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Data Collection

Data Collection. February 2, 2011. Objectives. By the end of this meeting, participants should be able to: Describe the advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face interviews, telephone surveys, and self-administered questionnaires as data collection tools.

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Data Collection

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  1. Data Collection February 2, 2011

  2. Objectives By the end of this meeting, participants should be able to: • Describe the advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face interviews, telephone surveys, and self-administered questionnaires as data collection tools. • Evaluate the usefulness of each of these three for various research questions.

  3. Data Collection Methods • Face to Face Interviews • Telephone Interviews • Self-administered Questionnaires (Mail and Email)

  4. Face to Face Interviews General Method • Organization hires and trains interviewers • Organization contacts potential respondents and informs them of an upcoming interview • Interviewers survey respondents either in a home or an office

  5. Face to Face Interviews Advantages • Ability for respondents to offer a wide variety of respondents (less constrained) • Greater comfort for the respondent (particularly in home settings) • Ability of the interviewer to build a rapport with the respondent • Ability of the interviewer to probe for deeper or clearer answers

  6. Face to Face Interviews Advantages (cont.) • Highest response rate, leading to the best sample • No obvious selection biases

  7. Face to Face Interviews Disadvantages • Quality and training of the interviewers plays a major role in success • Danger of race of interviewer effects • Initial contact is frequently difficult • Difficulty in contacting the specific person in the house needed for the survey • Difficulty in ensuring that there is no audience

  8. Face to Face Interviews Disadvantages (cont.) • Need to preserve the precise response without making the respondent uncomfortable • Confidentiality may be harder to assure • Difficulty with interviewer supervision • National or even state surveys can be cost prohibitive • Most importantly: very expensive

  9. Telephone Surveys General Method • A computer program generates a set of random telephone numbers, generally trying to exclude business numbers • A group of interviewers call respondents from a centralized location • Many large firms use computer-assisted interviewing (CATI) where a computer program prompts the interviewers with questions and records answers

  10. Telephone Surveys Advantages • Speed, potentially the fastest of the three broad types • Allows for the highest level of supervision • CATI systems allow for a very high rate of accuracy in transcribing answers and preparing data • Until recent years led to very accurate responses (greater than 60% but declining)

  11. Telephone Surveys Advantages (Cont.) • Good method for getting at sensitive behavior (racist beliefs, drug use, sexual behavior, etc.) • Can easily generate a national or statewide sample • Most importantly: inexpensive

  12. Telephone Surveys Disadvantages • High refusal rates aided by caller id and cell phone usage may lead to a biased sample • Even when people do not refuse, interviewer mistrust is common • High SES (socio-economic) bias • Generally poor interviewing environment

  13. Self-administered Questionnaire General Method • Surveys may be mailed to respondents, who then fill out the form and mail it back or given to a researcher • Surveys may be given to groups of people in an institutional setting (such as a school, large employers, etc.). I.e., reviews of a class.

  14. Self-administered Questionnaire General Method (Cont.) • Respondents may be stopped in a public place and asked to fill out a questionnaire in a public place (i.e., the mall) • Newer method, people get surveys emailed to them or linked in emails

  15. Self-administered Questionnaire Advantages • Potentially inexpensive, there is no need for a number of interviewers although return incentives can cost money • Limited intrusion for respondents • Lower SES bias of the survey can help reach a hard to reach population • Internet or mail surveys can easily generate a national or state sample • No race of interviewer effects

  16. Self-administered Questionnaires Disadvantages • Potentially very low response rate • Responses tend to be biased towards lower SES people • Surveys need to be relatively short • No possibility for follow up questions • Internet surveys tend to be biased based on party, gender, age and class

  17. For Next Time • Read WKB chapter 6 • Answer the following questions: • 1. You want to poll a national sample of young voters about their views toward their local House member. What method would you use? Why would this method be superior to other methods? • 2. You want to conduct a regional poll of views towards an environmental issue but you lack a large budget. What method would you use? Why would this method be superior to other methods?

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