100 word minimum1. Week Three Listen To Me First Speakers: Narrator, SME Narrator: Welcome to the Week Three podcast for CJA/345. This week, we’ll discuss the various aspects of methodology, with specific references to questionnaire and survey development. So what roles do surveys and questionnaires play in research? SME: Survey research is a commonly used method of collecting information about a population or a research area of interest. There are many types of surveys, several ways to administer them, and many methods of sampling. Surveys help provide specific information from a sample population that can be generalized to a larger population. There are two key features of survey research: questionnaires and sampling. You can think of questionnaires as predefined series of questions used to collect information from individuals. Sampling can be described as a technique in which a subgroup of the population is selected to answer the survey questions. As previously mentioned, this information can be generalized to a larger population of interest. Narrator: And how are questionnaires developed? SME: While developing a questionnaire may seem like an overwhelming task, the process is actually straightforward. It involves a series of steps that are fairly self-explanatory. The first step isdeciding what information you, the researcher, are trying to obtain. The second step involves identifying the participants taking the survey. The third step is selecting the methods of reaching your target participants. Examples could include survey administration via mail, e-mail, or telephone. One of the more difficult steps is question development. After the tedious process of developing CONTENT TRANSCRIPT © University of Phoenix 2014 CJA/345 Week Three Listen to me first? Page 2 specific questions that are directly targeted at addressing the research question, the researcher must then develop the question wording and place the questions in a meaningful order. At this point, the questionnaire is just about completed and the researcher should check the length of the questionnaire to make sure it is not too short or too long. A pre-test should then be conducted and if the questionnaire is sound, the final survey should be finalized. The two most common types of survey questions are closed-ended and open-ended. Closed-ended questions require the participants to select from a set of predetermined responses from which they choose the answer. These forms of questions are usually preferred in survey research, because of the ease of counting the frequency of each response. Open-ended questions, on the other hand, are less restrictive and allow survey participants to answer each of the questions using their own words. The responses can be categorized into a smaller list of responses that can be counted by researchers for statistical analysis. Keep in mind, however, that surveys can include a combination of both types of questions to assist researchers in meeting the research goals. Narrator: What are the strengths and limitations of survey research? SME: In terms of the strengths of using them in research, surveys can be useful in describing the characteristics of a large population. This is the process of sampling. Surveys can be easily administered, making large samples feasible. They are also flexible in the method of delivery, and standardized questionnaires are considered more valid and reliable, thus making the results generally applicable. There are, however, a few a limitations. It can be argued that surveys appear superficial in their coverage of complex topics. Also, survey research has limitations related to the factors that do not take extraneous variables into account.
