GSSR Survey Research (I): Types of survey design; Questionnaire development

1. GSSR Survey Research (I): Types of survey design; Questionnaire development www.socialinquiry.wordpress.com Irina Tomescu-Dubrow Ilona Wysmulek

2. Academic vs non-academic surveys Academic: Mainly sociology and political science. Non-academic: • Statistical-offices surveys (e.g., Current Population Survey; Labor Force Survey) • Marketing surveys (e.g., in segmentation research to determine the demographic, psychographic & behavioral characteristics of potential buyers) • Political opinion polls (e.g., TV stations & newspapers organize polls, or use specialized firms to conduct public opinion research)

3. Survey research in social sciences  Definition Survey research = a method + its products, to systematically gather information from a relatively large number of individuals (sample), generally via asking questions (interview modes). Key words: survey design; sample; interview mode; survey instrument

4. Survey Designs Cross-sectional surveys: The survey is carried out as a single happening (one round of data collection) E.g.: - general public opinion surveys; - social networks surveys Longitudinal Studies: a series of surveys on common topic(s) are collected repeatedly through time - trend studies (cross-sectional time-series projects, like ESS; new sample(s), same topic(s)) - panel surveys (same respondents, same topic(s) National & crossnational; mono& multicultural survey designs 3MC Survey Projects, ccsg.isr.umich.edu/

5. The notions of Comparability & Equivalence In 3MC survey projects, comparability of target population, survey population, sample, …. i.e. survey design Equivalence is an essential quality: interchangeability Formal vs. functional equivalence of survey questions (items). Formal equivalence (identical procedure) is interesting only if it leads to functional equivalence (identical meanings in different contexts).

6. The Survey Lifecycle - Data quality & Comparabilityccsg.isr.umich.edu/index.php/chapters

7. Interview Modes: Personal Interviews:: • face-to-face, FTF (use of laptop computers, CAPI-Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) • telephone interviewing, CATI - Computer-Assisted Telephones Interviewing Self-completion modes: • mail questionnaires, MQ • household drop-offsurveys (home/business) • internet surveys Mixed-mode surveys (change of mode within sample, and/or within respondent) Potential bias due to mode effects

8. Ideal strategy for survey research - representative sample constructed via random sampling - face-to-face interviewing. Cost of surveys.

9. The Survey Instrument Should: • ensure effective two-way communication between respondents and the researcher; • assist respondents in recalling & clarifying their experiences, attitudes and thoughts; • keep the respondent interested and motivated.

10. General Issues on Questions(Items) & their Content Is the questionnecessary/useful? Are severalquestionsneeded? Does it cover all possibilities? Double-barreled question (a question in which 2 separate ideas are represented together as a unit) “What are your feelings towards African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans?” “and” “or” "What is the highest level of education of your parents?"

11. Does the question need to be more specific? “How well did you like the book?”on scale ranging from "Not At All" to „Very Well." What does it mean to say you liked a book very well? Instead: “Did you recommend the book to others?” or “Did you look for other books by that author?”

12. Avoid Biased/emotionally loaded questions Leading questions - suggest a possible answer/ make some responses seem more acceptable than others “How often do you smoke marijuana?” (for certain underreported behavior, this type of questions may be necessary) “Do you agree that ….” Are the questions personal or sensitive (i.e. will respondents answer truthfully)?

13. Can the question be misunderstood? What assumptions does the question make? Specify the time frame “Do you think the government will increase taxes?” In 3MC survey projects: Comparability and functional equivalence of survey items

14. Properties of a good measurement in sociological research • M = T + e M = what we measured, T = true state of affairs that we wanted to measure, e = error term.

15. Cross-national Public Opinion Surveys • Large General Cross-national Surveys The World Value Survey (WVS) The International Social Survey Program (ISSP) The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) The European Social Survey (ESS) • East European Surveys The Central & Eastern Eurobarometer (CEEB) The Candidate Countries Eurobarometer (CCEB) The Europe New Barometers (NEB) Election Studies of Eastern Europe (ESEE) Consolidation of Democracy in Central & Eastern Europe (CDEE)

16. Major organizations of survey research World Association of Public Opinion Research, WAPOR, (founded in 1947, 500 members in more than 60 countries) International Journal of Public Opinion Research EuropeanSurvey Research Association, ESRA (founded in 2000) Survey Methods World Association of Opinion and Marketing Research Professionals, known as ESOMAR (founded in 1948 as the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research today unites users and providers of research in 100 countries). Professional codes and standards