Chapter 11
Direct Data Collection: Surveys
and Interviews
Zina O’Leary
The Benefits Of Direct Data
Collection
Surveys and interviews are
key in social science data
collection because they
allow researchers to directly
ask what they want, the way
they want to.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Surveying
Surveying involves
gathering information from
respondents related to
their characteristics,
attributes, how they live,
opinions, etc. through
administration of a
questionnaire.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Survey Types
Surveys can:
• reach a large number of respondents
• generate standardized, quantifiable,
empirical data - as well as some
qualitative data
• and offer confidentiality / anonymity.
They can be:
• descriptive or explanatory
• involve entire populations or samples
of populations
• capture a moment or map trends
• administered in a number of ways.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Surveys
Conducting a survey capable
of generating credible data
requires:
• thorough planning
• meticulous instrument
construction
• comprehensive piloting
• reflexive redevelopment
• deliberate execution
• and appropriate analysis.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Questionnaire Development
Questionnaire development should
begin by turning to relevant literature
in a search for existing instruments
that might be drawn upon.
Questionnaire development begins
with concept operationalization
(turning abstract concepts into
measurable variables). This often
involves construction of various
scales such as Likert, Guttman, and
Thurstone.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Questions to Avoid
Poorly worded questions:
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complex terms and language
ambiguous questions
double negatives
double-barreled questions.
Biased/ leading/or loaded:
• ‘ring true’ statements
• hard to disagree with statements
• leading questions.
Problematic for the respondent:
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recall dependent questions
offensive questions
questions with assumed knowledge
questions with unwarranted assumptions
questions with socially desirable responses.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Response Categories
Survey questions can either be
open or closed:
• Open questions - These questions
ask respondents to construct
answers using their own words.
Open questions can generate rich
and candid data, but it can be
data that is difficult to code and
analyze.
• Closed questions - These questions
force respondents to choose from
a range of predetermined
responses, and are generally easy
to code and statistically analyze.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Response Categories
for Closed Questions
Yes / No - Agree / Disagree:
Do you drink alcohol?
Yes/ No
Fill in the blank:
How much to you weigh?
Choosing from a list:
______________
What would you drink most often?
Beer
Wine
Spirits
Mixed drinks
Ordering options:
Cocktails
Please place the following drinks in order of preference
Beer
Wine
Spirits
Mixed drinks
Cocktails
Likert type scaling:
‘It is normal for teenagers to binge drink’
1
2
3
4
disagree
unsure
agree
strongly agree
5
strongly disagree
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Additional Considerations in
Survey Construction
• Providing clear background
information and lucid
instructions
• Logical organization
• Comprehensive coverage
without undue length
• User friendly and
aesthetically pleasing
layout and design.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Interviewing
• Interviewing involves
asking respondents a
series of open-ended
questions.
• Interviews can generate
both standardized
quantifiable data, and
more in-depth
qualitative data.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Interview Types
Interviews can range from:
• formal to informal
• structured to
unstructured
• can be one on one or
involve groups.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Conducting an Interview
Conducting an interview that
can generate relevant and
credible data requires:
• thorough planning
• considered preparation of an
interview schedule and recording
system
• sufficient piloting
• reflexive modification
• the actual interview
• and appropriate analysis.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Conducting an Interview
Conducting an interview
can be an intimidating
experience that does get
easier with practice.
It is worth remembering that
the main objective of any
interview is to facilitate an
interviewee’s ability to
answer.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Conducting an Interview
Two important considerations
in interviewing are:
1. Presentation of self
2. Preliminaries
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be on time!
set up and check equipment
establish rapport
introduce the study
explain ethics.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
The Questioning Process
Listen more than talk
In order to facilitate an interviewee’s
ability to answer you need to:
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ease respondents into the interview
ask strategic questions
prompt and probe appropriately
keep it moving
be true to your role
wind it down when the time is right.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage
Remember…
• Your interview should ease the
respondent into main questions and
themes with ‘sensitive’ questions
only coming after the interview is in
full swing.
• The questions you ask should be
ones that facilitate rich answers.
You will also need to consider what
means you will use to capture these
answers.
• As an interviewer you will need to
be true to the researcher role and
manage your subjectivities at all
times.
Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage