Peculiarities of field (in VIVO) research

5. PECULIARITIES AND ROLE OF VARIOUS SURVEY DESIGNS IN RESEARCH

Definition of Survey Research: (students need to find the source of these definitions and complete reference)
1. Survey Research is the collection of data by asking questions either in person, on
paper, by phone or online.
2. A Survey is a research method used for collecting data from a pre-defined group of
respondents to gain information and insights on various topics of interest.
3. Survey research is used to gather the opinions, beliefs and feelings of selected groups
of individuals.
4. Survey research is a quantitative approach that features the use of self-report measures
on carefully selected samples.
5. It is a flexible approach that can be used to study a wide variety of basic and applied
research questions.
6. Survey research has its roots in applied social research, market research, and election
polling. It has since become an important approach in many academic disciplines,
including Forestry and Range Science.

PURPOSE OF SURVEY
Surveys have a variety of purposes and can be carried out in many ways depending on the
methodology chosen and the objectives to be achieved.
There are some broadly defined purposes of using a survey:
I. Fix any meaningful problems that have occurred for customers with the company’s
products or services.
II. Assess the performance of its customer-facing units and staff
III. Improve its processes and standards for delivery
IV. Understand customers’ needs as they use the company’s products or services so the
company can help them have a better overall experience
V. A good survey goal: Use a survey to determine which markets are a good fit for our
existing products so we can expand into those markets.
A bad survey goal: Make more money.

Characteristics of an Effective Survey:

i) measurable survey objectives
ii) sound research design
iii) effective survey question design (each student write his/ her topic of reach and suggest suitable design that
can be applied to that research (either survey or field research)
iv) sound sampling strategy, when needed
v) effective survey response strategy
vi) meaningful data summary
vii) effective data display and reporting

Common Types of Survey:

Surveys can be divided into two broad types:

the questionnaire
and the interview
Questionnaires are usually paper-and-pencil instruments that the respondent completes.

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These types are comprised of multiple choice questionnaires, opinions and polls.
Questionnaires are distributed through mail surveys, group administered questionnaires or
in-person drop-offs. Interviews can be held in person or over the phone and are often a
more personal form of research than questionnaires. There are several issues to consider
when creating a survey, including content, wording, response format and question
placement and sequence. All of these choices can affect the answers given by participating
individuals.

Characteristics of questionnaire:
i) Use words with clear meanings.
ii) Limit the number of ranking options.
iii) In a multiple choice question, cover all options without overlapping.
iv) Offer an “out” for questions that don't apply.
v) Avoid offering too few or too many options.
vi) Should be concerned with the relevant and concerned topic.
vii) Should be presented in a good order.
viii) Should be short.
ix) Directions and wording should be clearly arranged and neatly printed.
x) Questions should be objective .
xi) Embarrassing questions, presuming questions and hypothetical questions should be
avoided.

Interviews:
Interviews are a far more personal form of research than questionnaires. In the personal
interview, the interviewer works directly with the respondent. And, interviews are
generally easier for the respondent, especially if what is sought is opinions or
impressions. Almost everyone is familiar with the telephone interview. Telephone
interviews enable a researcher to gather information rapidly. Most of the major public
opinion polls that are reported were based on telephone interviews. Like personal
interviews, they allow for some personal contact between the interviewer and the
respondent. And, they allow the interviewer to ask follow-up questions. But they also
have some major disadvantages. Many people don't have publicly-listed telephone
numbers. Some don't have telephones. People often don't like the intrusion of a call to their
homes.
DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY (NON STRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRE):
A descriptive survey attempts to picture or document current conditions or attitudes that is to
describe what exists at the moment.
EXAMPLE:
Audience survey to determine the program taste
To study the changing value life style by the effect of some special type of program

ANALYTICAL SURVEY:
An analytical survey attempts to describe and explain WHY certain situations exist? .Here
we examine two or more variable to test our research hypothesis
EXAMPLE:
How life style effect the t.v viewing habits.
Impact of war games on teenagers.

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SOME MORE TYPES OF SURVEY DESIGN

1-FACTUAL SURVEY : (respondents act as reporters)
2-OPNION SURVEYS:(respondents expresses his view point / opinion)
3-INTERPRETATIVE SURVEYS:(interpretation)
EXAMPLE: why do you read newspaper?

7. SURVEY DESIGNS:

Experimental design and the way your study is carried out depends on the nature of your
research question. If you’re interested in how a new forest product is perceived by the general
public in terms of attention, cognition and affect, there’s several ways to design your study.

Cross-sectional Design:
Cross-sectional study is defined as an observational research type that analyzes data of
variables collected at one given point of time across a sample population or a pre-defined
subset. This study type is also known as cross-sectional analysis, transverse study or
prevalence study. The data gathered in a cross-sectional study is from people who are similar
in all variables except the one variable which is under study.

• Examples of cross-sectional studies are: (Find similar examples in forestry research)

Gaming. Compare effects of video games on emotional responsiveness of healthy
children and children suffering from ADHS.
Web testing: Compare website usability evaluation of young, middle-aged and senior
shoppers.
• The primary benefit of a cross-sectional experimental design is that it allows you to
compare many different variables at the same time. You could, for example,
investigate the impact of age, gender, experience or educational levels with little or no
additional cost. The only thing you have to do is collect the data (for example, by
means of interviews or surveys).
• Keep in mind that... definite information about cause-and-effect relationships is hard to
obtain with cross-sectional studies. Because data collection is done only at a single
point in time, you have no control of other factors that might have taken impact on
experimental outcomes. For example, respondents might have been tired, running low
on caffeine levels, busy with more important things on their minds. Because of this you
cannot be absolutely sure if the results were only obtained because of your
experimental manipulation, or if other side-effects also contributed to the results.

Longitudinal Design:
Do you want to measure the products acceptance in a single population (say, male high-
income shoppers with specific demographic characteristics) over an extended period of
time (longitudinal design). The two designs can further be combined (mixed design). In a
longitudinal study you conduct several observations of the same respondent group over time,
lasting from hours to days, months and many years. By doing this, you establish a sequence
of events and minimize the noise that could potentially affect each of the single
measurements. In other words, you simply make the outcomes more robust against potential
side effects. For example, you could show a TV ad several times to your group of interest
(male high-income shoppers) and see how their preference for the ad changes over time.

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Longitudinal study collects data that is either qualitative or quantitative in nature. In

longitudinal study a survey creator is not interfering with survey respondents. Survey
respondents are observed over a period of time ranging from months to even decades to
observe any changes in them or their attitude.
Some examples for longitudinal designs are: (find examples from forestry / range research)
Media / package testing. Two or more media trailers or packages are shown in sequence to a
group of respondents who evaluate how much they like each of the presented items.
Food and flavor testing. Respondents are exposed to two or more flavors presented in
sequence and asked for their feedback.
UI and UX testing. Respondents navigate two or more websites and are interviewed with
respect to usability questions.
Psychology and Training. A group of respondents attending a professional training session
answers a questionnaire on emotional well-being before, during and after training.
The primary benefit of longitudinal designs is that you obtain a time-course of values within
one group of respondents. Therefore, longitudinal studies are more likely to suggest cause-
and-effect relationships than cross-sectional studies.
Keep in mind that... longitudinal studies can have limitations.
Let’s assume that you would like to compare the emotional effects of two TV pilots by means
of surveys. Respondents watch each of the pilots and fill in their responses. With the results at
hand, you conclude that they liked the first pilot much more. Case closed? Not that fast!
There might be sequential effects of the stimulus order on experimental outcomes. In other
words, the results for the first pilot might have been higher just because it was shown first -
respondents might just have been more awake, motivated and engaged compared to the
second round. Sequence effects can be counteracted by randomizing stimuli.
Another issue of longitudinal designs, particularly if you want to collect across several weeks
or months, is that there will be drop-outs. Respondents might want to leave right in the
middle of data collection, move away, or lose interest in participating in your study. Because
of this, always collect slightly more respondents than necessary. Typically, you should
oversample by at least 10%.

Mixed design. Mixed designs combine the best of two worlds as they allow you to collect
longitudinal data across several groups. The data itself is longitudinal (several samples over
time), while the group comparison has cross-sectional aspects.

Typical examples for mixed designs are: (find examples from forestry)
Product / media testing. Two or more versions of a product or service are compared with
respect to cognitive-behavioural outcomes of two or more groups (e.g., novices and experts,
male and female, young and old).
A-B testing. Two versions of a website or app are compared with respect to cognitive-
behavioral outcomes of two or more groups.
Mixed design experiments are ideal for collecting time-courses across several groups of
interest, allowing you to investigate the driving forces of human behavior in more detail than
cross-sectional or longitudinal designs alone.
Ultimately, which design you choose is driven primarily by your research question. Of
course, you can run a cross-sectional study first to get an idea of the potential factors
affecting outcomes, and then do a more fine-grained longitudinal study to investigate cause
and effect in more detail.
(give some examples of cross sectional and longitudinal survey in forestry related research)

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Survey methods (data collection):

There are different ways of survey distribution. Stimuli come in a range of modalities
including audio, visual, haptic, olfactory etc. Multimodal stimuli combine several modalities.
The following stimuli are used in academic and commercial research studies on human
behavior.
Online surveys: Online surveys have now become the most widely used survey data
collection method. This method is now widely being used because the reach of the
surveys has increased to wherever there is internet access, which is everywhere. There
is no limit to the types of questions that can be asked in online surveys.

Telephone surveys: Telephone surveys are a cheaper method than face-to-face surveys
and less-time consuming too. Contacting respondents via the telephonic medium
requires less effort and manpower but the survey response rate could be debated as
respondents aren’t very trusting to give out information on call.

Paper surveys: The least used survey data collection method that is now being used
mostly in field research, are paper surveys. Since they are logistically tough to manage
and tough to analyze, researchers and organizations are moving away from using this
method. These surveys can be used where laptops, computers and tablets cannot go and
hence they use the age old method of data collection; pen and paper.

Face-to-face surveys: Face-to-face surveys are on the most widely used methods of
survey data collection. The survey response rate in this survey data collection method is
always higher because the respondent trusts the researcher since it is in-person. The
survey designing this research method is planned well in advance but there is so scope
to digress to collect in-depth data.

Email: Sending out an email is the easiest way of conducting a survey. The respondents
are targeted and there is higher chance of response due to the the respondents already
knowing about your brand.

Pay respondents: Buying a sample helps achieve a lot of the response criteria because
the people who are being asked to respond have signed up to do so and the qualifying
criteria for the research study is met.

Embed survey in website: Embedding a survey in a website ensures that the number
of responses is very high. This can be done while the person enters the website or is
exiting it.

Post to social network: Posting on social networks is another effective way of

collecting responses. The survey can be posted as a link and people that follow the
brand can take a survey.

QR code: QuestionPro QR codes store the URL for the survey. You can print/publish
this code in magazines, on signs, business cards, or on just about any object/medium.
Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the
image of the QR Code to open the survey in the phone’s browser.

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QuestionPro App: The QuestionPro App allows to quickly circulate surveys and the
responses can be collected both online and offline.

API: You can use the API (Application Programming Interface for online survey)
integration of the QuestionPro platform for potential respondents to take your survey.

SMS: Using SMS surveys are another quick way to collect feedback. This method can
be used in the case of quick responses and when the survey is simple, straightforward
and not too long.

Sound (sine waves, complex sound, spoken language, music)

Olfaction (flavors, smells)
Haptic stimuli (object exploration by touch, pressure plates, vibrating sensors, haptic
robots)

12. PROS AND CONS OF SURVEY:

ADVANTAGES OF SURVEY RESEARCH

Relatively easy to administer
Can be developed in less time (compared to other data-collection methods)
Cost-effective, but cost depends on survey mode
Conducted remotely can reduce or prevent geographical dependence
Capable of collecting data from a large number of respondents
Numerous questions can be asked about a subject, giving extensive flexibility in data
analysis
A broad range of data can be collected (e.g., attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values,
behavior, factual).
Standardized surveys are relatively free from several types of errors
Relatively easy to administer
Cost-effective, but cost depends on survey mode
Can be administered remotely via online, mobile devices, mail, email, kiosk, or
telephone.
With survey software, advanced statistical techniques can be utilized to analyze survey
data to determine validity, reliability, and statistical significance, including the ability to
analyze multiple variables
Standardized surveys are relatively free from several types of errors

DISADVANTAGES OF SURVEY RESEARCH

Respondents may not feel encouraged to provide accurate, honest answers
Respondents may not feel comfortable providing answers that present themselves in a
unfavorable manner.
Respondents may not be fully aware of their reasons for any given answer because of lack of
memory on the subject, or even boredom.
Surveys with closed-ended questions may have a lower validity rate than other question types.
Data errors due to question non-responses may exist. The number of respondents who choose to
respond to a survey question may be different from those who chose not to respond, thus
creating bias.
Survey question answer options could lead to unclear data because certain answer options may
be interpreted differently by respondents. For example, the answer option “somewhat agree”

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may represent different things to different subjects, and have its own meaning to each
individual respondent. ‘Yes’ or ‘no’ answer options can also be problematic. Respondents may
answer “no” if the option “only once” is not available.
Customized surveys can run the risk of containing certain types of errors.

13. Examples of Survey:

There are several examples of survey, some of them are given below:-
Survey done by students (e.g. as a part of project).
Survey conducted by companies to take feedback of their products.
Survey conducted by NGO’s to get information about any issue or disease ( people’s perception about
hepatitis or AIDS).
Survey conducted by govt. (e.g. to get census).
Survey conducted by researchers as a part of their job.]

STEPS IN THE PROCESS OF SURVEY RESEARCH

Develop hypothesis.
Decide on type of survey (mail, interview)
Design layout
Plan how to record data
Revise the instrument
Decide on target population
Select sample size
Locate respondents
Conduct interviews
Carefully record data
Enter data into the computer
Perform statistical analysis on data
Describe methods and findings in research report

16. More Guideline for designing experiments

Recognition of and clear statement of the problem (title of research)
Wise choice of input variables and their levels (e.g. doses of insecticide, fertilizers)
Selection of the really useful response variable
Choice of suitable experimental design (wide range of designs is available)
Careful monitoring the process of experiment to ensure that everything is being done according
to plan
Data Tabulation:
Statistical methods should be used to analyse the data. Simple graphical methods play an
important role in data interpretation.
Follow-up runs and confirmation testing should be performed to validate the conclusion. It is
usually a major mistake to design a single large comprehensive experiment at the start of study.
No more than 25% of the available resources should be invested in the first experiment to
ensure sufficient resources to perform confirmation runs and accomplish the final objective.
Use your non-statistical knowledge of the problem
Keep the design and analysis as simple as possible.
Recognize the difference between practical and statistical significance.

17. Correlational studies:

Correlational study is a non-experimental type of research design where two distinct variables are
studied and a statistical analysis is run to study relation between them without the interference of
external “variables”.
What are different methods or tests to analyse research data? Define/ explain each
ANOVA
Graphical Presentation
Tables
T-test
F-Test
Cho-Sqaure Test

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