week 2 Flashcards
what is a cross-sectional design
collection of data on more than one case and at a single point in time in order to collect a body of quantitative data in connection with 2 or more variables which are then examined to detect patterns of associations not causes!
role of surveys
as the experimental design isn’t always feasible, and are usually used to test a theory from earlier survey, normally artificial, hard to manipulate variables in real life; costly.
places youd find data from questionnaires and surveys
newspaper, magazines, TV
structure of a questionnaire
- need intro
- units for measurement
- no overlapping categories e.g less than 10
- correct order of survey for past/ present tense
- data protection
why are they most commonly used tool fir large data? (survey)
- good to study attitudes, beliefs, values
- non intrusive
- reduced bias, same for all P’s
- open and closed questions
- used mostly for descriptive research
- large samples
- mail or postal is most common form
- easy to enter data with a pre code
positives/ do’s of a questionnaire.
- easy to follow
- dont cramp it keep it clear
- decide if you want vertical or horizontal for closed answers e.g for likert horizontal would be better
- clear instructions on how to respond e.g say with a cross or tick
- keep question and answers together in closed.
- well worded questions
- try not make it too long as lower response rate
- start and finish with friendly questions
- simple language
- vary question format to avoid boredom
- respondant ID every page
- trial and pilot questions
- logos helo catch attention to appropriate target audience
don’ts of a survey/ questionnaire
- leading questions- bias
- dont pre-suppose info
- produce variability
advantages of self completion surveys
- cheaper
- quicker
- no interviewer effect
- no interviewer variability
- convenient
disadvantages of self completion survey
- can’t prompt or probe/ help with questions
- difficult to ask other kinds of questions e.g open ones
- more than one person might answer
- can’t collect additional data
- hard to ask many questions due to fatigue
- might reply with desirable answers not real ones
- silly responses
- low literacy
- risk of missing data
how to improve response rate of self surveys
- good cover letter - personalised
- return SAE - stamped address envelope with instructions
- follow up for response
- right length
- provide incentive
- capture attention
cover letter features \
- friendly/ short
- why study is being done
- tailor to audience
- incentives
- mention SAE
- deadline prompt
- mention confidentiality
- name and number (corporate)
