Survey:
The survey is
a method for collecting information or data as reported by individuals. Surveys are
questionnaires (or a series of questions) that are administered to research participants
who answer the questions themselves.
A survey is a data
collection tool used to gather information about individuals. Surveys are
commonly used in psychology research to collect self-report data from
study participants. A survey may focus on factual information about
individuals, or it might aim to collect the opinions of the survey takers.
Advantages of Surveys
1. High
Representativeness
Surveys
provide a high level of general capability in representing a
large population. Due
to the usual huge number of people who answers survey, the data being gathered
possess a better description of the relative characteristics of the
general population involved
in the study. As compared to other methods of data gathering, surveys are
able to extract data that are near to the exact attributes of the larger
population.
2. Low
Costs
When
conducting surveys, you only need to pay for the production of survey
questionnaires. If you need a larger sample of the general population, you can
allot an incentive in cash or kind, which can be as low as $2 per person. On
the other hand, other data gathering methods such as focus groups and personal interviews
require researchers to pay more.
3.
Convenient Data Gathering
Surveys can
be administered to the participants through a variety of ways. The
questionnaires can simply be sent via e-mail or fax, or can be administered
through the Internet. Nowadays, the online survey method
has been the most popular way of gathering data from target participants. Aside
from the convenience of data gathering, researchers are able to collect data
from people around the globe.
4. Good
Statistical Significance
Because of
the high representativeness brought about by the survey method, it is often
easier to find statistically significant results than other data gathering methods. Multiple variables can also be effectively analyzed
using surveys.
5. Little
or No Observer Subjectivity
Surveys are
ideal for scientific research studies because they provide all the participants
with a standardized stimulus. With such high reliability obtained, the researcher’s
own biases are
eliminated.
6. Precise
Results
As questions
in the survey should undergo careful scrutiny and standardization, they provide uniform definitions to
all the subjects who
are to answer the questionnaires. Thus, there is a greater precision in terms
of measuring the data gathered.
Disadvantages of Surveys
1.
Inflexible Design
The survey
that was used by the researcher from the very beginning, as well as the method
of administering it, cannot be changed all throughout the process of data
gathering. Although this inflexibility can be viewed as a weakness of the
survey method, this can also be a strength considering the fact that
preciseness and fairness can both be exercised in the study.
2. Not
Ideal for Controversial Issues
Questions
that bear controversies may not be precisely answered by the participants
because of the probably difficulty of recalling the information related to
them. The truth behind these controversies may not be relieved as accurately as
when using alternative data gathering methods such as face-to-face
interviews and focus groups.
3.
Possible Inappropriateness of Questions
Questions in
surveys are always standardized before administering them to the subjects. The
researcher is therefore forced to create questions that are general enough to
accommodate the general population. However, these general questions may not be
as appropriate for all the participants as they should be.
A good
example of this situation is administering a survey which focuses on affective
variables, or variables that deal with emotions.
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