Summary Business Research Methods Chapter 7, 8 ,9, 10, 11
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Course
Business Research Methods (6011P0209Y)
Institution
Universiteit Van Amsterdam (UvA)
Book
Modern Principles of Economics
This is a summary of five chapters (7-11) from the course Business Research Method, using the book "Research Methods: The Essential Knowledge Base" written by Trochim, Donnelly, and Aurora (2016). The report includes the most important information presented in these chapters and gives an overview ...
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Chapter 7: Survey Research
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A Survey = a systematic way of asking people to volunteer information regarding their
opinions and behaviors.
-> most important in applied social research.
7.2 types of survey research
The information is collected from a sample of respondents -> usually in a way that makes it
possible to generalize results to the population within a certain degree of error.
- A survey can be administered in two key ways: questionnaire and interview
Questionnaire are self-administered
Interview looks like a questionnaire except that it usually also includes instructions for the
interviewer and space for the interviewer to record observations about how the interview
progressed.
7.2a Questionnaires
Bijvoorbeeld een mail survey: paper and pencil survey that is send through mail.
They are relatively inexpensive to administer and have a wide geographical goverage.
- Response rate is often low.
Second type = group administered questionnaire = A sample of respondents is brought
together and asked to respond to a structured sequence of questions. These can ask for
clarification.
Third = household drop-off survey.
Fourth = Point-of-experience survey. Handig voor bijvoorbeeld precies nadat mensen een
training gehad hebben. To ensure timely and accurate data collection.
It is important to note that all customer-satisfaction surveys are not point-of-experience
surveys. -> They decrease social desirability bias
Fifth = Electronic survey-> bijvoorbeeld e mail survey or web surveys.
But there are still many people who have limited access or none at all -> Then you need to
conduct a Dual-media survey = Where you make the survey available through multiple
channels and allow respondents to select their preferred method of response.
7.2b interviews
Interviews are: a far more personal form of research than questionnaires. JE HEBT:
- Personal interview = one on one interview-> can ask follow up questions
- Group interview or focus group = Interview that is administered to respondents in
a group setting A focus group is a structured form of group interview en worden vaak
gebruikt voor feedback.
- Telephone interview
,Verschil group-administered questionnaire en group interview/focus group =
In the group administered questionnaire, each respondent is handed an instrument and
asked to complete it while in the room. In a focus group, the interviewers facilitate the
sessions. People work as a group, listening to each other’s comments and answering the
questions. Someone takes notes for the entire group; People don’t complete the interview
individually
7.3 Selecting the Survey Method
Eerst heb je de population issue:
1. Can the population units be identified?
2. Is the population literate?
3. Are there language issues?
4. Will the population cooperate?
5. What are the geographic restrictions
7.3b Sampling issues
The sample is the actual group you will have to contact in some way. When doing survey
research you need to consider several important sampling issues
1. What data is available?
2. Can respondents be found?
3. Who is the respondent?
4. Can all members of the population be sampled?
5. Are response rates likely to be a problem?
6. Will incentives for participants help?
7.3c Question issues:
Sometimes the nature of what you want to ask respondents determines the type of survey
you select.
7.3d Content issues:
The content of your study can also pose challenges for the different survey types you might
use.
7.3e Bias issues:
People come to the research endeavor with their own sets of biases and prejudices.
Sometimes, these biases will be less of a problem with certain types of survey approaches.
7.3f Administrative issues:
You have to consider the feasibility of the survey method for your study
- Costs
- Facilities
- Time
- Personnel
7.4 Survey design
Before you begin constructing your survey, it is useful to reflect in the full list of issues that
need to be explored through your instrument.
, 7.4a Types of Questions:
Survey questions can be divided into two broad types: structured and unstructured.
- Unstructured questions are open-ended, where the respondents need to create
their own answer
- Structured questions are laid out with various response options, and the respondent
simply has to choose or circle an option (yes or no) -> These pose greater difficulties.
Dichotomous Response Format: When an equation has two possible responses, it has a
Dichotomous response format (yes or no).
Nominal Response Format: Here the number next to each response has no meaning
except as a placeholder for that response -> 1 = advocaat 2= boer etc
When you ask respondents to rank-order their preferences, you are using = Ordinal
Response Format. 1 = respondents first choice.
Interval Response Format = One of the most common of these types is the traditional 1 to
5 rating. Sometimes referred to as the likert-type response scale. = A response measured
using numbers spaced at equal intervals where the size of the interval between potential
response values is meaningful. -> 1 is mee eens , 2 beetje mee eens 5 = helemaal mee
oneens.
A semantic differential = Here an item is assessed by the respondent on a set of bipolar
(two options) adjective pairs. (can be an Interval response Format)
A Cumulative or Guttman scale = Here, the respondents check each item with which they
agree. Cumulative = If you agree with one item, you probably agree with all of the ones
above in the list.
Filter or Contingency Questions:
Sometimes you have to ask respondents a preceding question to determine whether they
are qualified or experienced enough to answer a subsequent one. This is called using a
filter or contingency question.
7.4b Question Content
For each question in your survey, you should ask yourself how well it addresses the content
you are trying to get at.
-> additional questions are required
You can often spot kinds of problem questions by looking for the conjunction and your
question. We refer to this classic question-writing problem as the double-barreled
question. If you realize that your question has multiple subparts, you should split the
question into separate ones.
- Sometimes you need to ask additional questions in order to provide you with enough
context to interpret for the respondents’ answers on some of the other questions.
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