Lecture notes on surveys

• tool for measuring attitudes and orientations  in a large population

• best method available to collect original data for describing a population too large to observe directly

• Respondents – those who participate in surveys – they must be competent and willing to answer

2 types of sampling methods

Non-probability sampling – for obtaining information about specific groups

• > available subjects

• > purposive/judgemental sampling

• > snowball sampling

• > quota sampling – in cells

Probability sampling

• primary method of selecting large, representative samples

• Provide useful descriptions of the total population

• Sample of individuals from a population containing essentially the same variations that exist in the population

Terms to remember

Representativeness – if the aggregate characteristics of the sample closely approximate those same aggregate characteristics in the population

Population – aggregation of elements from which the sample is selected

Sample – selected element or respondent

Sampling bias – those selected are not typical or representative of the larger population they have been chosen from

Sampling designs

Simple random sampling – assigning a number to each element in the list

Systematic sampling – every kth element in the total list is systematically chosen

Stratified sampling – appropriate numbers of elements are drawn from homogenous subsets of the population

Cluster sampling – initial sampling of groups of elements (clusters), followed by the selection of elements within each of the selected clusters – can be multi-stage

Sampling error – the degree of error to be expected for a given sample design

Confidence level – accuracy of our sample statistics fall within specified interval from the parameter (e.g. 95%, 99%, 90%)

Questionnaire

• Instrument designed to elicit information useful for analysis

• Operationalization – measurement

•  > validity – what we intend to measure

•  > reliability – extent to which measures give consistent results

• Open-ended questions – respondents provide answers

• Close-ended questions – respondents elect an answer from the list of options

Tips

• Make items clear – “Do you agree with the peace agreement?”

• Avoid double-barreled questions – “Do you think that K-12 will make our students globally competitive and our education standards globally at par?”

• Make relevant questions

• NO difficult words

• NO negative questions – “Do you NOT agree..”

•NO questions with possibly different standards – “Do you think that students today are liberal?”

•NO leading questions – “Due to changing times, do you agree that government policies must adapt to the changes?”

•NO assuming questions – “How often do you go out with your gf/bf?”

Exercises: Improve the response options

•Answers should match the questions and set of options – “Are you satisfied with Ateneo education?” “barely, sometimes, often, very”

•Answers should be mutually exclusive – “How often do you study?” “everyday, everynight, every weekend, once a week, more than once a week, monthly, never”

Designing a questionnaire

•Start with easy questions

•Place questions that are related in one block

•Design should be logical

•Introduce difficult and sensitive questions carefully

•Do not raise those in the beginning nor end

•Instructions must be clear and consistent

References:

Babbie, E. (2001). The practice of social research. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Sterkens, C. (2010). Class handouts on quantitative methods. Radboud University Nijmegen