Four Survey Techniques
Advantages/
Disadvantages
Discuss in Groups the Advantages/Disadvantages of
1. Written or Mail Surveys
2. Face to Face (Personal) Surveys
3. Phone Surveys
4. Internet Surveys
Written or Mail Surveys Advantages
Low
Cost
Avoids
Potential Researcher Bias
Less
Pressure for Immediate Response
Feeling
of Anonymity
Written or Mail Survey Disadvantages
Quality of responses
1.
Response Rate
2. Accuracy of Responses
Requires short
questionnaire
Lack of control of
question order
No control of context of
question answering
Less response from those
who have trouble reading or writing
Unable to correct
misunderstandings or answer questions
Face-to-face (Personal) Surveys Advantages
Notice
and correct misunderstandings
Probe
inadequate or vague responses
Control
order of administration
Can
use visual aids
Data
quality is high
Establish
rapport and motivate respondent
Face-to-face (Personal) Surveys
Disadvantages
Most
costly
Possibility
of interviewer effects
Limited
to people of a small region
Phone Surveys Advantages
All advantages of
face-to-face (except visual aids)
ALSO:
High response rate
No strict limits on
interview length (usually not too long though)
Lower cost than
face-to-face
Interviewers can be
supervised
Speed
Can use
computer-assisted interviewing techniques
Phone Surveys Disadvantages
Not
necessarily random samples (not all people have phones or listed phone numbers)
Interviewer
effects are possible
No
visual aids
Complex
questions are more difficult to administer
Possible
technical problems
Internet Survey Advantages
Can
obtain information from a large geographic region
Potential
for very large samples
Low
cost
Can
be used cross-culturally
Saving
of human resources
Internet Survey Concerns
Response
Solicitation
1. Active
2. Passive
Data
collection technique
1. E-mail-least expensive
2.
HTML-anonymous
Issues in choosing a survey method
Type
of sampling
Type
of problem
Question
format
Question
content
Response
rate needed
Examples