Survey Research

1. Survey Research • Elite Interviewing – process of interviewing respondents in a non-standardized, individualized manner (face-to-face). A. Why? 1. May lack sufficient understanding of circumstances in order to draft an adequate survey instrument (schedule of questions). 2. May want to investigate respondents’ own interpretation of events completely (unrestricted or open-ended). 3. Elites may resent being treated in an undifferentiated or standardized manner; prefer to be treated with respect as individuals. • Pre-Interview Preparation • Identify key questions and appropriate order • Note significance of answers and inconsistencies between responses • Inquire as to whether confidentiality is a must.

2. Survey Research – e.g., opinion polls, post-election surveys, etc. • Question wording (goal is to accurately measure what the people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behavior is via questions on a questionnaire). Good questions are more valid than bad ones. Rule: The respondents must be able to understand and in principle have access to the requested information. Bad Questions: • Double-barreled question (two questions in one). “Are you satisfied that the President will win the war in Iraq and will do so in a reasonable amount of time?” • Ambiguous questions – contains a concept that is not clearly defined. “What is your income?” or “Do you favor a clean environment?” or “How would you rate President Bush: Great, Terrible, or somewhere in between?” • Leading questions – encourages respondents to choose a particular response because the question indicates that it is expected.

3. E.g., “Don’t you think…” Also, word choice matters “Do you favor racial preferences in employment practices” compared to “Do you favor affirmative action programs in employment practices.” Also, words may have different subjective meanings. “Are you interested in politics?” could be read to mean do you vote or do you belong to a political party or do you watch the news. • Often helpful to use preexisting survey instruments, if possible, to maintain reliability and evaluate trends. • Question Type • Close-ended (most common) – respondents have a list to choose from. “Please indicate whether you think the following policies proposals are acceptable or unacceptable.” • Open-ended – no list; interviewer writes down the answer. “Is there anything about Mr. Bush that might make you vote for him?” 3. Discussion – The advantages of close-ended questions is that they promote reliability (consistent answers, easier to manage and analyze). Disadvantages are that they force respondents to answer in a way that they may not prefer (Approve or disapprove of Bush’s performance may be

4. an unsatisfactory response to some. Example in book (p. 281-282 bottom on Vietnam withdrawal). Single-sided vs Two-sided close-ended questions: Single-sided questions ask respondents to agree or disagree with a single statement. Two-sided offers the respondents two substantive statements to choose from (p. 282). • Question Order – it has been shown that the order of questions has an effect on results. The effect of the response in the previous question may have an impact on the next response (attempt to be rigidly consistent on related questions). Sometimes researchers deal with this by spreading related questions out in the survey. Lee Sigelman found that early placement of the Presidential popularity item produces more “no opinions” than when it is asked later. Why? Respondents’ critical faculties are not fully engaged and feel like they need to give a safe answer before proceeding. • Some researchers use question branching (places respondents into certain groups on the basis of their responses to specific questions). • Filter questions screen uninformed respondents out. Some don’t know about the issue or it is unimportant to them.

5. Delivery Methods • Mailed questions – answered at convenience of respondent, greater privacy and so perhaps trustworthy responses. But, low response rate and little control over answer environment (cheating). • Telephone/Personal Interview – higher response rate, more control, presence of interviewer for clarification purposes. But, costly, usually smaller number of cases, Halo effect (giving only socially acceptable answers). • Key point: Do no take language for granted. It is the carrier in Interview and Survey research, which means it can be manipulated, perhaps unwittingly, and yield unreliable and invalid results.