PS 402W: Advanced Research Methods, Lt. Col. Whipple

Assignment:  Complete a research project

• Sample topic:
  • Is loneliness related to physical health/wellbeing?
• Due date: Dec 5
• Length: approximately 12 pages
• Minimum number of resources: 
• Sources allowed: Empirical, peer reviewed articles, reports or policy briefs from organizations as well as legitimate websites (ex. Centers for Disease Control, National Institute of Mental Health, etc.) 
• Limiters to use in PsycInfo: age groups, population groups, metholodology (and exclude dissertations). 
• Tests: PsycTests could be useful.
• Sources not allowed: 
• Citation style: APA

Survey Research

In survey research, a researcher obtains information about one or more groups of people— perhaps about their behaviors, opinions, attitudes, or previous experiences—by asking them questions and either directly tabulating or systematically coding their answers. 

Often, it involves collecting data about a sample of individuals that is presumed to represent a much larger population.

In a survey design the researcher:

1. poses a series of questions to willing participants 

2. systematically classifies and codes any complex responses to open-ended questions 

3. summarizes both the coded responses and participants’ cut-and-dried, it’s-clearly-this-or-that responses with percentages, frequency counts, or more sophisticated statistical indexes 

4. draws inferences about a particular population from the sample participants’ responses. 

A survey design makes critical demands on the researcher that, if not carefully addressed, can place the entire research effort in jeopardy.

Interviews

In quantitative survey research, interviews tend to be standardized—that is, everyone is asked the same set of questions.

A structured interview, the researcher asks certain questions and nothing more. 

In a semi structured interview, the researcher may follow the standard questions with one or more individually tailored questions to get clarification or probe a person’s reasoning; such an interview obviously has a qualitative element as well.

Types of Interviews

Face-to-face interviews have the distinct advantage of enabling a researcher to establish rapport with potential participants and therefore gain their cooperation. 

• Response rates—the percentages of people agreeing to participate.

Telephone interviews are less time-consuming and often less expensive, and a researcher has potential access to virtually anyone on the planet who has a landline telephone or cell phone.

• Although response rates for phone interviews aren’t as high as those for face-to-face interviews.

Interviews conducted using Video-conferencing software (Skype, Teams, Zoom, ...)

• can be helpful when face-to-face contact is desired with participants in distant locations. 

• participants must

  • feel comfortable using modern technologies

  • have easy access to the needed equipment and software

  • be willing to schedule an interview in advance— three qualifications that can, like telephone interviews, lead to bias in the sample chosen 

Whether they’re conducted face-to-face, over the telephone, or via video conferencing software, personal interviews allow a researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and, when appropriate, seek follow-up information. Because such interviews take time, however, they may not be practical when large sample sizes are important.

Summary of the Section of Survey Research in Chapter 6: Descriptive Research from: Leedy, P.D., & Ormrod, J.E. (2019).  Practical research:  Planning and design (12th Edition).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. (ISBN:  0132693240)