The Use of Simple Questionnaire - Essay Example

? Social Research Methods Insert Part A Method The method used for the survey about employment the use of simple questionnaire. The questionnaire uses a yes/ no answer technique for faster completion and for enhancing efficiency. The questionnaire was distributed to men and women aged 16-64 years in England although the respondents were of all races. Questionnaire Design The questionnaire design used for the survey was a simple questionnaire as shown below. It was distributed to a number of people in England. These people were of different classes as well as encompassing other races. STUDENT EMPLOYMENT QUESTIONNAIRE Answer the questions below appropriately. Note that comments are optional, you can write them if you wish. 1. What is your gender a. Male b. Female 2. Are students able to balance education and work? a. Yes b. No a. Can work stress and academic stress overwhelm the students? b. Yes c. No 3. Is student employment healthy for the students? a. Yes b. No 4. Can students be competitive in their various jobs without experience? a. Yes b. No 5. Which school students are allowed to enter the employment field? a. Primary school students b. High school students c. College/university students 6. Does student employment help students pay their fees? a. Yes b. No 7. Are there limitations in student employment? a. Yes b. No 8. Does student employment contribute to their working experience? a. Yes b. No 9. Does student employment give students extra money for enjoyment that can make them forget about their schoolwork? a. Yes b. No 10. Can work stress and academic stress overwhelm the students? a. Yes b. No 11. Do students find time to study when employed? a. Yes b. No 12. Is there a job limit for the students? a. Yes b. No Reasons for Using Simple Questionnaire Model This report used the above design of questionnaire called simple questionnaire because it is clear and specific. The questions in the questionnaire are simple and straightforward. Most people like these type of questionnaire where they only take minimal time to respond to them. The simple questionnaires mostly contain few questions with most of the answers involving the yes/no technique. I preferred to use this type of questionnaire because the questions are framed in a way that an individual cannot ignore them in the sense that they are very simple and a person is only required to share his or her view through choosing between yes and no. The comment box is optional and it is only placed for those who love to explain themselves. The main reason I did not to use the other complex questionnaire is that several people could not respond to them since they need a lot of time for an individual to explain his or her views. Besides, this type of questionnaire was the best to use because the subject of research is controversial in the sense that some people it while other does not. Therefore, it is a good opportunity for the public to share their views through responding to the questions. Part B Micro-Level Data Analysis and Interpretation It is evident in the tables and graphs below that there are social-economic differences in health and lifestyle. Health is examined in terms of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) while lifestyle behavior is examined in terms of social support in the society. GHQ-12 data was acquired from the 2004 Health Survey for England cohort (n=3705). The configuration equation modeling was employed to evaluate the robust of the one-dimensional design, the present ‘best fit’ three-dimensional design and a one-dimensional design with retort bias. The best and suitable model that was employed was evaluated for standards error of measurement, reliability and free from discrimination. Questions and Answers 1. Are men more or less likely to have a high (over 4) GHQ-12 score? What does this indicate in relation to psycho-social wellbeing? There is no doubt that men are less likely to have high GHQ-12 score as compared to women. According to the 2005, Health survey conducted in England, 15 percent of women had a high score (4+) in comparison to 11 percent score in men (British Heard Foundation 2006). The same survey indicated that 18 percent of men reported lack of social support in comparison to 11 percent of women who reported the same. This is evident in the table below. Table 1: GHQ-12 by sex and age for adults aged 16 and above. The graph below indicates clear that women have high social support than men. In fact, the score is over 4 as indicated. Figure 1: High GHQ-12 score (4+) by sex and age in 2005, England. 2. Does GHQ-12 (psycho-social wellbeing) score vary by social class – which class groups have higher or lower scores? Indeed, the psycho-social wellbeing score varies according to social classes of different groups. Lack of social maintenance is linked to social-economic grouping. Both male and female in the semi-habitual and habitual category are approximately twice as probable to report an intense lack of social assistance as those in the managerial and specialist group (British Heard Foundation 2006). This is clearly indicated in the table and figure below. Table 2: Perceived social support by sex and social-economic classification for adults aged 16 and above. The statistics were acquired in 2005 in England. Figure 2: percentage perceiving intense lack of social support by sex and social economic classification for adult aged 16 and above. The statistics were acquired in 2005 in England. 3. Are those with a lower income more likely to have a high GHQ-12 score? Income plays a very significant role in identifying the gradient of social support in society. It is clear that those with high income are most likely to have intensive social support. This means that people with low income have high deficiency of social support (British Heard Foundation 2006). Most people in this category are women as compared to men because the percentage of working men is higher than that of women. In fact, according to the survey conducted, only 5 percent of women is the uppermost quintile report intense deficiency of social support in comparison to 17 percent of women in the lowest income quintile. This is evident in the table below. Table 3: Perceived social support by sex and household income for adults aged 16 years and above 2005, England. Equivalised Household income quintile The results in the table are acquired directly from the Health Survey for England dataset for 2005, using the given personal weighting 4. Is there an identifiable social gradient according to psycho-social wellbeing? Social gradient refers to a person’s or group’s position in society and distinct access to security of resources. This means that there is a clear identifiable social gradient as per the psycho-social well being in the sense that people in society are different (British Heard Foundation 2006). There are those with absolute income who have high social support than others who have low income thus having low social support in society. 5. Are men or women more likely to consume over 21 units of alcohol a week? According to research done on alcohol consumption, men consume more alcohol units than women in a week. In fact, statistics show that 1 out of 3 men drink more alcohol than the recommended limit. In women, it is 1 woman out of 7 who consumes alcohol more than safe levels. This evidently shows that the percentage of men consuming alcohol beyond the limit is higher than that of men proving that men are more likely to consumer over 21 units of alcohol a week. 6. How does alcohol consumption differ according to social class? Alcohol consumption differ in accordance to social class in the sense that high class people often consume popular and expensive alcohol drinks such as beers that are prepared in factories through right procedure meaning that the alcohol has no health effects on them. The high class people are able to purchase a single bottle of beer at up to $15 or even more. Low class people on the other hand, go for cheap traditional alcohol mostly prepared locally at home or in local brewers in the village or estate. This type of alcohol is always cheap and is purchased up to a minimum of $0.2 or even less in certain countries. The alcohol is normally referred to as low class alcohol that is consumed by low class people. This type of alcohol is good to some extent but it has more harm than good to the health of the consumers (British Heard Foundation 2006). This is because the authorities do not prove the ingredients used in preparation of such brews. Therefore, low class people are most likely to suffer from alcohol consumption than high-class people. Generally, people should understand that heavy drinking is a serious health risk and therefore, they need to stop the habit. 7. Are people with high or low income more likely to consume over the recommended alcohol limits each week? People with high income are likely to consume over recommended alcohol limits because they have lots of money that can do such work. Low-income people on the other hand are likely to consume less than the recommended limits because the sum of their income does not allow them to spend much on alcohol. They may end up not meeting certain responsibilities and objectives if they consume above the limit alcohol. 8. Is there an identifiable social gradient according to alcohol consumption? There is an evident social gradient according to alcohol consumption because of the difference of income of people in society. High income people have a lot of money to spend on alcohol while low income people have little to spend on alcohol. Supplementary questions 9. Are the patterns observed in questions 1-8 as you expected? If not, why might this be? What are some limitations of the measures used? The patterns in the questions above are as I expected because from the beginning, I knew that social support depends with how wealthy a person is. This is why people with high income are viewed to have high social support than those with low income (British Heard Foundation 2006). The same occurs in alcohol consumption; people with high income are able to consume alcohol beyond the safe levels while very few low income people can do that. Therefore, most results are as I expected them to be although I did not expect to see women leading in GHQ-12 score (over 4). 10. Using the data you have produced, can you conclude whether a social gradient in health exists? A social gradient is evident in health because people in society are different in terms of financial capabilities. Financially stable families have good access to health resources than financially unstable families. The difference in income also has an effect on the social support in society. People with absolute income have high social support and vice versa. Reference British Heard Foundation, (2006), Psychosocial Well-being. Statistics database, London. Retrieved from www.heartstat.org Read More