Survey Research

Survey Research When creating survey instruments, there are six main things to consider. 1Creating Survey InstrumentsSubstanceWhat do you really want to know? What questions do you need to ask to find these things out?

2Creating Survey Instruments2.NumberHow many questions should you ask?How many is too many? Respondent fatigue3Creating Survey Instruments3. Organization/ Order: Where to put the stuff on the survey

Standard order is:Intro Warm-up Substantive questions Demographic or sensitive information 4Creating Survey InstrumentsForm: Types of questions Open-ended questionsClose-ended questionsMix of bothPros & Cons 5Creating Survey Instruments5.Layout: Look of the survey instrumentIs it appealing?Amount of time?Coding 6Creating Survey Instruments6.Wording: How you ask questions and phrase thingsLeading questionsDouble-barreled questions Clarity in WordingSocial desirability element7Recap of Survey Instruments1. Substance 2. Number3. Organization/ Order4. Form5. Layout6. Wording

Survey Instrument8

Pre-testingReal or True Pre-test

Pseudo Pre-test

13PopulationWhat is the population?What is a case?

CasesPopulationSamplesSample: Part of a populationCaseCensus v. sample

Simple random sampleEvery member of population equal chance of being pickedSamples2 main considerations:How to pick cases How many cases These help ensure reliability of the results

Representative sampleConfidence interval (CI)- wiggle roomAt most want to see +/-3%Confidence level (CL)- certainty in CIUsually 95% is acceptableEvaluating DataWho to trustMajor polling organizationsGallopNielsenBig media outletsWall Street JournalNY TimesWashington Post3 major TV networks (CBS, NBC, ABC)

Evaluating DataWho not to trustUnless CI is given, dont trust without looking it upGeneral media outletsOther TV networks, newsprint surveys, radio stations, Internet sites

Representative SampleThe National Housing Quarterly Survey done in 2011 found 64% of Americans think owning their own home is a safe investment. In 2010, 70% thought it was a safe investment, while in 2003, 83% it was. *CI +/-3%

Is there a significant change from 2010 to 2011?How about from 2003 to 2011?Representative SampleYearAs many asAs few as201167%61%201073%67%200386%80%*95% of time= 95/100 people respond same wayRepresentative SampleWe want to know how racial minorities in the U.S. view gay marriage. A poll conducted to assess Americans attitudes toward gay marriage has an insufficient sample size to evaluate individual racial minority groups reliably. However, in surveying Americans, support for gay marriage is essentially identical among whites (53%) and nonwhites (54%). CI +/-3%

-Why cant the polling company reliably report the racial breakdown?Representative SampleWould need a large enough sample size for each racial groupThus, CI not reliable for the racial breakdownPoll has sufficient sample size to represent Americans in general Cant guarantee 9.5 /10 Asians, Blacks, Latinos, would respond the same way as the nonwhite respondentsLatinos might actually be at 20%, Blacks at 60%

Measures Of Central TendencyMean Median Mode

23Measures of Central TendencyMean: Average

Formula: Add all, divide by total number (N)

What is the mean of the following college students ages? 18, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 52

Using formula: 174/7 =24.8524Measures of Central TendencyMedian: Middle

Formula: Odd numbermid point; Even numbernumber of points +1 divided by 2

What is the median age for these college students? 18, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 52 25Measures of Central TendencyMode: Frequency

Formula: Identifying the modal points

What is the mode age for these college students? 18, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 52

Using formula: That which occurs most

26Measures of Central TendencyIf these are the ages of the college students, why does matter whether the mean, median, or mode is reported? Ages: 18, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 52 Mean-24.58Median-21Mode-18Why Median?The Economist noted that The National Association of Realtors reckons that the median house price fell to a near-nine-year low.

Why did the NAR report the median house price?

Think in terms of the student ages: 18, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 52 Mean-24.58Median-21Mode-18

Why Median?Mean=averageMedian=middle pointReporting mean includes outliersReporting median controls for outliers

Measures Of Dispersion Nominal: No numerical valueNamesExamples?Ordinal: Numerical valueRank orderedBracketedExamples?Interval: Numerical valueKnow distance between actual numbersExamples?

30NominalNames of placesLouisville and Covington are cities in KY.Columbus and Akron are cities in OH.Assigned numbers, but they are meaningless:Akron (1)Columbus (2)Covington (3)Louisville (4)31OrdinalWhat do we know from this information?

Louisville is the biggest city in KY. Covington is the 5th biggest city in KY.

Columbus is the biggest city in OH. Akron is the 5th biggest city in OH.

32IntervalLouisvilles population is 597,337 Covingtons population is 40,640

Columbuss population is 787,033 Akrons population is 199,110

What do we know from this information?

33Data TypeInformationMeasurementNominalLouisville, Columbus, Akron, etc.Mode # times name appearsOrdinalLouisville: Largest in KYColumbus Largest in OHMode, medianAlso, city rank in exclusive categoryIntervalLouisville:Population of 597,337

Columbus:Population of 787,033Mode, median, meanCan also figure out median between diff. categoriesAlso, actual average of populationsWhat is the average population size of the top 5 cities, top 5 KY cities, top 5 OH cities, etc. 34Recap of MeasuresData TypeAppropriate Measure of CT

NominalModeOrdinalMode, medianIntervalMode, median, mean35Issues with Reporting DataIs the confidence interval given?If so, you can assume a CL was also usedAre figures given consistent?Mean or median?Are examples anomalous or representative?False cause and hasty generalization fallacies

Which Methodology?QualitativeorQuantitative?

Which Methodology?You want to know how people will vote in the upcoming election.Which Methodology?You want to determine which US foreign policies in the last decade have had the biggest impact on trade.Which Methodology?You want to know whether adding new sewer lines or repaving the roads in your district is a better use of city money. Which Methodology?You want to see what impact putting wells in developing countries has had on the number of people stricken with diarrhea. 41