COMMUNICATION ARTS RESEARCH CA3011

A. Parichart W. and A. Chulamani C.

SURVEY RESEARCH

Objectives

To introduce the importance of the survey research

To understand the the definition of the survey research

To understand the types of survey To understand the main types of survey

design To understand the modes of the data

collection

Importance of Survey

The survey is historically the most frequently used method for studying media audiences and people generally.

On of the earliest studies of media reporting and voting behaviour- by Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet (1944) of the American presidential election campaign of 1940 introduced the notion of a ‘two-step flow’ of information and marked the beginning of the end of the passive audience.

Survey methodology has been on of several key methodologies used in major inquiries or commissions/committees set up to look into the state of broadcasting and media regulation to provide policy guidance on changes and developments in the the regulatory framework for both public service and private media.

Survey methodology also played a key role in studies of persuasive communication –the used of mass media campaigns for deliberately influencing or changing people’s opinions, beliefs and behavior in diverse fields as health, politics, environment, science, business, international aid, etc.

DEFINITION

Survey: Definition

In social science literature-we may consider the following prominent definitions:

- Surveys are info-collection methods used to describe, compare, or explain individual and societal knowledge, feelings, values, preferences, and behavior. (Fink, 2009b:1)

- A survey is a study that collects information by asking people questions. The information collected-the data-is generally numerical and suitable for statistical analysis… The vast majority of survey research projects are sample surveys in with data collected from a subset of individuals in the population. Inferences about the larger population are made from the info. Gathered from those people in the sample. (Shoemaker and McCombs, 2009: 379)

Survey: Key Features

It is a systematic and structured mode of collecting data, by asking people questions.

It focuses-ideally-on a representative sample of a larger population.

It uses, as its data collection instrument, an interview schedule, that is a list of questions to be asked of the interviewee/respondent by an interviewer, or a questionnaire to be completed by the interviewee/respondent.

The data collected, that is the answers to the survey questions, are subjected to quantitative analysis to produce descriptive, comparative and inferential statistics that can be extrapolated from the sample studied to the larger population form which the sample was drawn.

MAIN TYPES OF SURVEY DESIGN

The Cross-sectional Survey

The cross-sectional survey design is a one-off survey, where a (representative) sample of respondents is interviewed only once. It offers a comparatively cheap, potentially fast and efficient way of collecting info.about.

Ex. People’s media consumption habits or opinions about relevant issues

The Trend Study

The trend study is a longitudinal design for examining change over time in a population. The same set of questions is asked in a series of (in effect, cross-sectional) surveys conducted at different points in times.

(how the changes occur) Ex. The Pew Research center’s (2010)

tracking over a number of years of changes in Americans’ understanding/ perception of a range of issues relating to climate changes .

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Key Strengths of Surveys

Survey provide a more realistic/natural setting than the laboratory experiment. Respondents are approached in their natural environment, and are asked questions relating to their natural context

Surveys are a highly structured mode of collecting info. Or data. As such they enable the collection of large amounts of data in an efficient, potentially highly reliable and often cost-effective way.

Surveys – because of their highly structured format- allow or facilitate the examination of a broad range of variables.

Surveys- as a quantitative and structured method of data collection – make it possible to use powerful statistical analyses and tests to examine not just important trends in individual variables but more relationships between variables.

Potential Weaknesses of Surveys

The most common form of survey-the cross-sectional survey-provides only a snapshot of people’s beliefs, attitudes and behaviors, while telling us little about how people have arrived at these or indeed about how they might be changing in the future.

The survey focuses on the individual respondent’s beliefs, attitudes and behavior and as such offers little that will help us understand how individual beliefs and behavior are often formed and shaped in a social context.

Answers to survey questions are easily ‘framed’, or influenced by how they are worded and asked, that is by the choice of words and by the syntax of phrasing of questions.

Surveys are excellent for demonstrating correlation between variables, but the cross-sectional survey in particular is poorly equipped to demonstrate causality.

MODES OF DATA COLLECTION IN SURVEYS

Modes of Data Collection in Surveys

Questionnaires are completed in one of two ways:1) Through a self-administered questionnaire: the

respondent fills in a questionnaire, which may be distributed by post or email or through public venue

2) Through an interview, in which the interviewer completes the survey questionnaire according to the answers given by the respondent. Interviews may be face to face, by telephone or skype.

Self-administered Questionnaire: Advantages VS Disadvantages

Advantages• Inexpensive• No interviewer bias

to worry about• Highly personal

questions can be asked

• Complex questions or questions requiring detailed info.

Disadvantages• Potential for

misinterpretation or misunderstanding of questions

• Low response rates are the norm

• Potentially difficult to verify who filled in the questionaire

Personal Interview: Advantages VS Disadvantages

Advantages• Interviewer can

explain questions• You know who is

answering the questions

• A higher likelihood of getting a response

Disadvantages• Can be intrusive (too

personal)• Time-consuming and

expensive• Difficult to optimise

the matching of interviewer characteristics (social class, language, etc.) to respondent characteristics

Sampling and Samples in Surveys

Sampling in Surveys

The small sample will be drawn from the population

RECORDING, MANAGING, ANALYZING SURVEY DATA

Recording, Managing, Analyzing Survey Data

The recorded answers will need to be transferred to a statistical analysis program for the types of analysis.

For most analytical surveys, statistical analysis programs such as SPSS, capable of performing powerful statistical analyses and tests, should be used.

GENERAL PROBLEMS IN SURVEY RESEARCH

General Problems in Survey Research

1. Subjects or respondents are often unable to recall information about themselves or their activities. Ex. Which radio stations they have set on

their vehicle’s radio pushbuttons?2. Due to respondents’ feelings of inadequacy or lack of knowledge about a particular topic, they often provide “prestigious” answers rather that admit to not knowing something. Ex. Do you know Louis Vuitton brand?

General Problems in Survey Research

3. Subjects may purposely deceive researchers by giving incorrect answers to questions.4. Survey are often complicated by the inability of respondents to explain their true feelings, perceptions, and beliefs-they cannot put them into words.Ex. Why do you like to watch soap opera?“Because I like them.”

SUMMARY

Survey is an important and useful method of data collection. It is one of the most widely used methods communication of media research.

Surveys involve a number of steps. Researchers must decide whether to use a descriptive or analytical approach; Define the purpose of the study; review the literature in the area; select the survey approach (mail, telephone, personal interview, group administration, questionnaire design, and sample; analyze and interpret the data; and finally, decide whether to publish or disseminate results.

Reference

Wimmer, R. & Dominick, J. (2011). Mass Media Research: An Introduction (9th ed.). Belmont, CA:

Thompson Wadsworth.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION