6. Survey and Sampling

When and why are surveys used in behavioral research?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using interviewsversus questionnaires in survey research?

How is probability sampling used to ensure that a sample is representative of the population?

What is sampling bias, and how does it undermine a researcher’sability to draw conclusions about surveys?

What statistical procedures are used to report and display datafrom surveys?

What is the margin of error of a sample?

Survey:A series of self-report measures, administered either through an interview or a written questionnaire. It aims at producing a “snapshot” of the opinions, attitudes, or behaviors of a group of people at a given time.

Survey

Interview Questionnaire

Do you use free format?

UnstructuredInterview

Structured Interview

Do you meet (call) participants or mail them? Do you focus on a small group or large samples?

Do you create questionnaire?

Survey ofYour originalQuestionnaire

Survey ofExisting Data

Meet a small group Mail large samples

Yes No Yes No

Interviews

Interviews allow the researcher to develop a close rapport and sense of trust with the respondents

X Face to face interviews are extremely expensive to conduct.Alternative: telephone interview

The research method in which researcher ask questions to respondents generally in a face-to-face setting.

The researcher generally uses fixed-format items and reads the questions to the respondents. It allows better comparison of the responses across different individuals.

Unstructured Interview

Structured Interview

The researcher uses either free-format or semi-fixed-format self-report measure. It provides in-depth information about the particular concerns of an individual. However, the interviewers need to be well trained so that they can collect certain information through free conversation. It is also difficult to maintain objectivity.

Focus Group: Shared ideas both with interviewer and respondents.

Questionnaires

A set of fixed-format, self-report items that is completed by respondents at their own pace, often without supervision.

Generally cheaper than interviews because the researcher mails the questionnaire or has them complete the questionnaire in large group.

The respondent may misunderstand the questions.The respondents may ask another person to answer the questions.

X

Use of Original Questionnaire

The Response Rate

Discussion: How can we got more responses?

The Question Order

e.g. Norbert et al (1999) Happiness??

e.g. Kitayama, Karasawa, and Masuda (1995)The Survey of the Earthquake Perception

Discussion: How can we cope with this problem?

Use of Existing Survey Data

Assignment#4: Finding useful database for your research.

e.g. The U.S. Census (General Social Survey)

1. Go to http://www.icpsr.umich.edu 2. With your group members, find one of the research domains which you think interesting.3. Open the abstract (AB) of each database and summarize them4. Discuss what kind of research is possible with these datasets.5. Report what you discussed in the class.

Sampling and Generalization

Sampling: The selection of people to participate in a research project, usually with the goal of being able to use these people to make inferences about a larger group of people.

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Population

Sampling

How do you collect samples?1. Define the Population (e.g. Average American Collage Students)

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2. Consider Representative Samples in the group.

Probability Sampling:

A sampling procedure ensuring that each person in the population has a known chance of being selected to be a part of sample.

3. Decide Sampling Methods

Non Probability SamplingA sampling procedure used in cases where probability sampling is impossible because there is no available frame.

e.g. homeless people

Sampling Bias

Simple Random

Sampling

Systematic Random Sampling

Stratified

Sampling

Cluster

Sampling

Probability Sampling

Proportionate StratifiedSampling

DisproportionateStratifiedSampling

Sampling

Non-ProbabilitySampling

Snowball

Sampling ConvenientSampling

Do you know the populationThat you want to sample? Yes

No

Do you run experiment, setting up the time?

Yes No

Do you have lists? No

Yes

Is the list already random? Are there subgroups in the list?

Yes

No

YesNo

Proportionate?

No Yes

Simple Random Sampling

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In case each person in the population has an equal chance of being selected to be in the sample, the researcher uses random numbers to collect samples. (See Appendix E, Statistical Table 2)

When you use SPSS,

1.Go to “Data” menu2.Click “Select Cases” 3.Choose “Random Sample of Cases”4.Click “Sample”5.Enter exact number that you want to sample and the total number of the data.

Systematic Random Sampling

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In case the sampling frame is itself known to be in a random sequence, then the researcher randomly chooses the first sample and then add certain stable numbers to get the next sample.

Stratified Sampling

Proportionate Stratified Sampling

Disproportionate Stratified Sampling

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In case there are some subgroups in the sampling frame, the researcher breaks the frame into subgroups (strata), and randomly samples in each subgroups.

Oversampling

Cluster Sampling

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In case there is no complete sampling frame, the researcher breaks the possible “population” into a set of smaller groups (called clusters) for which there are sampling frames and then to randomly chooseSome of the clusters for inclusion in the sample.

CT MA ME NH

RI VT NJ NY PA IA

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CA OR WA

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AR LA

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MSU UM EMUCMUWMU

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Snowball Sampling

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The researcher contacts one or more individuals from the population, and these individuals are used to lead the researcher to other population members.

Convenient Sampling

Experiment 3819/22/001:00_______________

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The researcher samples whatever individuals were readily available without any attempt to make the sample representative of a population. Commonly used in experimental design.