Chapter 2

Survey Research

2.1. Introduction

Webster defines a survey as “the action of ascertaining facts regarding conditions or the condition
of something to provide exact information especially to persons responsible or interested” and as
“a systematic collection and analysis of data on some aspect of an area or group.”
A survey, then, is much more than the mere compiling of data. The data must be analyzed,
interpreted, and evaluated. Only after this processing can data become information. The
"exactness" of the information is determined by the surveyor's methods. Unless he makes a
systematic collection of data, followed by a careful analysis and evaluation with predefined
objectives, his collection of data cannot become “exact” information.

A survey can be anything from a short paper-and-pencil feedback form to an intensive one-on-
one in-depth interview.

In experiments, researchers place people in small group, test one or two hypotheses with a few
variables, control the timing of the treatment and the dependent variable, and control for
alternative explanations. By contrast , survey researchers sample many respondents who answer
the same questions, measure many variables, test multiple hypotheses, under infer temporal
order from questions about past behavior, experience or characteristics.

There are four different types of surveys that are: Questionnaires, Interviews, observations
and projective techniques.

2.2. A history of Survey Research

The modern survey can be traced back to ancient form of census. A census includes information
on characteristics of the entire population in a territory. It is based on what people tell officials or
what officials observe

2.3. Types of Survey

CHAPTER 5
2.3.1. The Questionnaire
One of the steps in preparing the survey research is developing the data collection instrument.
The most common means of collecting data are the interview and the questionnaire.
In the past, the interview has been the most popular data-collecting instrument.
Recently, the questionnaire has surpassed the interview in popularity, especially in the military.
The Questionnaire: Pros and Cons
It is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the questionnaire as opposed
to the personal interview. This knowledge will allow you to maximize the strengths of the
questionnaire while minimizing its weaknesses.
The advantages of administering a questionnaire instead of conducting an interview are:
 lower costs
 better samples
 standardization
 respondent privacy (anonymity)
 It is free from the bias of the interviewers, answers are in respondents own words
 Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out answers.
 Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached conveniently.
The primary advantage is lower cost, in time as well as money. Not having to train interviewers
eliminates a lengthy and expensive requirement of interviewing.
The questionnaire can be administered simultaneously to large groups whereas an interview
requires each individual to be questioned separately. This allows the questions to reach a given
number of respondents more efficiently than is possible with the interview. Finally, the cost of
postage should be less than that of travel or telephone expenses.
Since a typical questionnaire usually has a lower cost per respondent, it can reach more people
within a given budget (or time) limit. This can enhance the conduct of a larger and more
representative sample.
The questionnaire provides a standardized data-gathering procedure. Using a well- constructed
questionnaire can minimize the effects of potential human errors (for example, altering the pattern
of question asking, calling at inconvenient times, and biasing by “explaining”. The use of a
questionnaire also eliminates any bias introduced by the feelings of the respondents towards the
interviewer (or vice versa).
Although the point is debatable, most surveyors believe the respondent will answer a
questionnaire more frankly than he would answer an interviewer, because of a greater feeling of
anonymity. The respondent has no one to impress with his/her answers and need have no fear of
anyone hearing them. To maximize this feeling of privacy, it is important to guard, and
emphasize, the respondent's anonymity.

The primary disadvantages of the questionnaire are:

 Non-returns,
 Misinterpretation, and
 Validity problems.
 It can be used only when respondents are educated and cooperating.
 The control over the questionnaire may be lost once it is sent.
 There is inbuilt inflexibility because of the difficulty of amending the approach once
questionnaires have been dispatched.
 This method is the slowest of all.

Non-returns are questionnaires or individual questions that are not answered by the people to
whom they were sent. The important point about these low response rates is not the reduced size
of the sample, which could easily be overcome by sending out more questionnaires, but the
possibility of bias. Nonresponse is not a random process; it has its own determinants, which vary
from survey to survey.
For example, you may be surveying to determine the attitude of a group about a new policy.
Some of those opposed to it might be afraid to speak out, and they might comprise the majority of
the nonreturns. This would introduce non-random (or systematic) bias into your survey results,
especially if you found only a small number of the returns were in favor of the policy. Nonreturns
cannot be overcome entirely. What we can do is try to minimize them. Techniques to accomplish
this are covered later in this chapter.

Misinterpretation occurs when the respondent does not understand either the survey
instructions or the survey questions. If respondents become confused, they will either give up on
the survey (becoming a nonreturn) or answer questions in terms of the way they understand it,
but not necessarily the way you meant it. Some view the latter problem as a more dangerous
occurrence than merely nonresponding. The questionnaire instructions and questions must be
able to stand on their own and must use terms that have commonly understood meanings
throughout the population under study. If novel terms must be used, be sure to define them so all
respondents understand your meaning.

The third disadvantage of using a questionnaire is inability to check on the validity of the
answer. Did the person you wanted to survey give the questionnaire to a friend or complete it
personally? Did the individual respond indiscriminately? Did the respondent deliberately choose
answers to mislead the surveyor? Without observing the respondent's reactions (as would be the
case with an interview) while completing the questionnaire, you have no way of knowing the true
answers to these questions.
 The secret in preparing a survey questionnaire is to take advantage of the strengths of
questionnaires (lower costs, more representative samples, standardization, and privacy) while
minimizing the number of nonreturns, misinterpretations, and validity problems. This is not always
as easy as it sounds. But an inventive surveyor can very often find legitimate ways of overcoming
the disadvantages.
THE CONTENTS
The key to minimizing the disadvantages of the survey questionnaire lies in the construction of
the questionnaire itself.
A poorly developed questionnaire contains the seeds of its own destruction. Each of the three
portions of the questionnaire - the cover letter, the instructions, and the questions - must
work together to have a positive impact on the success of the survey.

 The cover letter should explain to the respondent the purpose of the survey and motivate
him to reply truthfully and quickly. If possible, it should explain why the survey is important to
him, how he was chosen to participate, and who is sponsoring the survey (the higher the level
of sponsorship the better). Also the confidentiality of the results should be strongly stressed. A
well written cover letter can help minimize both nonreturn and validity problems. In support of
the statement above regarding level of sponsorship, the signature block on the letter should be
as high level as you can get commensurate with the topic being investigated. Another tip that
seems to help improve response rate is to identify the survey as official. In general, the more
official the survey appears, the less likely it is to be disregarded.
 The cover letter should be followed by a clear set of instructions explaining how to complete
the survey and where to return it. If the respondents do not understand the mechanical
procedures necessary to respond to the questions, their answers will be meaningless. In case
of mail questionnaire, the instructions substitute for your presence, so you must anticipate any
questions or problems that may arise and attempt to prevent them from occurring. Remember
anonymity! If you do not want respondents to provide their names say so explicitly in the
instructions. If you need respondents' name included on the survey for tracking or analysis
purposes, you will need to put a Privacy Act Statement somewhere on the survey.
The"Instructions" page is usually a good place for this statement. It places it in a prominent
place where all respondents will see it, but does not clutter the instrument itself or the cover
letter.

 The third and final part of the questionnaire is the set of questions. Since the questions are
the means by which you are going to collect your data, they should be consistent with your
survey plan. They should not be ambiguous or encourage feelings of frustration or anger that
will lead to nonreturns or validity problems.

TYPES OF QUESTIONS

1. Based on the situation of survey

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

There are many advantages to mail surveys.

a) They are relatively inexpensive to administer. You can send the exact same
instrument to a wide number of people.
b) They allow the respondent to fill it out at their own convenience.

But there are some disadvantages as well.

a) Response rates from mail surveys are often very low.

 b) Mail questionnaires are not the best vehicles for asking for detailed written
responses.

 Self –administered Questionnaires

 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.

2. Types of Questionnaires 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.

We might ask respondents to rank order their preferences for presidential candidates using an
ordinal question. We want the respondent to put a 1, 2, 3 or 4 next to the candidate, where 1 is
the respondent's first choice.

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. 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. 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:

3. Variable of structure or response format

The types of questionnaire vary widely. Questionnaires may be classified on a number of different
bases. The classification of questionnaires used here is based on the variablity of structure. It is
how you collect the answer from the respondent. Accordingly, we have:

 structured/ standardized questionnaire

 unstructured/ non-structured questionnaire.

Structured questionnaires/response formats are those in which there are definite, concrete
and preordained questions with additional questions limited to those necessary to clarify
inadequate answers or to elicit more detailed responses. The questions are presented with
exactly the same wording, and in the same wording, and in the same order to all respondents.

Structured questions/formats help the respondent to respond more easily and help the researcher
to accumulate and summarize responses more efficiently. But, they can also constrain the
respondent and limit the researcher's ability to understand what the respondent really means.
There are many different structured response formats, each with its own strengths and
weaknesses. We'll review the major ones here.
a) Fill- In-The-Blank. One of the simplest response formats is a blank line. A blank line can be
used for a number of different response types.

b) Check The Answer. The respondent places a check next to the response(s). Sometimes, we
supply a box that the person can fill in with an 'X' (which is sort of a variation on the check
mark. By convention, we usually use the checkmark format when we want to allow the
respondent to select multiple items.

Whenever you use a checklist, you want to be sure that you ask the following questions:

 Are all of the alternatives covered?

 Is the list of reasonable length?
 Is the wording impartial?
 Is the form of the response easy, uniform?

Sometimes you may not be sure that you have covered all of the possible responses in a
checklist. If that is the case, you should probably allow the respondent to write in any other
options that may apply.

c) Circle The Answer. Sometimes the respondent is asked to circle an item to indicate their
response. Usually we are asking them to circle a number.

Advantages of structured Questionnaire

a. It is easier and quicker for respondents to answer.

b. The answers of different respondents are easier to compare.

c. Answers are easier to code and statistically analyze.

d. The response choices can clarify question meaning for respondents.

e. Respondents are more likely to answer sensitive questions.

f. There are fewer irrelevant or confused answers to questions.

g. Less articulate or less literate respondents are not at a disadvantage.

h. Replication is easier.

Disadvantages of structured Questionnaire

a. They can suggest ideas that the respondent would not otherwise have.
b. Respondents with no opinion or no knowledge can answer anyway.

c. Respondents can be frustrated because their desired answer is not a choice.

d. It is confusing if many response choices are offered.

e. Misinterpretation of a question can go unnoticed.

f. Distinction between respondent answers may be blurred.

 g. Clerical mistakes or making the wrong response is possible.

h. They force respondents to give simplistic responses to complex issues.

i. They force people to make choices they would not make in the real world.

Unstructured questionnaires/ Response Formats while there are a wide variety of structured
response formats, there are relatively few unstructured ones. What is an unstructured response
format? Generally, it's written text. If the respondent writes down text as the response, you've got
an unstructured response format. These can vary from short comment boxes to the transcript of
an interview. In almost every short questionnaire, there are one or more short text field questions.

Advantages of unstructured questionnaires/response format

a. They permit an unlimited number of possible answers.

b. Respondents can answer in detail and can qualify and clarify responses.

c. Unanticipated findings can be discovered.

d. They permit adequate answers to complex issues.

e. They permit creativity; self expression, and richness of detail.

f. They reveal a respondent’s logic, thinking process, and frame of reference.

Disadvantages of unstructured questionnaire/response format

a. Different respondents give different degrees of detail in answers.

b. Responses may be irrelevant or buried in useless detail.

c. Comparison and statistical analysis become very difficult.

d. Coding response is difficult.

e. Articulate and highly literate respondents have an advantage.

f. Questions may be to general for respondents who loss direction.

g. Responses are written verbatim, which is difficult for interviewers.

h. A great amount of respondent time, thought and effort is necessary.

i. Respondents can be intimidated by questions.

j. Answers take up a lot of space in the questionnaire.

Questionnaire Construction/ Wording Decision

Many researchers have investigated the complex art of question writing. From their experiences,
they offer valuable advice. Below are some helpful hints typical of those that appear most often in
texts on question construction.
1. Keep the language simple.
Analyze your audience and write on their level. It usually suggested that writing at the sixth grade
level may be appropriate.
Avoid the use of technical terms or jargon.
2. Keep the questions short.
Long questions tend to become ambiguous and confusing. A respondent, in trying to comprehend
a long question, may leave out a clause and thus change the meaning of the question.
3. Keep the number of questions to a minimum.
There is no commonly agreed on maximum number of questions that should be asked, but
research suggests higher return rates correlate highly with shorter surveys.
Ask only questions that will contribute to your survey.
Apply the “So what?” and “Who cares?” tests to each question.
“Nice-to-know” questions only add to the size of the questionnaire.
Do not leave out, however, questions that would yield necessary data simply because it will
shorten your survey. If the information is necessary, ask the question.
4. Limit each question to one idea or concept.
A question consisting of more than one idea may confuse the respondent and lead to a
meaningless answer.
Consider this question: “Are you in favor of raising pay and lowering benefits?” What would a yes
(or no) answer mean?
5. Do not ask leading questions.
These questions are worded in a manner that suggests an answer. Some respondents may give
the answer you are looking for whether or not they think it is right. Such questions can alienate
the respondent and may open your questionnaire to criticism.
A properly worded question gives no clue as to which answer you may believe to be the correct
one.
6. Use subjective terms such as good, fair, and bad sparingly/economically, if at all.
These terms mean different things to different people. One person's “fair” may be another
person's “bad.” How much is “often” and how little is “seldom?”
7. Allow for all possible answers.
Respondents who cannot find their answer among your list will be forced to give an invalid reply
or, possibly, become frustrated and refuse to complete the survey.
Wording the question to reduce the number of possible answers is the first step.
Avoid dichotomous (two-answer) questions (except for obvious demographic questions such as
gender).
If you cannot avoid them, add a third option, such as no opinion, don't know, or other. These
may not get the answers you need but they will minimize the number of invalid responses. A
great number of “don't know” answers to a question in a fact-finding survey can be a useful piece
of information. But a majority of “other” answers may mean you have a poor question, and
perhaps should be cautious when analyzing the results.
8. Avoid emotional or morally charged questions and too direct questions
There are times when asking a question too directly may be too threatening or disturbing for
respondents. The respondent may feel your survey is getting a bit too personal!
For instance, consider a study where you want to discuss battlefield experiences with former
soldiers who experienced trauma. Examine the following three question options:
 How did you feel about being in the war?
 How well did the equipment hold up in the field?
 How well were new recruits trained?

The first question may be too direct. For this population it may elicit powerful negative emotions
based on their recollections. The second question is a less direct one. It asks about equipment in
the field, but, for this population, may also lead the discussion toward more difficult issues to
discuss directly. The last question is probably the least direct and least threatening. If you are
doing a study where the respondents may experience high levels of stress because of the
questions you ask, you should reconsider the ethics of doing the study.
9. Understand the “should-would” question.
Usually respondents answer “should” questions from a social or moral point of view while
answering “would” questions in terms of personal preference.
10. Formulate your questions and answers to obtain exact information and to minimize
confusion.
The survey author has to always be on the lookout for questions that could be misunderstood or
confusing. Some terms are just to vague to be useful. For instance, if you ask a question about
the "mass media," what do you mean? The newspapers? Radio? Television? “How old are you?”
mean on your last or your nearest birthday? Does “What is your (military) grade?” mean
permanent or temporary grade? As of what date?
By including instructions like “Answer all questions as of (a certain date)”, you can alleviate many
such conflicts.
11. Include a few questions that can serve as checks on the accuracy and consistency of
the answers as a whole.
Have some questions that are worded differently, but are soliciting the same information, in
different parts of the questionnaire.
These questions should be designed to identify the respondents who are just marking answers
randomly or who are trying to game the survey (giving answers they think you want to hear).
If you find a respondent who answers these questions differently, you have reason to doubt the
validity of their entire set of responses. For this reason, you may decide to exclude their response
sheet(s) from the analysis.
12. Organize the pattern of the questions appropriately:
 Place demographic questions at the end of the questionnaire.
 Have your opening questions arouse interest.
 Ask easier questions first.
 To minimize conditioning, have general questions precede specific ones.
 Group similar questions together.
 If you must use personal or emotional questions, place them at the end of the
questionnaire.
 Thank the respondent at the beginning for allowing you to conduct your study
 Keep your survey as short as possible -- only include what is absolutely necessary
 Be sensitive to the needs of the respondent
 Be alert for any sign that the respondent is uncomfortable
 Thank the respondent at the end for participating
 Assure the respondent that you will send a copy of the final results.

Note: The next two hints apply to the entire questionnaire including the cover letter, instructions,
and question.

13. Pretest (pilot test) the questionnaire.

This is the most important step in preparing your questionnaire.
The purpose of the pretest is to see just how well your cover letter motivates your respondents
and how clear your instructions, questions, and answers are.
You should choose a small group of people (from three to ten should be sufficient) you feel are
representative of the group you plan to survey.
After explaining the purpose of the pretest, let them read and answer the questions without
interruption. When they are through, ask them to critique the cover letter, instructions, and each
of the questions and answers. Don't be satisfied with learning only what confused or alienated
them. Question them to make sure that what they thought something meant was really what you
intended it to mean.
Use the above 12 hints as a checklist, and go through them with your pilot test group to get their
reactions on how well the questionnaire satisfies these points. Finally, redo any parts of the
questionnaire that are weak.
14. Have your questionnaire neatly produced on quality paper.
A professional looking product will increase your return rate. But always remember the adage
“You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.”
A poorly designed survey that contains poorly written questions will yield useless data regardless
of how “pretty” it looks.
15. Be realistic in assuming about the respondents
Sometimes we don't stop to consider how a question will appear from the respondent's point-of-
view. We don't think about the assumptions behind our questions. For instance, if you ask what
social class someone's in, you assume that they know what social class is and that they think of
themselves as being in one. In this kind of case, you may need to use a filter question first to
determine whether either of these assumptions is true.
16. Finally, make your survey interesting!

Question Placement

One of the most difficult tasks facing the survey designer involves the ordering of questions.
Which topics should be introduced early in the survey and which later? If you leave your most
important questions until the end, you may find that your respondents are too tired to give them
the kind of attention you would like. If you introduce them too early, they may not yet be ready to
address the topic, especially if it is a difficult or disturbing one. Whenever you think about
question placement, consider the following questions:

 Is the answer influenced by prior questions?

 Does question come too early or too late to arouse interest?
 Does the question receive sufficient attention?

 The Opening Questions

The opening few questions should, in general, be easy to answer. You might start with some
simple descriptive questions that will get the respondent rolling. You should never begin your
survey with sensitive or threatening questions.

 Sensitive Questions

Before asking difficult and uncomfortable subjects, you should attempt to develop some trust or
rapport with the respondent. Often, preceding the sensitive questions with some easier warm-up
ones will help. But, you have to make sure that the sensitive material does not come up abruptly
or appear unconnected with the rest of the survey. It is often helpful to have a transition sentence
between sections of your instrument to give the respondent some idea of the kinds of questions
that are coming. For instance, you might lead into a section on personal material with the
transition: In this next section of the survey, we'd like to ask you about your personal
relationships. Remember, we do not want you to answer any questions if you are
uncomfortable doing so.

Bias and How to Combat It

Surveyors must be aware of ways the surveys might become biased and of the available means
for combating bias.
The main sources of bias in a questionnaire are:
 a non-representative sample
 leading questions
 question misinterpretation
 untruthful answers
Surveyors can expose themselves to possible non-representative sample bias in two ways.
  The first is to actually choose a non-representative sample. This bias can be
eliminated by careful choice of the sample.
 The second way is to have a large number of non-returns.
The nonreturn bias (also called non-respondent bias) can affect both the sample survey and the
complete survey. The bias stems from the fact that the returned questionnaires are not
necessarily evenly distributed throughout the sample. The opinions or attitudes expressed by
those who returned the survey may or may not represent the attitudes or opinions of those who
did not return the survey. It is impossible to determine which is true since the non-respondents
remain an unknown quantity.
The following are techniques used to get people to reply to surveys.
1. Use follow-up letters.
These letters are sent to the nonrespondents after a period of a couple of weeks asking them
again to fill out and return the questionnaire. The content of this letter is similar to that of the
cover letter.
If you are conducting a volunteer survey, you should anticipate the need for following up with non-
respondents and code the survey in some unobtrusive way to tell who has and who has not yet
responded. If you don't do that, but still need to get in touch with nonrespondents, consider
placing ads in local papers or base bulletins, announcements at commander's call, or notices
posted in public places. If at all possible, provide a fresh copy of the survey with the follow- up
letter. This often increases return rate over simply sending out a letter alone.
2. Use high-level sponsorship.
This hint was mentioned in an earlier section. People tend to reply to surveys sponsored by
organizations they know or respect. Effort spent in doing this will result in a higher percentage of
returns. If possible, use the letterhead of the sponsor on your cover letter.
3. Make your questionnaire attractive, simple to fill out, and easy to read.
A professional product usually gets professional results.
4. Keep the questionnaire as short as possible.
You are asking for a person's time, so make your request as small as possible.
5. Use your cover letter to motivate the person to return the questionnaire.
One form of motivation is to have the letter signed by an individual known to be respected by the
target audience for your questionnaire. In addition, make sure the individual will be perceived by
the audience as having a vested interest in the information needed.
6. Use inducements to encourage a reply.
These can range from a small amount of money attached to the survey to an enclosed stamped
envelope. A promise to report the results to each respondent can be helpful. If you do promise a
report, be sure to send it.
Proper use of these techniques can lower the nonreturn rate to acceptable levels. Keep in mind,
though, that no matter what you do, there will always be non-respondents to your surveys. Make
sure the effort and resources you spend are in proportion with the return you expect to get.
The second source of bias is misinterpretations of questions. We have seen that these can be
limited by clear instructions, well-constructed questions, and through judicious pilot testing of the
survey.
Biased questions can also be eliminated by constructing the questions properly and by using a
pilot test.
Finally, internal checks and a good motivational cover letter can control bias introduced by
untruthful answers.
Although bias cannot be eliminated totally, proper construction of the questionnaire, a well-
chosen sample, follow- up letters, and inducements can help control it.

SUMMARY
The questionnaire is the means for collecting your survey data. It should be designed with your
data collection plan in mind. Each of its three parts should take advantage of the strengths of
questionnaires while minimizing their weaknesses. Each of the different kinds of questions is
useful for eliciting different types of data, but each should be constructed carefully with well-
developed construction guidelines in mind. Properly constructed questions and well-followed
survey procedures will allow you to obtain the data needed to check your hypothesis and, at the
same time, minimize the chance that one of the many types of bias will invalidate your survey
results.

2.3.2. Schedules
This method of data collection is very much like the collection of data through questionnaire, with
little difference which lies in the fact that schedules ( proforma containing a set of questions)are
being filled in by the enumerators who are specially appointed for the purpose.
These enumerators along with schedules go to respondents, put to them the questions from the
proforma in the order the questions are listed and record the replies in the space meant for the
same in the proforma.
In certain situations schedules may be handed over to respondents and enumerators may help
them in recording their answers to various questions in the said schedules.
Enumerators explain the aims and objects of the investigation and also remove the difficulties
which any respondent may feel in understanding the implications of a particular question or the
definition or concept of difficult terms.
This method requires the selection of enumerators for filling up schedules or assisting
respondents to fill up schedules and as such enumerators should be very carefully selected. The
enumerators should be trained to perform their job well and the nature and scope of the
investigation should be explained to them thoroughly so that they may well understand the
implications of different questions put in the schedule.
Enumerators should be intelligent and must possess the capacity of cross-examination inorder to
find out the truth. Above all, they should be honest, sincere, hard working, and should have
patience and perseverance.
This method of data collection is very useful in extensive enquires and can lead to fairly reliable
results. It is, however, very expensive and is usually adopted in investigations conducted by
governmental agencies or by some big organizations. Population census all over the world is
conducted through this method.
This method is suitable where finance and trained enumerators are available to cover a wide field
and where some significance is attached to the accuracy of the results obtained.
Advantages
It can be adopted even in those cases where informants are illiterates.
It eliminates to a great extent the problem of non-response
The enumerator can explain the significance of the inquiry and the questions in the
questionnaire personally to the informants and thus ensuring collection of accurate and
reliable information.
Limitations
The enumerator might be biased one and may not enter the answers given by the
respondents truthfully. He may twist or suppress the information provided by the
informant.
Where there are many enumerators, they may interpret various terms in the
questionnaire according to their own understanding of the terms. The interpretation
may be quite unintentional.
The bias might be arise due to the state of mind of the informant or the environment in
which he is placed.
This method is some what costly and time consuming since it requires a large number of
enumerators who are paid persons.
Difference between questionnaires and Schedules
Both questionnaire and schedule are used method of collecting data in research surveys. There
is much resemblance in the nature of these two and this fact has made many people to remark
that from a particular point of view, the two methods can be taken to be the same. But from
technical point of view there is a difference between the two. The important points of difference
are as under:
1. The questionnaire is generally sent through mail to informants to be answered as specified
in a covering letter, but otherwise without further assistance from the sender. The schedule
is generally filled out by the research worker or the numerator, who can interpret questions
when necessary.
 2. Questionnaire is relatively economical
3. Non-response is usually high in case of questionnaire.
4. In case of questionnaire, it is not always clear as to who replies, but in case of schedule the
identity of the respondent is known.
5. The questionnaire method is likely to be slow than schedule.
6. Personal contact is generally not possible in case of the questionnaire method, but in case
of schedules direct personal contact is established with respondents.
7. Questionnaire method is only used when respondents are literate and cooperative, but in
case of schedules the information can be gathered even when the respondents happen to
be illiterate.
8. Wider and more representative sample coverage is possible in case of questionnaire
method, whereas in schedule there is usual remains the difficulty in sending enumerators
over a relatively wider area.
9. Risk of collecting incomplete and wrong information is relatively high in case of
questionnaire method than in case of schedule.
10. The success of questionnaire method lies more on the quality of the questionnaire itself,
but in case of schedules much depends upon the honesty and competence of enumerators,
11. Along with schedules observation method can be used but such thing is not possible in
case of questionnaire method.

2.3.3. Interviews

Interviews are among the most challenging and rewarding forms of data collection technique.
They require a personal sensitivity and adaptability as well as the ability to stay within the bounds
of the designed protocol. Interviews are a far more personal form of research than questionnaires
and schedules.

Types of Interviews

1. Face-to Face Interviews/ personal Interviews

In the personal 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.

Advantages of Personal Interviews

a. It has the highest response rates.

b. Quick response can be attained.

c. Personal contacts are involved

d. Follow up questions can be asked.

e. It permits the longest questionnaire.

f. Higher flexibility

g. Interviewers can observe the surroundings and can use nonverbal

communication and visual aids.

h. The interviewer can control who answers the questions.

 i. All types of questions can be asked including complex questions using
illustrations and extensive probes.

Disadvantages of Personal Interviews

a. Interviews can be very time consuming

b. Interviews are resource intensive or very expensive as training, travel, supervision cost
are added.

c. Interviewer bias is greatest.

d. The interviewer’s wording, tone of voice, appearance may matter.

2. Telephone interview

Another type of interview is called telephone interview. It is a popular survey method. Most of
the major public opinion polls that are reported were based on telephone interviews.

Advantages

a. Telephone interviews enable a researcher to gather information rapidly.

b. They allow for some personal contact between the interviewer and the respondent.

c. They allow the interviewer to ask follow-up questions.

d. They are cheaper than the personal interview.

e. No field staff is required.

f. Representative and wider distribution of sample is possible.

Disadvantages

a. Many people don't have publicly-listed telephone numbers. Some don't have telephones.
b. People often don't like the intrusion of a call to their homes.

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

d. Noise may interrupt the process.

e. Possibility of the bias of the interviewer is relatively more.

f. It is not suitable for intensive surveys wherwe comprehensive answers are required to
various questions.

The process of conducting the interview

 1. Preparation

1.1. Knowing the Role of the Interviewer and Preparing on it

The interviewer is really the "jack-of-all-trades" in survey research. The interviewer's role is
complex and multifaceted. It includes the following tasks:

a) Locate and enlist cooperation of respondents

b) Motivate respondents to do good job
c) Clarify any confusion/concerns
d) Observe quality of responses
e) Conduct a good interview

1.2. Training the Interviewers

One of the most important aspects of any interview study is the training of the interviewers
themselves. In many ways the interviewers are your measures, and the quality of the results is
totally in their hands. Even in small studies involving only a single researcher-interviewer, it is
important to organize in detail and rehearse the interviewing process before beginning the formal
study.

Here are some of the major topics that should be included in interviewer training:

a) Describe the entire study

b) State who is sponsor of research
c) Teach enough about survey research
d) Explain the sampling logic and process
e) Explain interviewer bias
f) "Walk through" the interview
g) Explain respondent selection procedures
h) reading maps
i) identifying households
j) identify respondents
k) Rehearse interview
l) Explain supervision
m) Explain scheduling

1.3. Make ready The Interviewer's Kit

2. Conducting the Interview

So all the preparation is complete, the training done, the interviewers ready to proceed, their "kits"
in hand. It's finally time to do an actual interview. Each interview is unique, like a small work of art
(and sometimes the art may not be very good). Every interview includes some common
components. There's the opening, where the interviewer gains entry and establishes the rapport
and tone for what follows. There's the middle game, the heart of the process, that consists of the
protocol of questions and the improvisations of the probe. And finally, there's the endgame, the
wrap-up, where the interviewer and respondent establish a sense of closure. Whether it's a two-
minute phone interview or a personal interview that spans hours, the interview is a bit of theater,
a mini-drama that involves real lives in real time.
2.1. Opening Remarks

In many ways, the interviewer has the same initial problem that a salesperson has. You have to
get the respondent's attention initially for a long enough period that you can sell them on the idea
of participating in the study. Many of the remarks here assume an interview that is being
conducted at a respondent's residence. But the analogies to other interview contexts should be
straightforward.

 Gaining entry

The first thing the interviewer must do is gain entry. Several factors can enhance the prospects.
Probably the most important factor is your initial appearance. The interviewer needs to dress
professionally and in a manner that will be comfortable to the respondent. In some contexts a
business suit and briefcase may be appropriate. In others, it may intimidate. The way the
interviewer appears initially to the respondent has to communicate some simple messages -- that
you're trustworthy, honest, and non-threatening. Cultivating a manner of professional confidence,
the sense that the respondent has nothing to worry about because you know what you're doing --
is a difficult skill to teach and an indispensable skill for achieving initial entry.

 Doorstep technique

You're standing on the doorstep and someone has opened the door, even if only halfway. You
need to smile. You need to be brief. State why you are there and suggest what you would like the
respondent to do. Don't ask -- suggest what you want. Instead of saying "May I come in to do an
interview?", you might try a more imperative approach like " I'd like to take a few minutes of your
time to interview you for a very important study."

 Introduction

If you've gotten this far without having the door slammed in your face, chances are you will be
able to get an interview. Without waiting for the respondent to ask questions, you should move to
introducing yourself. You should have this part of the process memorized so you can deliver the
essential information in 20-30 seconds at most. State your name and the name of the
organization you represent. Show your identification badge and the letter that introduces you. You
want to have as legitimate an appearance as possible. If you have a three-ring binder or clipboard
with the logo of your organization, you should have it out and visible. You should assume that the
respondent will be interested in participating in your important study -- assume that you will be
doing an interview here.

 Explaining the study

At this point, you've been invited to come in (After all, you're standing there in the cold, holding an
assortment of materials, clearly displaying your credentials, and offering the respondent the
chance to participate in an interview -- to many respondents, it's a rare and exciting event. They
hardly ever get asked their views about anything, and yet they know that important decisions are
made all the time based on input from others.). Or, the respondent has continued to listen long
enough that you need to move onto explaining the study. There are three rules to this critical
explanation: 1) Keep it short; 2) Keep it short; and 3) Keep it short! The respondent doesn't have
to or want to know all of the neat nuances of this study, how it came about, how you convinced
your thesis committee to buy into it, and so on. You should have a one or two sentence
description of the study memorized. No big words. No jargon. No detail. There will be more than
enough time for that later (and you should bring some written materials you can leave at the end
for that purpose). This is the "25 words or less" description. What you should spend some time
on is assuring the respondent that you are interviewing them confidentially, and that their
participation is voluntary.

2.2. Asking the Questions

You've gotten in. The respondent has asked you to sit down and make yourself comfortable. It
may be that the respondent was in the middle of doing something when you arrived and you may
need to allow them a few minutes to finish the phone call or send the kids off to do homework.
Now, you're ready to begin the interview itself.

 Use questionnaire carefully, but informally

The questionnaire is your friend. It was developed with a lot of care and thoughtfulness. While
you have to be ready to adapt to the needs of the setting, your first instinct should always be to
trust the instrument that was designed. But you also need to establish a rapport with the
respondent. If you have your face in the instrument and you read the questions, you'll appear
unprofessional and disinterested. Even though you may be nervous, you need to recognize that
your respondent is most likely even more nervous. If you memorize the first few questions, you
can refer to the instrument only occasionally, using eye contact and a confident manner to set the
tone for the interview and help the respondent get comfortable.

 Ask questions exactly as written

Sometimes an interviewer will think that they could improve on the tone of a question by altering a
few words to make it simpler or more "friendly." DON'T. You should ask the questions as they are
on the instrument. If you had a problem with a question, the time to raise it was during the training
and rehearsals, not during the actual interview. It is important that the interview be as
standardized as possible across respondents (this is true except in certain types of exploratory or
interpretivist research where the explicit goal is to avoid any standardizing). You may think the
change you made was inconsequential when, in fact, it may change the entire meaning of the
question or response.

 Follow the order given

Once you know an interview well, you may see a respondent bring up a topic that you know will
come up later in the interview. You may be tempted to jump to that section of the interview while
you're on the topic. DON'T. You are more likely to lose your place. You may omit questions that
build a foundation for later questions.

 Ask every question

Sometimes you'll be tempted to omit a question because you thought you already heard what the
respondent will say. Don't assume that. For example, let's say you were conducting an interview
with college age women about the topic of date rape. In an earlier question, the respondent
mentioned that she knew of a woman on her dormitory floor who had been raped on a date within
the past year. A few questions later, you are supposed to ask "Do you know of anyone personally
who was raped on a date?" You figure you already know that the answer is yes, so you decide to
skip the question. Instead, you might say something like "I know you may have already
mentioned this, but do you know of anyone personally who was raped on a date?" At this point,
the respondent may say something like "Well, in addition to the woman who lived down the hall in
my dorm, I know of a friend from high school who experienced date rape." If you hadn't asked the
question, you would never have discovered this detail.
  Don't finish sentences

I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who just hates to be left hanging. I like to
keep a conversation moving. Once I know where a sentence seems to be heading, I'm aching to
get to the next sentence. I finish people's sentences all the time. If you're like me, you should
practice the art of patience (and silence) before doing any interviewing. As you'll see below,
silence is one of the most effective devices for encouraging a respondent to talk. If you finish their
sentence for them, you imply that what they had to say is transparent or obvious, or that you don't
want to give them the time to express themselves in their own language.

2.3. Obtaining Adequate Responses - The Probe

OK, you've asked a question. The respondent gives a brief, cursory answer. How do you elicit a
more thoughtful, thorough response? You probe.

 Silent probe

The most effective way to encourage someone to elaborate is to do nothing at all - just pause and
wait. This is referred to as the "silent" probe. It works (at least in certain cultures) because the
respondent is uncomfortable with pauses or silence. It suggests to the respondent that you are
waiting, listening for what they will say next.

 Overt encouragement

At times, you can encourage the respondent directly. Try to do so in a way that does not imply
approval or disapproval of what they said (that could bias their subsequent results). Overt
encouragement could be as simple as saying "Uh-huh" or "OK" after the respondent completes a
thought.

 Elaboration

You can encourage more information by asking for elaboration. For instance, it is appropriate to
ask questions like "Would you like to elaborate on that?" or "Is there anything else you would like
to add?"

 Ask for clarification

Sometimes, you can elicit greater detail by asking the respondent to clarify something that was
said earlier. You might say, "A minute ago you were talking about the experience you had in high
school. Could you tell me more about that?"

 Repetition

This is the old psychotherapist trick. You say something without really saying anything new. For
instance, the respondent just described a traumatic experience they had in childhood. You might
say "What I'm hearing you say is that you found that experience very traumatic." Then, you
should pause. The respondent is likely to say something like "Well, yes, and it affected the rest of
my family as well. In fact, my younger sister..."

2.4. Recording the Response

Although we have the capability to record a respondent in audio and/or video, most interview
methodologists don't think it's a good idea. Respondents are often uncomfortable when they
know their remarks will be recorded word-for-word. They may strain to only say things in a
socially acceptable way. Although you would get a more detailed and accurate record, it is likely
to be distorted by the very process of obtaining it. This may be more of a problem in some
situations than in others. It is increasingly common to be told that your conversation may be
recorded during a phone interview. And most focus group methodologies use unobtrusive
recording equipment to capture what's being said. But, in general, personal interviews are still
best when recorded by the interviewer using pen and paper. Here, I assume the paper-and-pencil
approach.

 Record responses immediately

The interviewer should record responses as they are being stated. This conveys the idea that you
are interested enough in what the respondent is saying to write it down. You don't have to write
down every single word -- you're not taking stenography. But you may want to record certain key
phrases or quotes verbatim. You need to develop a system for distinguishing what the
respondent says verbatim from what you are characterizing (how about quotations, for instance!).

 Include all probes

You need to indicate every single probe that you use. Develop a shorthand for different standard
probes. Use a clear form for writing them in (e.g., place probes in the left margin).

 Use abbreviations where possible

Abbreviations will help you to capture more of the discussion. Develop a standardized system
(e.g., R=respondent; DK=don't know). If you create an abbreviation on the fly, have a way of
indicating its origin. For instance, if you decide to abbreviate Spouse with an 'S', you might make
a notation in the right margin saying "S=Spouse."

2.5. Concluding the Interview

When you've gone through the entire interview, you need to bring the interview to closure. Some
important things to remember:

 Thank the respondent

Don't forget to do this. Even if the respondent was troublesome or uninformative, it is important
for you to be polite and thank them for their time.

 Tell them when you expect to send results

I hate it when people conduct interviews and then don't send results and summaries to the people
who they get the information from. You owe it to your respondent to show them what you learned.
Now, they may not want your entire 300-page dissertation. It's common practice to prepare a
short, readable, jargon-free summary of interviews that you can send to the respondents.

 Don't be brusque or hasty

Allow for a few minutes of winding down conversation. The respondent may want to know a little
bit about you or how much you like doing this kind of work. They may be interested in how the
results will be used. Use these kinds of interests as a way to wrap up the conversation. As you're
putting away your materials and packing up to go, engage the respondent. You don't want the
respondent to feel as though you completed the interview and then rushed out on them -- they
may wonder what they said that was wrong. On the other hand, you have to be careful here.
Some respondents may want to keep on talking long after the interview is over. You have to find
a way to politely cut off the conversation and make your exit.

 Immediately after leaving -- write down any notes about how the interview went

Sometimes you will have observations about the interview that you didn't want to write down while
you were with the respondent. You may have noticed them get upset at a question, or you may
have detected hostility in a response. Immediately after the interview you should go over your
notes and make any other comments and observations -- but be sure to distinguish these from
the notes made during the interview (you might use a different color pen, for instance).

Plus & Minus of Survey Methods

It's hard to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the major different survey types.
Even though each type has some general advantages and disadvantages, there are
exceptions to almost every rule. Here's my general assessment. Perhaps you would differ
in your ratings here or there, but I think you'll generally agree.

Issue Questionnaire Interview

Drop-
Group Mail Personal Phone
Off

Are Visual Presentations Possible? Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Are Long Response Categories

Yes Yes Yes ??? No
Possible?

Is Privacy A Feature? No Yes No Yes ???

Is the Method Flexible? No No No Yes Yes

Are Open-ended Questions Feasible? No No No Yes Yes

Is Reading & Writing Needed? ??? Yes Yes No No

Can You Judge Quality of Response? Yes No ??? Yes ???

Are High Response Rates Likely? Yes No Yes Yes No

Can You Explain Study in Person? Yes No Yes Yes ???

Is It Low Cost? Yes Yes No No No

Are Staff & Facilities Needs Low? Yes Yes No No No

Does It Give Access to Dispersed

No Yes No No No
Samples?

Does Respondent Have Time to

No Yes Yes No No
Formulate Answers?

Is There Personal Contact? Yes No Yes Yes No

Is A Long Survey Feasible? No No No Yes No

Is There Quick Turnaround? No Yes No No Yes

2.3.4. Observation Method

Observation is one of the methods of collecting data. It is the most commonly used method
especially in studies related to behavioral sciences. It is used to obtain both past and current
data. Although it is not possible to observe past behavior, we may observe the results of such
behavior.
In a way we all observe things around us, but this is not a scientific observation. Observation
becomes a scientific tool and the method of data collection method for the researcher, when it
serves a formulated research purpose, is systematically planned and recorded and is subjected
to checks and controls on validity and reliability.
There are some advantages of observation method of data collection:
1. The direct observational technique enables the investigator to record the behavior as it
occurs.
2. It can be used regardless of whether the respondent is willing to report or not.
3. It can be used even when it pertains to those who are unable to respond, such as an
infants and animals.
There are some limitations as well to this method of data collection
1. Only the current behavior of a person or group of persons can be observed,. One is
unable to observe neither the past behavior nor one observe a person’s future behavior
because the act of observation takes place in the present.
2. Observation doesn’t help us in gauging a person’s attitude or opinion or knowledge on a
certain subject.
3. The observational method is very slow and, therefore, when a large number of persons
are to be contacted, it becomes unsuitable because of the longtime required for this
purpose.
4. it is an expensive method
5. The information provided by this method is very limited.
6. Sometimes unforeseen factors may interfere with the observational task.

2.4. 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, are some points that help you to make sound choice.

Population Issues

The first set of considerations has 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.

2.5. Differences between Survey and Experiment

The following points are noteworthy so far as difference between survey and experiment is
concerned:
I. Surveys are conducted in case of descriptive research studies whereas
experiments are a part of experimental research studies.
II. Survey type research studies have usually larger samples because the percentage
of responses generally happens to be low, as low as 20 to 30%, especially in
mailed questionnaire studies. Thus, the survey method gathers data from a
relatively large number of cases at a particular time; it essentially cross-sectional.
As against this, experimental studies generally need small samples.
III. Surveys are concerned with describing, recording, analyzing and interpreting
conditions that either exist or existed. The researcher does not manipulate the
variable or arrange for events to happen. Surveys are only concerned with
conditions or relationships that exist, opinions that are held, processes that are
going on, effects that are evident or trends that are developing. They are primarily
concerned with the present but at times do consider past events and influences as
they relate to current conditions. Thus in surveys, variables that exist or have
already occurred are selected and observed. Experimental researches provides a
systematic and logical method of answering the question “what will happen if this is
done when certain variables are carefully controlled or manipulated?” in fact,
deliberate manipulation is a part of the experimental method. In an experiment, the
researcher measures the effects of an experiment which he conducts intentionally.
IV. Surveys are usually appropriate in case of social and behavioral sciences( because
many types of behavior that interest the researcher cannot be arranged in a
realistic setting) whereas as experiments are mostly essential feature of physical
and natural sciences.
V. Surveys are an example of field research whereas experiments generally constitute
an example of laboratory research.
 VI. Surveys are concerned with hypothesis formulation and testing the analysis of the
relationship between non-manipulated variables. Experimentation provides a
method of hypothesis testing. After experimenters define a problem, they propose a
hypothesis. They then test the hypotheses and confirm or disconfirm it in the light
of the controlled variable relationship that they observed. The confirmation or
rejection is always stated interms of probability rather than certainty.
Experimentation, thus, is the most sophisticated, exacting and powerful method of
discovering and developing an organized body of knowledge. The ultimate purpose
of experimentation is to generalize the variable relationships so that they may be
applied outside the laboratory to a wider population of interest.
VII. Surveys may either be census or sample surveys. They may also be classified as
social surveys, economic surveys or public opinion surveys. Whatever be their
type, the method of data collection happens to be either observation or interview or
questionnaire/opinionnaire or some projective technique(s). Case study method
can as well be used. But in case of experiments, data are collected from several
readings of experiments.
VIII. In case of surveys, research design must be rigid, must make enough provision for
protection against bias and must maximize reliability as the aim happens to be to
obtain complete and accurate information. Research design in case of
experimental studies, apart reducing bias and ensuring reliability, must permit
drawing inferences about causality.
IX. Possible relationships between the data and the unknowns in the universe can be
studied through surveys where as experiments are meant to determine such
relationships.
X. Causal analysis is considered relatively more important in experiments whereas in
most social and business surveys our interest lies in understanding and controlling
relationships between variables and as such correlation analysis is relatively more
important in surveys.