Overview of Descriptive ResearchOverview of Descriptive Research
Focused towards the present– Gathering information and describing the current
situation– May or may not involve hypothesis testing
Answers the question “What is?”
Many types of research fall within this classification
Types of Descriptive ResearchTypes of Descriptive Research
Survey
Developmental– Longitudinal approach
– Cross-sectional approach
Case Study
Correlational
Normative
Observational (a.k.a. qualitative)
Action
Causal-comparative (a.k.a. ex post facto)
Survey Research MethodologySurvey Research Methodology
Survey research is the most common type of descriptive research
Involves questioning techniques for data collection– Survey methodology consists of asking questions of a
(supposedly) representative sample of the desired population at a single point in time. The persons of whom the questions are asked are called survey respondents
– The most difficult part of conducting a survey is writing the questions
General Survey General Survey Data Collection MethodsData Collection Methods
Interviews
Questionnaires
Interview MethodsInterview Methods
Phone interview– Common in marketing research – Not used much in HHP
Personal interview– Applicable if the sample is small and accessible– Structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interview– Recording of information
Focus group interview– Interview groups of people– Requires skilled facilitator
An interview schedule or guide contains the questions to be read to the respondent during an interview as well as a place for recording the answers
QuestionnairesQuestionnaires
A questionnaire is a self-report instrument that is generally mailed or handed to the respondent to complete with no help from the researcher– Administered questionnaire
Respondents are directly given the questionnaire
– Distributed questionnaire Questionnaire is mailed or electronically delivered
Majority of survey research in HHP uses a questionnaire as data-collection technique
Questionnaire DevelopmentQuestionnaire Development
Composing Questions – each question should have three important attributes: focus, brevity, and simplicity– The questions should focus directly on the issue or
topic relevant to the information needs of the study– They should be as short or brief as possible while still
conveying the meaning– The questions should be expressed as simply and
clearly as they can be
Questionnaire DevelopmentQuestionnaire Development
Questions should be worded so they are not ambiguous, misleading, or biased
Double-barreled questions should be avoided
Use simple sentences where possible and complex sentences only when essential
Level of wording (vocabulary) should be appropriate for the intended respondents
Questionnaire FormatQuestionnaire Format
Organization of Questionnaire– appearance and layout is important– length (no. of questions) is a major factor
in general, longer questionnaires have a poorer return rate
– place easy to answer questions first– sensitive questions should be near the end– items should be placed in a logical order– demographic information
recommend placing demographic questions at end
Response FormatResponse Format
Closed-ended (structured)– standard answers provided– easy to code and score– facilitates answering sensitive questions– may make for a long questionnaire– generally considered easy for respondent
Open-ended (unstructured)– respondent may answer as they choose– exploratory; allows detailed response– preferable for complex questions– may be difficult to code and score– requires more time and effort of respondent
Appropriateness of QuestionnaireAppropriateness of Questionnaire
Validity and reliability of the questionnaire should be determined before it is administered
Use of a pilot study– Revise questionnaire as needed
Questionnaire DistributionQuestionnaire Distribution
Controlling costs – bulk mail rates– length of questionnaire (i.e., weight of mailing)
High return rate– self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE)– postage-paid, business reply envelopes– good mailing list– follow-up strategy
Cover letter
Appropriate timing of mailing
Cover Letter GuidelinesCover Letter Guidelines
All mailed surveys should include a cover letter explaining the following:– who is conducting the survey– what is the purpose of the survey– why it is important for the respondent to answer– inducements for the respondent, if any– how is the confidentiality of the respondent being
protected– basic instructions for completing and returning the
questionnaire
Cover Letter Guidelines – 2Cover Letter Guidelines – 2
Personalize cover letter if possible (mail merge)– this has been shown to increase the return rate
Corporate or institutional letterhead and printed envelopes should be used for the cover letter and mailing envelopes
Mailing GuidelinesMailing Guidelines
The typical survey questionnaire should be mailed in a standard number 10 business envelope
first class postage stamps on the mailing envelope will result in the highest return rate
bulk mail obtains the lowest return rate, is slower, but is less expensive, and can be over 3 ounces without extra postage . . . easily justified for large mailings
Return Mail GuidelinesReturn Mail Guidelines
The self-addressed return envelope should be smaller than the mailing envelope so that it can be inserted in the mailing without folding– usually a no. 9 size business envelope– return postage should be provided
affixing 1st class postage stamp results in the highest return rate
a postage paid business-reply return envelope is more economical and is an acceptable alternative
Survey Research ErrorsSurvey Research Errors
Information obtained from a survey depends on the questions that are asked, on how the respondents react to the questions, and on what respondents choose to reveal about themselves
Researchers are somewhat limited in their ability to assess the quality of the findings since there is usually no way of checking the accuracy or truthfulness of the responses
Gathering meaningful information is difficult because survey research is particularly susceptible to two types of errors:– Nonsampling errors
– Sampling errors
Nonsampling ErrorsNonsampling Errors
Nonsampling errors have several sources including any differences in the way the researcher and the respondents interpret questions, the inability or unwillingness of the respondents to provide correct or honest information, mistakes made when recording or coding the responses, and missing responses– controlling response errors when subjects provide incorrect or false
information is particularly difficult since they depend on the behavior of the respondents, something that is beyond the control of the researcher
– controlling processing and data collection errors can be largely controlled by the researcher
Sampling ErrorsSampling Errors
Sampling errors are those errors resulting from any differences between the data obtained from the sample, and the data that would have been obtained from the complete population– this is the type of error made from inferring a population
characteristic based on a sample
Sampling error or margin of error is often reported with survey findings– For example, a survey reporting that 57% of Iowans favor
abortion with 3.5% margin of error really means that we can be 95% confident that the true population value lies within the ranges 53.5% to 60.5% (57% 3.5%)