Survey Research Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Survey research is one of the most important and most frequent types of quantitative social science research. In a typical survey, a researcher selects a sample of units of interest (e.g., individuals, households, families, political candidates, formal organizations) from a defined population and then collects information from them using a standardized interviewing technique, usually a written questionnaire. Surveys typically produce data amenable to computer-based statistical analysis. Both sampling and standardized interviewing are common in many research designs such as experiments, observation, and ethnography, but it is the combination of the two that gives surveys their unique character and popularity.

Sampling of the units from the population can be carried out using either probability or nonprobability sampling techniques. The choice of a specific sampling procedure usually depends on considerations of the characteristics of the target population, anticipated cost, and intended use of the data.

Surveys may consist of one or several waves of interviewing. The simplest surveys are cross-sectional, in which data are collected at one point in time only. Longitudinal designs are less common, but tend to be more powerful. Longitudinal designs consist either of repeated administration of the same (or a very similar) questionnaire to a series of samples drawn from the same population (e.g., periodic public opinion polls), or of repeated interviewing of the same sample (fixed-sample panel study).

The questionnaire can be completed face-to-face, by telephone, over the Internet, via e-mail, or standard surface mail. Sometimes questionnaires are administered to groups of respondents (such as school classes) to reduce the cost of interviewing. Individual self-administered questionnaires (most recently also in the form of audio computer-assisted self-interviewing) are usually applied to investigate sensitive topics (e.g., drug use, sexual harassment) that respondents might find unsuitable for direct interpersonal communication with the interviewer. Various interviewing modes may be combined within one survey to reduce cost, increase representatively, encourage cooperation, enhance the sense of confidentiality, or effectively reach members of the target population.

Surveys are not amenable to the study of any research question. They require that the target population be clearly defined, usually with reference to a few, simple geographic or demographic categories. Surveys also assume that most respondents know and are able and willing to supply the information necessary to complete the questionnaire. Finally, surveys produce numerical data, which limits the range of subsequent analytical procedures. Survey data are suitable to describe and model selected population characteristics or to answer a narrow set of research questions.

The transparency and accountability of sample surveys makes them exceptionally attractive for both policy research and theoretical research. Survey procedures can be made visible and accessible to other parties and tend to be more easily replicable than other research designs. A key disadvantage of surveys is that standardized questionnaires constrain investigation into phenomena and analytical strategies anticipated by the researcher at the start of fieldwork. Surveys often are criticized for their limited validity, because numerical variables may not represent social reality accurately. Surveys also provide an appearance of objectivity and scientific purpose and can thus be subjected to political manipulation as well as other misuses.

Bibliography:

Czaja, Ronald, and Johnny Blair. Designing Surveys: A Guide to Decisions and Procedures, 2nd ed.Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge, 2005.
Fowler, Floyd J., Jr. Survey Research Methods, 4th ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2009.
Lavrakas, Paul J. Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2008.

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