Topic 2 - primary research methods: surveys, questionnaires and interviews Flashcards
What are Surveys?
A survey typically refers to large-scale quantitative research using questionnaires or structured interviews. For example, the Crime Survey for England and Wales involves 50,000 participants reporting crime experiences over the past 10 months, alongside 3,000 respondents sharing attitudes on social issues.
Questionnnaires?
Paper questionnaires, distributed by post, are completed independently by respondents without a researcher present. They are quick, cost-effective, produce reliable data, and can be easily replicated by other researchers.
Advantages of questionnaires?
Closed questionnaires, requiring short or selected answers, allow for quick quantification to identify trends and patterns. Large samples can be studied efficiently without researcher presence, and their standardisation ensures reliability. Anonymity encourages honesty, while internet use broadens geographic reach. Longitudinal studies with the same sample help track changes over time.
Disadvantages of questionaires?
Most questionnaires use closed questions, limiting respondents to preselected answers that may not fully reflect their thoughts or behaviors, reducing validity despite their reliability. Respondents may misunderstand questions or lack the opportunity to explain answers, while researchers’ priorities might not align with respondents’ views. Postal questionnaires often suffer from low response rates, affecting sample quality and generalizability. Pilot studies are essential to ensure clarity and relevance, as respondents may withhold the truth on sensitive topics.
Interviews?
Interviews can be structured, semistructured or unstructured
Structured interviews?
Essentially, this is a questionnaire with the questions read out and the answers recorded by the interviewer
This type of interview is used to collect quantitative data
Advantages?
Interviewers can clarify questions for respondents, enhancing understanding. The standardised approach ensures reliable data, which can be collected quickly. Additionally, the researcher’s presence often improves response rates.
Disadvantages?
Interviews are more time-consuming than questionnaires and may introduce interviewer bias, as respondents might give socially desirable answers. A rigid schedule can also limit respondents’ ability to elaborate or discuss their answers.
Unstructured interviews?
Unstructured, in-depth interviews are conversational and focus on a few topics, allowing follow-up questions based on previous answers. They are used to collect qualitative data.
Advantages?
Unstructured interviews allow for detailed discussion, increased openness, and honesty. Respondents can answer in their own words, and the interviewer can observe body language for honesty. Open-ended questions encourage expression of views and feelings.
Disadvantages?
Unstructured interviews are time-consuming, require skilled interviewers, and result in small, less reliable samples. Data analysis is complicated and subjective, and interviewee bias may occur due to factors like the interviewer’s ethnicity, age, or sex.
Semi - structured interviews?
Semi-structured interviews offer more flexibility than structured ones but less than unstructured. They use open-ended questions and share similar advantages and disadvantages with other interview methods.
Advantages?
Open-ended questions allow detailed discussions, providing qualitative data. The interviewer can prompt respondents for more detailed answers.
Disadvantages?
Interviews are non-standardized, making data less reliable. They are also expensive, time-consuming, and prone to interviewer bias.
