Introduction to Survey Research

Lecture 1
Survey Research & Design in Psychology
James Neill, 2017
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Introduction to
Survey Research

2
Overview
1. Readings
2. Scientific paradigm
3. Types of research
4. What is a survey?
5. History of survey research
6. Survey research examples
7. Survey research characteristics
8. Purposes of survey research
9. Pros and cons
10. Summary

Readings
Recommended readings
for Module 1
(Lectures 1 and 2)

Creative Research Systems (2008)
The steps in a survey project
(Online article)
http://www.surveysystem.com/sdesign.htm

Fowler (2002)
Designing questions to be good measures
(Book chapter)

Howitt & Cramer (2014)
Introduction to Statistics in Psychology
(Book chapters)
Ch 29 Statistics and the analysis of experiments
Ch 34 The analysis of a questionnaire/survey project

Nardi (2006)
Developing a questionnaire
(Book chapter)

Trochim (2006)
Survey research
(Online article)
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/survey.php

10
Positivism
• A philosophy of science that confines
itself to the data of experience
(empirical evidence)
• Excludes a priori or metaphysical
speculations
• Emphasises the achievements of science
• Recurrent theme in the history of
Western thought
• Sources:
Encyclopedia Brittanica, Wikipedia

11
Empirical approach to
psychosocial research
assume that:
1. the world is made up of
phenomena which have properties
that are measurable
2. psychological phenomena can be
measured, recorded, and analysed
3. interpretation of analysis can lead
to valid insights about how people
think, feel, and behave

12
Scientific method
Observe phenomenon
Ask questions e.g., why
Make hypothesis
Conduct experiment
Collect data
Analyse data
Interpret and conclude
Apply findings

14
Types of Research
Three main research methods:
1. Experimental
2. Quasi-experimental
3. Non-experimental
Note: Surveys are widely used in
non-experimental research, but also in
quasi-experimental and experimental
research.

15
Types of Research -
Experimental
Characterised by:
• Random assignment to groups
• Control over extraneous variables
Pros:
• Powerful method
Cons
• Can be difficult to conduct
• May not be ecologically valid

16
Types of Research -
Quasi-experimental
Characterised by:
• Use of “naturally occurring” groups
– e.g., diseased vs. healthy
• Assignment to groups is non-random
• Some control over extraneous variables
– e.g., match participants for age and lifestyle
Pros:
• Balances rigour of experimental and lack
of control of non-experimental

17
Types of Research -
Non-experimental
Characterised by:
• No “groups” or “conditions” are used
– e.g., students at a specific university
Pros
• Ecological validity
Cons
• Minimal control over extraneous
variables

18
Quiz question 1
What type of research is the following?
A researcher surveys Australian
community attitudes to eating
non-traditional meats
(e.g. venison, kangaroo).
• Experimental
• Quasi-experimental
• Non-experimental

19
Quiz question 2
A researcher compares study habits of
university students who regularly use
caffeine with uni students who do not
regularly use caffeine.
• Experimental

20
Quiz question 3
A researcher randomly allocates
participants to a morning or evening
exercise routine and then compares
the sleep patterns of the two groups.
• Experimental

22
• A standardised stimulus
• A measuring instrument
• A way of converting fuzzy
psychological stuff
into hard data
for analysis
What is a survey?

24
History of survey research
Civil servant at trailer park,
collecting census data,
Netherlands, 1925

25
History of survey research
• Modern survey research
methodology was initially
developed during the 1920s.
• Since the 1980s, theories and
principles evolved to create a
unified perspective on the
design, conduct, and evaluation
of surveys (survey science).

27
Some fields which use
survey research
Field Examples
Demographics Census
Epidemiology Health surveys
Marketing Customer satisfation
Politics Polls
Psychology Attitudes, Emotions
Sociology Social trends

28
Psychological topics
investigated by survey research
• Attitudes and opinions: e.g., older
people's feelings about extending retirement
age
• Behaviours: e.g., extent to which
households recycle
• Motivations: e.g., reasons for attending
university
• Emotions: e.g., levels of stress and anxiety
• Satisfaction: e.g., custom experiences

29
Example survey research studies
• Environmental attitudes across
cultures
• Effect of working hours on family life,
depression & stress related health
problems
• Optimism & pessimism as predictors
of change in health after major life
events

30
Example survey research studies
• The effect of age on positive and
negative affect
• Are males satisfied with their body?
• Ethnicity, social deprivation and
psychological distress in adolescents
• Perceptions and attitudes towards
people with mental health problems
• Attitudes toward farm animal welfare

31
Survey Research
Characteristics

32
Survey research characteristics
• Usage: Surveys are widely used
in the social sciences.
• Systematic: Follow specific
procedures based on survey
science and the scientific
method.
• Replicable: Other people using
the same methods are likely to
get essentially the same results

33
Survey research characteristics
• Types: Administered via
interviews or questionnaires.
• Data: Often quantitative, but can
be qualitative.
• Impartial sampling: Selected
from target population without
preference, to be representative.
• Ecological validity: Can obtain in
situ, real-world samples.

34
Purposes of
Survey Research

35
Purposes of survey research
Two broad purposes of survey-
based research:
Information
Gathering
Theory
Testing
& Building

36
Purposes of survey research
– Information gathering
The goal is to gather information
e.g.,
• polls
• census
• customer satisfaction
• attitudes

37
Purposes of research –
Theory testing & building
The goal is to test and build theory
e.g.,
• Personality theories
• Social psychology theories
Often surveys do some info
gathering and some theory
testing.

38
Survey research purposes
Further consider four purposes of
survey research:
Information
Gathering
Theory
Testing
& Building
Exploratory
Descriptive
Explanatory
Predictive

39
Survey research purposes -
Exploratory
The goal is to discover and
explore psychological
phenomena e.g.,
“What psychological issues are
experienced by survivors of
natural disasters?”
Information
Gathering

40
Descriptive
The goal is to describe
phenomena e.g.,
• Consumer profiles (age, gender)
• Working conditions (hours, pay)
Information
Gathering

41
Explanatory
The goal is to explain
phenomena by looking at the
relations between, and patterns
amongst, variables e.g.,
• Are extraverts happier than
introverts?
Why? (or why not?) Theory
Testing
& Building

42
Predictive
The goal is to be able to make
accurate/useful predictions –
i.e., what will happen?, e.g.,
• Does a couple’s length of time
together prior to having children
predict relationship satisfaction
after having children? Theory
Testing
& Building

43
Quiz question 4
What is the goal of this study?
A researcher lives in a religious commune
in order to learn about the social
psychological characteristics of cults.
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Explanatory
• Predictive

44
Quiz question 5
A researcher measures Australian people's
attitudes towards asylum seekers to
Australia.
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Explanatory
• Predictive

45
Quiz question 6
A researcher administers a happiness
survey and a personality survey in order to
examine the hypothesis that extraverts are
happier.
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Explanatory
• Predictive

46
Quiz question 7
Post-deployment interviews with defence
personnel are used to identify risk factors
for PTSD. These risk factors are then
monitored in currently deployed personnel.
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Explanatory
• Predictive

47
Pros and Cons
of Survey
Research

48
Advantages of
survey-based research
● Ecological validity
● Access to wide range of
participants
● Potentially large amounts of data
● May be more ethical
(than experiments)

49
Disadvantages of
survey-based research
● Lack of control
→ less internal validity
● Data may be “superficial”
● Can be costly to obtain
representative data
● Self-report data only
● Potentially low compliance rates

51
Summary - 1
● Types of research:
● Experimental
● Quasi-experimental
● Non-experimental
● Surveys are used in all types,
especially non-experimental.

52
Summary - 2
● What is a survey?
● A standardised stimulus
designed to convert fuzzy
psychological phenomenon into
hard data.
● History
● Survey research has developed
into a popular research method
since the 1920's.

53
Summary - 3
● Purposes/goals of research:
● Information gathering
● Exploratory
● Descriptive
● Theory testing/building
● Explanatory
● Predictive

54
Summary - 4
Survey research
Pros include:
● Ecological validity
● Cost efficiency
● Can obtain lots of data
Cons include:
● Low compliance
● Reliance on self-report

55
References
Creative Research Systems (2009). Survey design: How
to begin your survey project.
Fowler, F. J., Jr. (2002). Designing questions to be good
measures. In In F. J. Fowler, Survey research methods
(3rd ed.) (pp. 76-103). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Howitt & Cramer (2014):
• Chapter 29 - Statistics and the analysis of experiments
(pp. 401-408)
• Chapter 34 - The analysis of a questionnaire / survey
project (pp. 476-484)
Nardi, P. (2006). Developing a questionnaire (Ch. 4). In
Doing survey research: A guide to quantitative methods
(2nd. ed.) (pp. 66-106). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Trochim, W. M. K. (2006). Survey research.

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