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When writing the design section of your report you should provide all the information readers will need to evaluate your sample selection and your success in completing interviews with the expected sample of respondents. Points that should be reported are listed in Box 11.4. With this information readers will be able to judge how well the sample represents the target population from which the sample was selected. Strengths and limitations of the survey method Like all other methods, survey research has special strengths and limitations. Knowledge of these can help in deciding whether the survey method is appropriate for research you might conduct. Strengths The great strength of survey research is that for relatively little cost you can collect a lot of data about a number of variables from a large number of persons. This is particularly true for measurement of quantitative variables using closed responses. With standardized questions, data can be easily aggregated and analyzed using quantitative methods. Moreover, when combined with sampling, results can be generalized to large populations of people. Limitations Surveys also have a number of limitations. The most serious weakness concerns the validity and reliability of responses obtained to questions. Surveys provide only verbal descriptions of what respondents say they do or how they feel about something. Responses cannot always be taken as accurate descriptions of what the respondents actually do or really feel about something. This is particularly true for behavior contrary to generally accepted norms of society. Persons are unwilling many times to indicate they have engaged in behavior not accepted by their group. Researchers do well to remind themselves of this serious limitation as they prepare items and interpret their results. Improving survey results There are several ways of dealing with the unpleasant, but stubborn fact of possibly getting false responses. First, try to apply all the guidelines given for writing questions and for organizing a questionnaire. Second, become thoroughly familiar with the group you are studying and use knowledge about the norms and values of this group in preparing the questionnaire. Third, when possible, use multiple methods of collecting data about key variables. Instead of depending only verbal responses for these variables, try to get observational data or look for additional data in census or other reports as well. For example, if you were asking about how much meat is eaten in a household, try to observe what is actually served at meals over several days for a small sub-sample of the larger sample in addition to asking about this variable in question form. The same method could be used to check the validity of responses to questions about many other variables (frequency of attendance of religious services, whether children are inoculated, what kinds of farming practices are used, absenteeism from work, etc.) Some further suggestions for reducing errors in the collection and analysis of survey data are provided in: Reducing Measurement Error in Informal Sector Surveys. |