Questionnaire Survey Method for Research - Essay Example

Questionnaire Survey Method for Research Introduction Researching is a practice, which s back to many centuries and resulted in due to the inherent curiosity of the human mind seeking new knowledge. “Research is often described as an active, diligent, and systematic process of inquiry aimed at discovering, interpreting and revicing facts” (Research 2006). Research can be in the form of pure or applied research and fall within three main categories of exploratory, constructive or empirical research. While the nature and process may differ in these different types of research the overall objective remains common as to produce new knowledge. There are various methods of research available including statistical analysis, simulations, observations, interviews, action oriented research, case study based research etc. Depending upon the field of research, the major approaches to research methodology differs and research in social science fields rely mainly on qualitative and quantitative research. In conducting qualitative or quantitative research, various research tools are utilised and questionnaires remain a key component in survey based research activities. 2. Overview of Qualitative Research Motives behind initiating a qualitative research is mainly to uncover or establish a basic understanding, knowledge or a hypothesis pertaining to a certain issue. Such research often lays the foundation for further research of quantitative nature, which can establish the validity of new knowledge generated through the qualitative research. Qualitative research differs from quantitative research on grounds of what is being researched of. “Qualitative research involves the collection of data about attitudes, beliefs and intensions” (Hall et al 2004). The objective of qualitative research is to unearth in-depth knowledge of reasons, which drives the human behavior while quantitative research on the other hand is concerned of data that can be measured. While there are numerous means of conducting qualitative research, methods such as focus groups, surveys through application of unstructured or semi structured questionnaires as well as participant observations (Wolcott 1995). 3. Research through Questionnaire Surveys Surveys remain one of the major forms of research and the most widely used where quantitative research is concerned. “Survey research is the method of gathering data from respondents thought to be representative of some population, using an instrument composed of closed structure or open-ended questions” (Survey Research 2006). Nature of survey research allows effective and efficient data gathering from a large population and thus most suited for the needs of quantitative research. However, they are also used in carrying out qualitative research and needs to be structured differently with open-ended questions to facilitate insightful answers from the respondent. While surveys can be carried out through interviews or by questionnaires, the use of questioners in a survey widens the possible coverage of the population as it is much easier to administer through traditional or electronic mail and less costlier than personal interview method. However the rate of response may be lower and the effectiveness of questionnaire based survey research is dependent upon how well designed the questionnaire is in terms of clarity, format, as well as ease of administration. 4. Key Criteria Applied in Evaluating Research Quality Key criteria applied in assessing research quality include the credibility and validity of the research; associated ethical considerations; the reliability of the findings and lastly the representativeness of the research results. These attributes form the fundamental framework within which the researcher should operate and comply to. Each form of research will measure differently against these criteria and merits and demerits of a research method will depend on how critically important is the different criteria to the achievement of intended research objectives. For example, where qualitative research is concerned, the reliability attribute is lower and findings cannot be generalized unlike the case of quantitative research where the reliability is high. 4.1 Credibility Credibility along with integrity forms the most important aspect of research quality where the overall research process from idea inception to final output of reports are assessed for accuracy, rigor of testing and integrity of the process. One key reason, which lends to poor credibility of a research is the “lack of focus on rigorous research approaches may result in regression to less sophisticated methodologies” (Levin, & O Donnel d.n.). Efforts to bring in a high level of credibility to the research should be done at the time of designing the research strategy. The data should be collected in a manner which lends credibility to the whole process and there should be sufficient sample sizes and evidence of unbiased data sources to indicate that the whole process has been carried out with intergrity and rigour which are the key words which lends to reserch credibility. Care should also be taken to avoid errors in reserch, including the honest ones which result in due to limitations in knowledge of the phenomenon being reserched on (Indrayan 2004). The more serious errors result in through neglegence in the reserch process while the blatent errors of reserch misconduct which includes plagerism, misrepresentation of data, inflation of results etc can totally nullify the credibility of a research. In the case of questionanir based survey reserch, the credibility levels can be rather high, provided that the designing of the reserch is carried out effectively. The fact that surveys involve a large number of respondents lends to the rigour of the reserch process and the uniform nature of the probing tool, the questionair being applied reduces the level of bias that can creep in to all forms of reserch. However, the issues of integrity and lack of misconduct should be monitored as there are cases of falsifying survey responses to inflate the number of responses. 4.2 Validity Validity of the research is essential to facilitate the genaralisability and transferability of results. “ Validity refers to the degree to which a study accurately reflects or assesses the specific concept that the researcher is attempting to measure” (Survey Research 2006). The validity of a research should be both internal and external. “Internal validity refers to the rigor with which the study was conducted and the extent to which the designers of a study have taken into account alternative explanations for any causal relationships they explore (Huitt, 1998). When it comes to measuring against the criterion of validity, “surveys tend to be weak on validity as the artificiality of the survey format puts a strain on validity” (Survey Research 2006). Its difficult to get a good grasp of human feelings and motivations through terms such agree and disagree and even open ended questionnaires can limit the actual capturing of the true essence of feelings and behaviors as some respondents may not be able to express themselves fully or accurately. 4.3 Ethics The ethical manner in which the research has been conducted has much bearing on the quality of the research. When respondents are being enrolled to a research, informed consent should be sought and sufficient information about the survey should be provided. “Special steps must be taken when doing research on "vulnerable" populations, e.g., children, newly-arrived immigrants, etc.” (Indrayan 2004). Confidentiality of the information provided by respondents should be a key consideration where the privacy of the participants is assured. The susceptibility of questionnaire based survey research to be associated with unethical practices will mainly relate to the safety of recorded information. At the same time when large sample sizes are involved, they need to be debriefed fully on the intention of survey. In certain instances, in order to make the questionnaires effective, the actual questions are foiled within other questions. In such circumstances, the respondents should be later told of the actual question, which was being researched. 4.4 Reliability Reliability criterion assesses the accuracy with which the questionnaire or other data gathering procedure are applied. “Reliability is the extent to which an experiment, test, or any measuring procedure yields the same result on repeated trials” (Levin & O Donnel n.d.). This aspect of research is important since it allows for consistent outcomes to be expected when the same research instrument or procedure is applied in another context. Surveys score high on reliability due to the standardized nature of questionnaire. However when open ended and unstructured questionnaires are being considered for qualitative research purposes, the reliability of interpretation may be affected. Surveys also rank high in reliability as “it presents all subjects with a standardized stimulus, and so goes a long way toward eliminating unreliability in the researchers observations” (Survey Research 2006). 4.5 Representativeness Representativeness of research refers to how much a result can be generalized or transferred to other situations and context. Representativeness is affected by the research methodology, the sample size, the rigour applied and how well the sample population represents the total population in consideration. Survey research offer high representativeness as it is applied on to large samples of population and allows for results that can be generalized. However when questionnaire based research is applied with a qualitative approach, the representativeness suffers. It should be noted that “many qualitative research studies are not designed to be generalized” (Survey Research 2006). 5. Key Considerations in Designing a Questionnaire Survey In addition to the key criterions discussed above, there are also a host of other practical issues, which needs to be considered when designing a questionnaire based survey research. Developing an effective questionnaire requires carefully consideration of the type of questions being asked, the content of the questionnaire, the wording, and the sequence of questions. The format and appearance as well as the length of the questionnaire will be crucial for conducting a successful research. At the very outset, it should be decided as to whether open or close-ended questions will form the questionnaire or a combination will be used. The nature of questions being asked will also affect the response rate of a survey. If too intimate or personal questions are asked, there should be a provision for the respondent to decline to reveal such information. Surveys also have inherent problems such as respondents giving false answers with the aim of presenting a socially favourable image of themselves or merely opting to choose the mid range or average scales if the questionnaire is formatted based on lickert scale. When survey research is being carried out with the intention of gathering data of qualitative nature, the interpretation of answers provided for open-ended questions can be difficult and categorization of a wide array of data may pose problems. Therefore even though questionnaire based surveys often yield research of high quality, care should be given to the above-discussed issues in order to minimize the impact. 5. Conclusion In conclusion, its should be recognised that need for new knowledge in various fields of study is driving research of many forms and each form of research favours different methodologies. Credibility, validity, reliability, ethical integrity and representativeness are key criteria of assessment where quality of research is concerned and questionnaire based survey research measures well against most of these criteria. However, due to its inherent problems, questionnaire based surveys can also face respondent bias, errors and misrepresentations, which will affect the validity and reliability of the research. Lastly, due diligence should be applied in developing a questionnaire which is high in clarity, content and user friendliness which will increase the quality of the research. Reference List Hall, D., Jones, R. & Raffo, C. 2004. Business Studies. 3rd ed. London: Causeway Press Limited. Indrayan, A. 2004. “Elements of medical research” Indian Journal of Medical Research.Retrieved 27 October 2006. from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3867/is_200403/ai_n9356078/pg_9 “Survey Research” 2006. Colorado State University. Retrieved on 28 October 2006 from http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/survey/com4a2a.cfm Levin, J. R. , O Donnel, A.M. d.n. “What To Do About Educational Researchs Credibility Gaps?” Retrieved on 27 October 2006 from http://berger.research.claremontmckenna.edu/asl/topPapers/levin.doc Huitt, William G. (1998). Internal and External Validity. Retrieved on 27 October 2006 from http://www.valdosta.peachnet.edu/~whuitt/psy702/intro/valdgn.html Wolcott, H. F. (1995). The art of fieldwork. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press Read More