Survey Research and Related

Issues
Topic 3
 Agenda
Intro to Surveys
Sampling Issues
Sampling methods
Scaling & Measurement
Different formats of scales
Questionnaire Design
Types of Surveys
Summary
 Intro to Survey Research
Survey research is probably the most
widely used among all types
Think of opinion polling, tracking studies
and so on
It has wide & varied application areas
– “MR” is often confounded with “survey”
We shall now look at related areas
Once you know the problem, what is the
first step in survey?
 Sampling Issues
The first step is sampling
– Census often hard though possible
sometimes e.g?
What are some different sampling
methods that you know of?
 Sampling Issues
Essentially, two types - probability and
non-probability sampling
In prob sampling, each element has a
fixed chance of getting selected
Not so in non-prob sampling where
researcher’s judgment and bias
involved
What are some non-prob and prob
sampling techniques that you are
aware of?
 Non-Probability Sampling
Convenience sampling is quite common
e.g.?
Then you have judgmental sampling
– Researcher or MR agency uses judgment,
expertise in determining who will comprise the
sample
Quota sampling – sample follows same
ratio as population but within each quota,
no random selection
Snowball sampling – one respondent gives
you another contact and so on e.g.?
What are some cons of non-prob sampling?
 Cons of Non-Prob
Non-prob sampling is not
representative of the population
– Hence not generalisable to population
– So why use it at all?
Personally believe that ill-effects of
non-prob overblown
– Common sense has to be used
 Probability Sampling
Simple random sampling: every element
has an equal chance of getting picked:
want an SPSS demo now?
Systematic sampling: the first element is
picked at random, then every jth element
Stratified sampling: divide population into
strata and within each stratum, SRS is
done
Cluster Sampling: divide sample into
exhaustive clusters and draw random
clusters e.g?
Differences between last 2?
 Probability Sampling
In cluster, only sample of clusters is
chosen e.g. area sampling
In stratified, all strata are chosen
Cluster is cheaper but less precise
Pros and Cons of Prob sampling?
Pros & Cons of Prob Sampling
Pros are representativeness and
generalisability
Cons are
– Cost – need a sampling frame – what is
this?
– Time and effort higher
– Besides, generalisable to future?
– Truly random possible?
 When to Use Which
When to use which type?
When stratified? When judgmental?
Is there is a “best” type?
 Scaling and Measurement
What are the different types of scales
that are there – any idea?
 Scaling and Measurement
Nominal, Ordinal, Interval and Ratio scales are
there
Nominal is just that – nominal e.g.?
Ordinal has the property of order, not distance
e.g.?
Interval has the property of order and distance,
but zero is arbitrary e.g.?
Ratio has all including real zero e.g.?
Can you count from 100-1?
– Say alphabets backwards?
What statistics can be used with above?
 Scaling and Measurement
Mean only with interval and ratio
Median with ordinal, interval and
ratio
Mode with all
In general, use interval/ratio
wherever possible
– Amenable to much more statistical
analysis
 Different Formats of Scales
Likert is one such format
– When can you use this?
– 5-point better or 7-Point better or 4-point?
Semantic Differential
– What is this?
– Are these interval or ordinal scales?
– When can you use this?
– Is this better than Likert scale?
You can use continuous scales as well
– What is this?
 Different Formats of Scales
Else, can use 100-point scale
– What is this?
– When is it used?
There are new scales as well
– Happy-sad faces
Also several qualitative ones are there as
well
– Rarely used; please read book for knowledge
– I stick to Likert mostly
– Of course, for nominal data scaling is easy