COMMUNICATION ARTS
RESEARCH CA3011
A. Parichart W. and A. Chulamani C.
SURVEY RESEARCH
Objectives
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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
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The survey is historically the most frequently used method for studying media audiences
and people generally.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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 .
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STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESSES
Key Strengths of Surveys
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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
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The most common form of survey-the cross-sectional surveyprovides 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
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The small sample will be drawn from the population
RECORDING, MANAGING,
ANALYZING SURVEY DATA
Recording, Managing, Analyzing
Survey Data
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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
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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
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Wimmer, R. & Dominick, J. (2011). Mass Media
Research: An Introduction (9th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Thompson Wadsworth.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION