scaling

• Guttman or "Cumulative" Scaling

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, measurement theorists developed more advanced techniques for creating

multidimensional scales. Although these techniques are not considered here, you may want to look at the

method of concept mapping that relies on that approach to see the power of these multivariate methods.

General Issues in
Scaling
S.S. Stevens came up with what I think is the simplest

and most straightforward definition of scaling. He said:

 Scaling is the assignment of objects to numbers according to a rule.

But what does that mean? In most scaling, the objects are text statements, usually statements of attitude or

belief. The figure shows an example.There are three statements describing attitudes towards immigration.

To scale these statements, we have to assign numbers to them. Usually, we would like the result to be on at

least an interval scale (see Levels of Measurement) as indicated by the ruler in the figure. And what does

"according to a rule" mean? If you look at the statements, you can see that as you read down, the attitude

towards immigration becomes more restrictive -- if a person agrees with a statement on the list, it's likely that

they will also agree with all of the statements higher on the list. In this case, the "rule" is a cumulative one.

So what is scaling? It's how we get numbers that can be meaningfully assigned to objects -- it's a set of

procedures. We'll present several different approaches below.

But first, I have to clear up one of my pet peeves. People often confuse the idea of a scale and a response

scale. A response scale is the way you collect responses from people on an instrument. You might use a

dichotomous response scale like Agree/Disagree, True/False, or Yes/No. Or, you might use an interval

response scale like a 1-to-5 or 1-to-7 rating. But, if all you are doing is attaching a response scale to an

object or statement, you can't call that scaling. As you will see, scaling involves procedures that you do

independent of the respondent so that you can come up with a numerical value for the object. In true scaling

research, you use a scaling procedure to develop your instrument (scale) and you also use a response scale

to collect the responses from participants. But just assigning a 1-to-5 response scale for an item

is not scaling! The differences are illustrated in the table below.

Scale Response Scale

results from is used to collect

a process the response for an item

each item on scale item not associated with a

has ascale value scale value

refers to a set of
used for a single item
items
 Purposes of Scaling

Why do we do scaling? Why not just create text statements or

questions and use response formats to collect the answers? First,

sometimes we do scaling to test a hypothesis. We might want to know whether the construct or concept is a

single dimensional or multidimensional one (more about dimensionality later). Sometimes, we do scaling as

part of exploratory research. We want to know what dimensions underlie a set of ratings. For instance, if you

create a set of questions, you can use scaling to determine how well they "hang together" and whether they

measure one concept or multiple concepts. But probably the most common reason for doing scaling is for

scoring purposes. When a participant gives their responses to a set of items, we often would like to assign a

single number that represents that's person's overall attitude or belief. For the figure above, we would like to

be able to give a single number that describes a person's attitudes towards immigration, for example.

Dimensionality

A scale can have any number of dimensions in it. Most scales that we develop

have only a few dimensions. What's a dimension? Think of a dimension as a

number line. If we want to measure a construct, we have to decide whether

the construct can be measured well with one number line or whether it may

need more. For instance, height is a concept that is unidimensional or one-

dimensional. We can measure the concept of height very well with only a

single number line (e.g., a ruler). Weight is also unidimensional -- we can

measure it with a scale. Thirst might also bee considered a unidimensional

concept -- you are either more or less thirsty at any given time. It's easy to see

that height and weight are unidimensional. But what about a concept like self esteem? If you think you can

measure a person's self esteem well with a single ruler that goes from low to high, then you probably have a

unidimensional construct.

What would a two-dimensional concept be? Many models of intelligence or achievement postulate two major

dimensions -- mathematical and verbal ability. In this type of two-dimensional model, a person can be said to

possess two types of achievement. Some people will be high in verbal skills and lower in math. For others, it

will be the reverse. But, if a concept is truly two-dimensional, it is not possible to depict a person's level on it

using only a single number line. In other words, in order to describe achievement you would need to locate a

person as a point in two dimensional (x,y) space.

 OK, let's push this one step further: how about a three-dimensional

concept? Psychologists who study the idea of meaning theorized

that the meaning of a term could be well described in three

dimensions. Put in other terms, any objects can be distinguished or

differentiated from each other along three dimensions. They

labeled these three dimensions activity, evaluation, and potency.

They called this general theory of meaning the semantic differential. Their theory essentially states that

you can rate any object along those three dimensions. For instance, think of the idea of "ballet." If you like

the ballet, you would probably rate it high on activity, favorable on evaluation, and powerful on potency. On

the other hand, think about the concept of a "book" like a novel. You might rate it low on activity (it's

passive), favorable on evaluation (assuming you like it), and about average on potency. Now, think of the

idea of "going to the dentist." Most people would rate it low on activity (it's a passive activity), unfavorable on

evaluation, and powerless on potency (there are few routine activities that make you feel as powerless!).

The theorists who came up with the idea of the semantic differential thought that the meaning of any

concepts could be described well by rating the concept on these three dimensions. In other words, in order

to describe the meaning of an object you have to locate it as a dot somewhere within the cube (three-

dimensional space).

Unidimensional or Multidimensional?

What are the advantages of using a unidimensional model? Unidimensional concepts are generally easier to

understand. You have either more or less of it, and that's all. You're either taller or shorter, heavier or lighter.

It's also important to understand what a unidimensional scale is as a foundation for comprehending the more

complex multidimensional concepts. But the best reason to use unidimensional scaling is because you

believe the concept you are measuring really is unidimensional in reality. As you've seen, many familiar

concepts (height, weight, temperature) are actually unidimensional. But, if the concept you are studying is in

fact multidimensional in nature, a unidimensional scale or number line won't describe it well. If you try to

measure academic achievement on a single dimension, you would place every person on a single line

ranging from low to high achievers. But how do you score someone who is a high math achiever and terrible

verbally, or vice versa? A unidimensional scale can't capture that type of achievement.

The Major Unidimensional Scale Types

There are three major types of unidimensional scaling methods. They are similar in that they each measure

the concept of interest on a number line. But they differ considerably in how they arrive at scale values for
different items. The three methods are Thurstone or Equal-Appearing Interval Scaling, Likert or "Summative"

Scaling, and Guttman or "Cumulative" Scaling.

Types of Surveys
Surveys can be divided into two broad categories: the questionnaire and the interview. Questionnaires are

usually paper-and-pencil instruments that the respondent completes. Interviews are completed by the

interviewer based on the respondent says. Sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference between a

questionnaire and an interview. For instance, some people think that questionnaires always ask short

closed-ended questions while interviews always ask broad open-ended ones. But you will see

questionnaires with open-ended questions (although they do tend to be shorter than in interviews) and there

will often be a series of closed-ended questions asked in an interview.

Survey research has changed dramatically in the last ten years. We have automated telephone surveys that

use random dialing methods. There are computerized kiosks in public places that allows people to ask for

input. A whole new variation of group interview has evolved as focus group methodology. Increasingly,

survey research is tightly integrated with the delivery of service. Your hotel room has a survey on the desk.

Your waiter presents a short customer satisfaction survey with your check. You get a call for an interview

several days after your last call to a computer company for technical assistance. You're asked to complete a

short survey when you visit a web site. Here, I'll describe the major types of questionnaires and interviews,

keeping in mind that technology is leading to rapid evolution of methods. We'll discuss the relative

advantages and disadvantages of these different survey types in Advantages and Disadvantages of Survey

Methods.

Questionnaires

When most people think of questionnaires, they think of the mail survey. All

of us have, at one time or another, received a questionnaire in the mail. There

are many advantages to mail surveys. They are relatively inexpensive to

administer. You can send the exact same instrument to a wide number of people. They allow the respondent

to fill it out at their own convenience. But there are some disadvantages as well. Response rates from mail

surveys are often very low. And, mail questionnaires are not the best vehicles for asking for detailed written

responses.
 A second type is the group administered questionnaire. A sample of respondents is brought

together and asked to respond to a structured sequence of questions. Traditionally, questionnaires were

administered in group settings for convenience. The researcher could give the questionnaire to

those who were present and be fairly sure that there would be a high response rate. If the

respondents were unclear about the meaning of a question they could ask for clarification. And,

there were often organizational settings where it was relatively easy to assemble the group (in a

company or business, for instance).

What's the difference between a group administered questionnaire and a group interview or focus group?

In the group administered questionnaire, each respondent is handed an instrument and asked to

complete it while in the room. Each respondent completes an instrument. In the group interview or focus

group, the interviewer facilitates the session. People work as a group, listening to each other's comments

and answering the questions. Someone takes notes for the entire group -- people don't complete an

interview individually.

A less familiar type of questionnaire is the household drop-off survey. In this approach, a researcher goes

to the respondent's home or business and hands the respondent the instrument. In some cases, the

respondent is asked to mail it back or the interview returns to pick it up. This approach attempts to blend the

advantages of the mail survey and the group administered questionnaire. Like the mail survey, the

respondent can work on the instrument in private, when it's convenient. Like the group administered

questionnaire, the interviewer makes personal contact with the respondent -- they don't just send an

impersonal survey instrument. And, the respondent can ask questions about the study and get clarification

on what is to be done. Generally, this would be expected to increase the percent of people who are willing to

respond.

Interviews

Interviews are a far more personal form of research than questionnaires. In thepersonal interview, the

interviewer works directly with the respondent. Unlike with mail surveys, the interviewer has the opportunity

to probe or ask follow-up questions. And, interviews are generally easier for the respondent, especially if

what is sought is opinions or impressions. Interviews can be very time consuming and they are resource

intensive. The interviewer is considered a part of the measurement instrument and interviewers have to be

well trained in how to respond to any contingency.

 Almost everyone is familiar with the telephone interview. Telephone interviews enable a

researcher to gather information rapidly. Most of the major public opinion polls that are reported were based

on telephone interviews. Like personal interviews, they allow for some personal contact between the

interviewer and the respondent. And, they allow the interviewer to ask follow-up questions. But they also

have some major disadvantages. Many people don't have publicly-listed telephone numbers. Some don't

have telephones. People often don't like the intrusion of a call to their homes. And, telephone interviews

have to be relatively short or people will feel imposed upon.

Selecting the Survey Method

Selecting the type of survey you are going to use is one of the most critical decisions in many social

research contexts. You'll see that there are very few simple rules that will make the decision for you -- you

have to use your judgment to balance the advantages and disadvantages of different survey types. Here, all

I want to do is give you a number of questions you might ask that can help guide your decision.

Population Issues

The first set of considerations have to do with the population and its accessibility.

• Can the population be enumerated?

For some populations, you have a complete listing of the units that will be sampled. For others, such a list is

difficult or impossible to compile. For instance, there are complete listings of registered voters or person with

active drivers licenses. But no one keeps a complete list of homeless people. If you are doing a study that

requires input from homeless persons, you are very likely going to need to go and find the respondents

personally. In such contexts, you can pretty much rule out the idea of mail surveys or telephone interviews.
 • Is the population literate?

Questionnaires require that your respondents can read. While this might seem initially like a reasonable

assumption for many adult populations, we know from recent research that the instance of adult illiteracy is

alarmingly high. And, even if your respondents can read to some degree, your questionnaire may contain

difficult or technical vocabulary. Clearly, there are some populations that you would expect to be illiterate.

Young children would not be good targets for questionnaires.

• Are there language issues?

We live in a multilingual world. Virtually every society has members who speak other than the predominant

language. Some countries (like Canada) are officially multilingual. And, our increasingly global economy

requires us to do research that spans countries and language groups. Can you produce multiple versions of

your questionnaire? For mail instruments, can you know in advance the language your respondent speaks,

or do you send multiple translations of your instrument? Can you be confident that important connotations in

your instrument are not culturally specific? Could some of the important nuances get lost in the process of

translating your questions?

• Will the population cooperate?

People who do research on immigration issues have a difficult methodological problem. They often need to

speak with undocumented immigrants or people who may be able to identify others who are. Why would we

expect those respondents to cooperate? Although the researcher may mean no harm, the respondents are

at considerable risk legally if information they divulge should get into the hand of the authorities. The same

can be said for any target group that is engaging in illegal or unpopular activities.

• What are the geographic restrictions?

Is your population of interest dispersed over too broad a geographic range for you to study feasibly with a

personal interview? It may be possible for you to send a mail instrument to a nationwide sample. You may

be able to conduct phone interviews with them. But it will almost certainly be less feasible to do research

that requires interviewers to visit directly with respondents if they are widely dispersed.
Sampling Issues

The sample is the actual group you will have to contact in some way. There are several important sampling

issues you need to consider when doing survey research.

• What data is available?

What information do you have about your sample? Do you know their current addresses? Their current

phone numbers? Are your contact lists up to date?

• Can respondents be found?

Can your respondents be located? Some people are very busy. Some travel a lot. Some work the night shift.

Even if you have an accurate phone or address, you may not be able to locate or make contact with your

sample.

• Who is the respondent?

Who is the respondent in your study? Let's say you draw a sample of households in a small city. A

household is not a respondent. Do you want to interview a specific individual? Do you want to talk only to the

"head of household" (and how is that person defined)? Are you willing to talk to any member of the

household? Do you state that you will speak to the first adult member of the household who opens the door?

What if that person is unwilling to be interviewed but someone else in the house is willing? How do you deal
with multi-family households? Similar problems arise when you sample groups, agencies, or companies.

Can you survey any member of the organization? Or, do you only want to speak to the Director of Human

Resources? What if the person you would like to interview is unwilling or unable to participate? Do you use

another member of the organization?

• Can all members of population be sampled?

If you have an incomplete list of the population (i.e., sampling frame) you may not be able to sample every

member of the population. Lists of various groups are extremely hard to keep up to date. People move or

change their names. Even though they are on your sampling frame listing, you may not be able to get to

them. And, it's possible they are not even on the list.

• Are response rates likely to be a problem?

Even if you are able to solve all of the other population and sampling problems, you still have to deal with

the issue of response rates. Some members of your sample will simply refuse to respond. Others have the

best of intentions, but can't seem to find the time to send in your questionnaire by the due date. Still others

misplace the instrument or forget about the appointment for an interview. Low response rates are among the

most difficult of problems in survey research. They can ruin an otherwise well-designed survey effort.

Question Issues

Sometimes the nature of what you want to ask respondents will determine the type of survey you select.

• What types of questions can be asked?

Are you going to be asking personal questions? Are you going to need to get lots of detail in the responses?

Can you anticipate the most frequent or important types of responses and develop reasonable closed-ended

questions?

• How complex will the questions be?

Sometimes you are dealing with a complex subject or topic. The questions you want to ask are going to

have multiple parts. You may need to branch to sub-questions.

• Will screening questions be needed?

A screening question may be needed to determine whether the respondent is qualified to answer your

question of interest. For instance, you wouldn't want to ask someone their opinions about a specific

computer program without first "screening" them to find out whether they have any experience using the

program. Sometimes you have to screen on several variables (e.g., age, gender, experience). The more

complicated the screening, the less likely it is that you can rely on paper-and-pencil instruments without

confusing the respondent.

• Can question sequence be controlled?

Is your survey one where you can construct in advance a reasonable sequence of questions? Or, are you

doing an initial exploratory study where you may need to ask lots of follow-up questions that you can't easily

anticipate?

• Will lengthy questions be asked?

If your subject matter is complicated, you may need to give the respondent some detailed background for a

question. Can you reasonably expect your respondent to sit still long enough in a phone interview to ask

your question?

• Will long response scales be used?

If you are asking people about the different computer equipment they use, you may have to have a lengthy

response list (CD-ROM drive, floppy drive, mouse, touch pad, modem, network connection, external

speakers, etc.). Clearly, it may be difficult to ask about each of these in a short phone interview.
Content Issues

The content of your study can also pose challenges for the different survey types you might utilize.

• Can the respondents be expected to know about the issue?

If the respondent does not keep up with the news (e.g., by reading the newspaper, watching television news,

or talking with others), they may not even know about the news issue you want to ask them about. Or, if you

want to do a study of family finances and you are talking to the spouse who doesn't pay the bills on a regular

basis, they may not have the information to answer your questions.

• Will respondent need to consult records?

Even if the respondent understands what you're asking about, you may need to allow them to consult their

records in order to get an accurate answer. For instance, if you ask them how much money they spent on

food in the past month, they may need to look up their personal check and credit card records. In this case,

you don't want to be involved in an interview where they would have to go look things up while they keep

you waiting (they wouldn't be comfortable with that).

Bias Issues

People come to the research endeavor with their own sets of biases and prejudices. Sometimes, these

biases will be less of a problem with certain types of survey approaches.

• Can social desirability be avoided?

Respondents generally want to "look good" in the eyes of others. None of us likes to look like we don't know

an answer. We don't want to say anything that would be embarrassing. If you ask people about information

that may put them in this kind of position, they may not tell you the truth, or they may "spin" the response so

that it makes them look better. This may be more of a problem in an interview situation where they are face-

to face or on the phone with a live interviewer.

• Can interviewer distortion and subversion be controlled?

Interviewers may distort an interview as well. They may not ask questions that make them uncomfortable.

They may not listen carefully to respondents on topics for which they have strong opinions. They may make
the judgment that they already know what the respondent would say to a question based on their prior

responses, even though that may not be true.

• Can false respondents be avoided?

With mail surveys it may be difficult to know who actually responded. Did the head of household complete

the survey or someone else? Did the CEO actually give the responses or instead pass the task off to a

subordinate? Is the person you're speaking with on the phone actually who they say they are? At least with

personal interviews, you have a reasonable chance of knowing who you are speaking with. In mail surveys

or phone interviews, this may not be the case.

Administrative Issues

Last, but certainly not least, you have to consider the feasibility of the survey method for your study.

• costs

Cost is often the major determining factor in selecting survey type. You might prefer to do personal

interviews, but can't justify the high cost of training and paying for the interviewers. You may prefer to send

out an extensive mailing but can't afford the postage to do so.

• facilities

Do you have the facilities (or access to them) to process and manage your study? In phone interviews, do

you have well-equipped phone surveying facilities? For focus groups, do you have a comfortable and

accessible room to host the group? Do you have the equipment needed to record and transcribe responses?

• time

Some types of surveys take longer than others. Do you need responses immediately (as in an overnight

public opinion poll)? Have you budgeted enough time for your study to send out mail surveys and follow-up

reminders, and to get the responses back by mail? Have you allowed for enough time to get enough

personal interviews to justify that approach?

• personnel
Different types of surveys make different demands of personnel. Interviews require interviewers who are

motivated and well-trained. Group administered surveys require people who are trained in group facilitation.

Some studies may be in a technical area that requires some degree of expertise in the interviewer.

Clearly, there are lots of issues to consider when you are selecting which type of survey you wish to use in

your study. And there is no clear and easy way to make this decision in many contexts. There may not be

one approach which is clearly the best. You may have to make tradeoffs of advantages and disadvantages.

There is judgment involved. Two expert researchers may, for the very same problem or issue, select entirely

different survey methods. But, if you select a method that isn't appropriate or doesn't fit the context, you can

doom a study before you even begin designing the instruments or questions themselves.

Types Of Questions
Survey questions can be divided into two broad types: structured and unstructured. From an instrument

design point of view, the structured questions pose the greater difficulties (see Decisions About the

Response Format). From a content perspective, it may actually be more difficult to write good unstructured

questions. Here, I'll discuss the variety of structured questions you can consider for your survey (we'll

discuss unstructured questioning more under Interviews).

Dichotomous Questions

When a question has two possible responses, we consider it dichotomous. Surveys often use dichotomous

questions that ask for a Yes/No, True/False or Agree/Disagree response. There are a variety of ways to lay

these questions out on a questionnaire:

Questions Based on Level Of Measurement

We can also classify questions in terms of their level of measurement. For instance, we might measure

occupation using a nominal question. Here, the number next to each response has no meaning except as a

placeholder for that response. The choice of a "2" for a lawyer and a "1" for a truck driver is arbitrary -- from

the numbering system used we can't infer that a lawyer is "twice" something that a truck driver is.

We might ask respondents to rank order their preferences for presidential candidates using

an ordinalquestion:

We want the respondent to put a 1, 2, 3 or 4 next to the candidate, where 1 is the respondent's first choice.

Note that this could get confusing. We might want to state the prompt more explicitly so the respondent

knows we want a number from one to 4 (the respondent might check their favorite candidate, or assign

higher numbers to candidates they prefer more instead of understanding that we want rank ordering).

We can also construct survey questions that attempt to measure on an interval level. One of the most

common of these types is the traditional 1-to-5 rating (or 1-to-7, or 1-to-9, etc.). This is sometimes referred to

as a Likert response scale (see Likert Scaling). Here, we see how we might ask an opinion question on a

1-to-5 bipolar scale (it's called bipolar because there is a neutral point and the two ends of the scale are at

opposite positions of the opinion):

Another interval question uses an approach called the semantic differential. Here, an object is assessed

by the respondent on a set of bipolar adjective pairs (using 5-point rating scale):

Finally, we can also get at interval measures by using what is called a cumulative or Guttman

scale (seeGuttman Scaling). Here, the respondent checks each item with which they agree. The items

themselves are constructed so that they are cumulative -- if you agree to one, you probably agree to all of

the ones above it in the list:

Filter or Contingency Questions

Sometimes you have to ask the respondent one question in order to determine if they are qualified or

experienced enough to answer a subsequent one. This requires using a filter or contingency question.

For instance, you may want to ask one question if the respondent has ever smoked marijuana and a

different question if they have not. in this case, you would have to construct a filter question to determine

whether they've ever smoked marijuana:

Filter questions can get very complex. Sometimes, you have to have multiple filter questions in order to

direct your respondents to the correct subsequent questions. There are a few conventions you should keep

in mind when using filters:

• try to avoid having more than three levels (two jumps) for any question

Too many jumps will confuse the respondent and may discourage them from continuing with the survey.

• if only two levels, use graphic to jump (e.g., arrow and box)
The example above shows how you can make effective use of an arrow and box to help direct the

respondent to the correct subsequent question.

• if possible, jump to a new page

If you can't fit the response to a filter on a single page, it's probably best to be able to say something like "If

YES, please turn to page 4" rather that "If YES, please go to Question 38" because the respondent will

generally have an easier time finding a page than a specific question.