Survey research

Questionnaires and interviews

Questions

• Need to relate to research objectives

• Need to motivate respondents to provide information

• 2 types of questions– factual– about subjective experience

Factual questions

• Background info• Info about habits• Generally not very

problematic

Example: factual question

Do you have digital TV in your home?– Yes– No– Don’t know

Example: factual question

Which, if any, of the following airlines have you travelled with? [Please tick all that apply]– British Airways– British Midland (bmi)– EasyJet– Ryanair – Virgin Atlantic – None of these

Questions about subjective experience

• Ask about respondents’ beliefs, attitudes, feelings and opinions

• More problematic than factual questions– respondents don’t always know

what they think– answers more sensitive to how

question is worded, or the order of questions

• Back up with other questions

Example: question about attitudes

Would you say the Government has provided you with enough information about the changeover to digital TV?– Yes- the Government has provided

too much information – Yes- the Government has provided

about the right amount – No- the Government has not provided

enough information – No- the Government has provided no

information – Don’t know

Example: question about attitudes

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? ‘Divorce in Britain should be made more difficult to obtain than it is now’– Agree strongly – Just agree – Neither agree nor disagree – Just disagree– Disagree strongly

Structure of questions: closed-ended

Respondents given set of answers and asked to choose one

• Advantages– quick, easy to answer– easy to analyse

• Disadvantages– may introduce bias, presenting

possible answers which respondent would not think of

– may introduce bias, making respondent choose from alternatives

– may omit possible answers

Structure of questions: open-ended

Ask question without giving any answers; record respondent’s full answer

• Advantages– no preconceived answers– can be more revealing– interviewer can clarify

misunderstandings

• Disadvantages– difficult to answer– difficult to analyse

• Should not be questions that can be answered yes/no

Filter & contingency questionsQuestion relevant to some

respondents but not to others

• Closed-ended• Use filter question to

arrive at subgroup

Example: filter & contingency questions

22a. Have you ever taken any schooling at a trade school, college, university or other postsecondary school?– Yes → Go to Question 22b– No → Go to Question 35

22b. At what type of educational institution did you take this schooling?– Trade school– Other non-university institution– University

Question formats (1)

• Dichotomous– e.g. Yes/No

• Multiple choice– can ask for single or

multiple answers

Question formats (2)

• Rating scale, e.g. Likert scale– Strongly agree– Agree– Neither agree nor disagree– Disagree– Strongly disagree(or only four ratings – no

‘undecided’)

Question formats (3)

• Ranking scale– e.g. rank a set of items in

order of most to least important by placing 1-6 next to items, where 1 is most important and 6 is least important

Potential problems of wording

• difficult for respondent to understand, too complex

• leading question, e.g. – Do you prefer the new format of

assessment to the previous format?

• Yes/No/Don’t know

– Comparing the old and new formats of assessment, which do you prefer?

• Prefer old format/Prefer new format/No preference

• double-barrelled questions– two or more questions combined

Administering questionnaires• Before administering, pilot questions

and questionnaire• Administer:

– By post• low response rate

– Online• survey design tool available in

Faculty of Humanities– Group-administered

• e.g. Uni course unit survey – By interview

• more resource intensive • interviewer can probe and establish

rapport• interviewer is part of the instrument

so must know what he/she is doing

Interviewing• Traditional approaches

– ‘ask the right questions’: respondent as vessel of answers, facts, experiences

– mass interviews, structured• Interpretive approach:

– ‘active interview’: respondent as productive source of knowledge (Gubrium and Holstein)

– focus on how meaning is constructed

– based on cooperation, mutual understanding

– researcher ‘activates narrative production’ (ibid.)

Example

Aim: to obtain information about the reception of subtitled films in UK

• Who to survey?• Questionnaire, interview?• Types of questions?• Formats of questions?• Questions?

ResourcesCzaja, Ronald And Johnny Blair (2003) Designing

Surveys: A Guide to Decisions and Procedures, 2nd edition, Thousand Oaks and London: Pine Forge.

Gubrium, Jaber F. and James A. Holstein (eds) (2001) Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method, Thousand Oaks and London: Sage.

May, Tim (2001) Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process, 3rd edition, Buckingham: Open University Press [Chapter 6 is on interviewing]

Silverman, David (2000/2005) Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook, London: Sage (1st and 2nd editions)

Silverman, David (ed.) (1997/2004) Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice, London: Sage (1st and 2nd editions)

Web Survey Methodology websiteOfficial Journal of the European Survey Research

AssociationAssociation for Qualitative ResearchIntroduction to Interviewing Techniques (chapter of e-

book)Research Methods Knowledge Base