SOWK 6003 Social Work Research Week 9 Survey Research

SOWK 6003 Social Work ResearchWeek 9 Survey Research By Dr. Paul Wong

Survey Research is to…. • The administration of questionnaires to a sample of respondents selected from some population • Especially appropriate for making descriptive studies of large populations; survey data may also be used for explanatory purposes

Questionnaires may be used in 3 ways: • Self-administered questionnaires • Face-to-face administrations • Telephone/web-based surveys

Non-responses • Require follow-up mailings for self-administered questionnaires should be sent to potential respondents who fail to respond to the initial appeal • Properly monitoring questionnaires returns will provide a good guide to determining when a follow-up mailing is appropriate

Characteristics of interviewers • Neutral • Trained

Advantages of self-administered questionnaires • Cost-effective; • Lack of interviewer’s bias; • The possibility of anonymity and privacy to encourage more candid responses on sensitive issues

Fact-to-face • Fewer incomplete and misunderstood items; • Higher return rates;

Weaknesses • Somewhat artificial and potentially superficial

Using IT for survey • Computer-assisted data collection • Respondents may not be representative of the intended population

Useful information: • http://www.aapor.org/Poll_andamp_Survey_FAQs.htm • About web survey: • http://www.websm.org/b/Codes__Standards/archive/? • Make good use of our C&S D information

In class activity 1 Please go to google.scholar and find a survey study that is related to your research proposal

SOWK 6003 Social Work Research Week 9 Survey Research