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In research of human subjects, a survey is a list of questions aimed for extracting specific data from a particular group of people. Surveys may be conducted by phone, mail, via the internet, and also in person in public spaces. Surveys are used to gather or gain knowledge in fields such as social research and demography.
Survey research is often used to assess thoughts, opinions and feelings. [1] Surveys can be specific and limited, or they can have more global, widespread goals. Psychologists and sociologists often use surveys to analyze behavior, while it is also used to meet the more pragmatic needs of the media, such as, in evaluating political candidates, public health officials, professional organizations, and advertising and marketing directors. Survey research has also been employed in various medical and surgical fields to gather information about healthcare personnel’s practice patterns and professional attitudes toward various clinical problems and diseases. Healthcare professionals that may be enrolled in survey studies include physicians, [2] [3] nurses, [4] and physical therapists [5] among others. A survey consists of a predetermined set of questions that is given to a sample. [1] With a representative sample, that is, one that is representative of the larger population of interest, one can describe the attitudes of the population from which the sample was drawn. Further, one can compare the attitudes of different populations as well as look for changes in attitudes over time. A good sample selection is key as it allows one to generalize the findings from the sample to the population, which is the whole purpose of survey research. In addition to this, it is important to ensure that survey questions are not biased such as using suggestive words. This prevents inaccurate results in a survey.
These are methods that are used to collect information from a sample of individuals in a systematic way. First there was the change from traditional paper-and-pencil interviewing (PAPI) to computer-assisted interviewing (CAI). Now, face-to-face surveys (CAPI), telephone surveys (CATI), and mail surveys (CASI, CSAQ) are increasingly replaced by web surveys. [6] In addition, remote interviewers could possibly keep the respondent engaged while reducing cost as compared to in-person interviewers. [7]
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a specific given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. [8] The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses include agriculture, business, and traffic censuses. The United Nations defines the essential features of population and housing censuses as "individual enumeration, universality within a defined territory, simultaneity and defined periodicity", and recommends that population censuses be taken at least every 10 years
Other surveys than the census may explore characteristics in households, such as fertility, family structure, and demographics.
Household surveys with at least 10,000 participants include:
An opinion poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.
Medical or health-related survey research is particularly concerned with uncovering knowledge-practice gaps. That is to say to reveal any inconsistencies between the established international recommended guidelines and the real time medical practice regarding a certain disease or clinical problem. In other words, some medical surveys aim at exploring the difference between the proper practice and the actual practice reported by the healthcare professionals. [3] [15] [16] Medical survey research has also been used to collect information from the patients, [17] caregivers [18] and even the public [19] [20] on relevant health issues. In turn the information gathered from survey results can be used to upgrade the professional performance of healthcare personnel including physicians, develop the quality of healthcare delivered to patients, [2] [3] mend existing deficiencies of the healthcare delivery system and professional health education. [21] [22] Furthermore, the results of survey research can inform the public health domain and help conduct health awareness campaigns in vulnerable populations [17] and guide healthcare policy-makers. This is especially true when survey research deals with a wide spread disease that constitutes a nationwide or global health challenge.
A single survey is made of at least a sample (or full population in the case of a census), a method of data collection (e.g., a questionnaire) and individual questions or items that become data that can be analyzed statistically. A single survey may focus on different types of topics such as preferences (e.g., for a presidential candidate), opinions (e.g., should abortion be legal?), behavior (smoking and alcohol use), or factual information (e.g., income), depending on its purpose. Since survey research is almost always based on a sample of the population, the success of the research is dependent on the representativeness of the sample with respect to a target population of interest to the researcher. That target population can range from the general population of a given country to specific groups of people within that country, to a membership list of a professional organization, or list of students enrolled in a school system (see also sampling (statistics) and survey sampling).
The choice between administration modes is influenced by several factors, including 1) costs, 2) coverage of the target population (including group-specific preferences for certain modes [23] ), 3) flexibility of asking questions, 4) respondents’ willingness to participate and 5) response accuracy. Different methods create mode effects that change how respondents answer. The most common modes of administration are listed under the following headings. [24]
Mobile data collection or mobile surveys is an increasingly popular method of data collection. Over 50% of surveys today are opened on mobile devices. [25] The survey, form, app or collection tool is on a mobile device such as a smart phone or a tablet. These devices offer innovative ways to gather data, and eliminate the laborious "data entry" (of paper form data into a computer), which delays data analysis and understanding. By eliminating paper, mobile data collection can also dramatically reduce costs: one World Bank study in Guatemala found a 71% decrease in cost while using mobile data collection, compared to the previous paper-based approach. [26]
Apart from the high mobile phone penetration, [27] [28] further advantages are quicker response times and the possibility to reach previously hard-to-reach target groups. In this way, mobile technology allows marketers, researchers and employers to create real and meaningful mobile engagement in environments different from the traditional one in front of a desktop computer. [29] [30] However, even when using mobile devices to answer the web surveys, most respondents still answer from home. [31] [32]
SMS surveys can reach any handset, in any language and in any country. As they are not dependent on internet access and the answers can be sent when its convenient, they are a suitable mobile survey data collection channel for many situations that require fast, high volume responses. As a result, SMS surveys can deliver 80% of responses in less than 2 hours [33] and often at much lower cost compared to face-to-face surveys, due to the elimination of travel/personnel costs. [34] IM is similar to SMS, except that a mobile number is not required. IM functions are available in standalone software, such as Skype, or embedded on websites such as Facebook and Google. [7]
Online (Internet) surveys are becoming an essential research tool for a variety of research fields, including marketing, social and official statistics research. According to ESOMAR online survey research accounted for 20% of global data-collection expenditure in 2006. [35] They offer capabilities beyond those available for any other type of self-administered questionnaire. [36] Online consumer panels are also used extensively for carrying out surveys but the quality is considered inferior because the panelists are regular contributors and tend to be fatigued. However, when estimating the measurement quality (defined as product of reliability and validity) using a multitrait-multimethod approach (MTMM), some studies found a quite reasonable quality [37] [38] and even that the quality of a series of questions in an online opt-in panel (Netquest) was very similar to the measurement quality for the same questions asked in the European Social Survey (ESS), which is a face-to-face survey. [39]
Some studies have compared the quality of face-to-face surveys and/or telephone surveys with that of online surveys, for single questions, but also for more complex concepts measured with more than one question (also called Composite Scores or Index). [40] [41] [42] Focusing only on probability-based surveys (also for the online ones), they found overall that the face-to-face (using show-cards) and web surveys have quite similar levels of measurement quality, whereas the telephone surveys were performing worse. Other studies comparing paper-and-pencil questionnaires with web-based questionnaires showed that employees preferred online survey approaches to the paper-and-pencil format. There are also concerns about what has been called "ballot stuffing" in which employees make repeated responses to the same survey. Some employees are also concerned about privacy. Even if they do not provide their names when responding to a company survey, can they be certain that their anonymity is protected? Such fears prevent some employees from expressing an opinion. [43]
These issues, and potential remedies, are discussed in a number of sources. [46] [47]
Telephone surveys use interviewers to encourage the sample persons to respond, which leads to higher response rates. [48] There are some potential for interviewer bias (e.g., some people may be more willing to discuss a sensitive issue with a female interviewer than with a male one). Depending on local call charge structure and coverage, this method can be cost efficient and may be appropriate for large national (or international) sampling frames using traditional phones or computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). Because it is audio-based, this mode cannot be used for non-audio information such as graphics, demonstrations, or taste/smell samples.
Depending on local bulk mail postage, mail surveys may be relatively lower cost compared to other modes. The field method tends to be longer - often several months - before the surveys are returned and statistical analysis can begin. The questionnaire may be handed to the respondents or mailed to them, but in all cases they are returned to the researcher via mail. Because there is no interviewer presence, the mail mode is not suitable for issues that may require clarification. However, there is no interviewer bias and respondents can answer at their own convenience (allowing them to break up long surveys; also useful if they need to check records to answer a question). To correct nonresponse bias, extrapolation across waves could be done. [49] Response rates can be improved by using mail panels (members of the panel must agree to participate) and prepaid monetary incentives, [50] but response rates are affected by the class of mail through which the survey was sent. [51] Panels can be used in longitudinal designs where the same respondents are surveyed several times.
Visual presentation of survey questions make a difference in how respondents answer them; with four primary design elements: words (meaning), numbers (sequencing), symbols (e.g. arrow), and graphics (e.g. text boxes). [36] In translated surveys, writing practice (e.g. Spanish words are lengthier and require more printing space) and text orientation (e.g. Arabic is read from right to left) must be considered in questionnaire visual design to minimize data missingness. [52] [53]
The face-to-face mode is suitable for locations where telephone or mail are not developed. Like the telephone mode, the interviewer presence runs the risk of interviewer bias.
Video interviewing is similar to face-to-face interviewing except that the interviewer and respondent are not physically in the same location, but are communicating via video conferencing such as Zoom or Teams. [7]
Virtual-world interviews take place online in a space created for virtual interaction with other users or players, such as Second Life. Both the respondent and interviewer choose avatars to represent themselves and interact by a chat feature or by real voice audio. [7]
A chatbot is used regularly in marketing and sales to gather experience feedback. When used for collecting survey responses, chatbot surveys should be kept short, trained to speak in a friendly human tone, and use easy-to-navigate interface with more advanced artificial intelligence. [54]
Researchers can combine several above methods for the data collection. For example, researchers can invite shoppers at malls, and send willing participants questionnaires by emails. With the introduction of computers to the survey process, survey mode now includes combinations of different approaches or mixed-mode designs. Some of the most common methods are: [55] [36]
When two variables are related, or correlated, one can make predictions for these two variables. [1] However, this does not mean causality. At this point, it is not possible to determine a causal relationship between the two variables; correlation does not imply causality. However, correlation evidence is significant because it can help identify potential causes of behavior. Path analysis is a statistical technique that can be used with correlational data. This involves the identification of mediator and moderator variables. A mediator variable is used to explain the correlation between two variables. A moderator variable affects the direction or strength of the correlation between two variables. A spurious relationship is a relationship in which the relation between two variables can be explained by a third variable.
Moreover, in survey research, correlation coefficients between two variables might be affected by measurement error, what can lead to wrongly estimated coefficients and biased substantive conclusions. Therefore, when using survey data, we need to correct correlation coefficients for measurement error.
The value of collected data completely depends upon how truthful respondents are in their answers on questionnaires. [1] In general, survey researchers accept respondents’ answers as true. Survey researchers avoid reactive measurement by examining the accuracy of verbal reports, and directly observing respondents’ behavior in comparison with their verbal reports to determine what behaviors they really engage in or what attitudes they really uphold. [1] Studies examining the association between self-reports (attitudes, intentions) and actual behavior show that the link between them—though positive—is not always strong—thus caution is needed when extrapolating self-reports to actual behaviors, [56] [57] [58] Dishonesty is pronounced in some sex-related queries, with men often amplifying their number of sex partners, while women tend to downplay and slash their true number. [59]
The Statistical Society of London pioneered the questionnaire in 1838. "Among the earliest acts of the Statistical Society of London ... was the appointment of committees to enquire into industrial and social conditions. One of these committees, in 1838, used the first written questionnaire of which I have any record. The committee-men prepared and printed a list of questions 'designed to elicit the complete and impartial history of strikes.'" [60]
The most famous public survey in the United States of America is the national census. Held every ten years since 1790, the census attempts to count all persons, and also to obtain demographic data about factors such as age, ethnicity, and relationships within households.
With the application of probability sampling in the 1930s, surveys became a standard tool for empirical research in social sciences, marketing, and official statistics. [35]
Nielsen ratings (carried out since 1947) provide another example of public surveys in the United States. Nielsen rating track media-viewing habits (radio, television, internet, print) the results of which are used to make commissioning decisions. Some Nielsen ratings localize the data points to give marketing firms more specific information with which to target customers. Demographic data is also used to understand what influences work best to market consumer products, political campaigns, etc.
Following the invention of the telephone survey (used at least as early as the 1940s), [61] the development of the Internet in the late-20th century fostered online surveys and web surveys.
The first telephone survey in the Netherlands [...] The first telephone survey was conducted in the Netherlands on June 11, 1946.