Lecture Conducting and reading research in health and human performance (4/e): Chapter 9 - Ted A. Baumgartner, Larry D. Hensley

Chapter 9 - Descriptive research. The following will be discussed in this chapter: Overview of descriptive research, types of descriptive research, survey research methodology, General survey data collection methods, interview methods, questionnaire development,...

Chapter 9 Descriptive Research

Overview of Descriptive Research

Focused towards the present

– Gathering information and describing the current

situation

– May or may not involve hypothesis testing

Answers the question “What is?”

Many types of research fall within this

classification

Types of Descriptive Research

Survey Research Methodology

Survey research is the most common type of

A survey which obtains responses from the entire population is called a census

General Survey Data Collection Methods

Interviews

Questionnaires

Interview Methods

Phone interview

– Common in marketing research

– Not used much in HHP

Personal interview

– Applicable if the sample is small and accessible

– Structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interview

– Recording of information

Focus group interview

– Interview groups of people

– Requires skilled facilitator

An interview schedule or guide contains the questions to

be read to the respondent during an interview as well as

a place for recording the answers

A questionnaire is a self-report instrument that is generally mailed or handed to the respondent to complete with no help from the researcher

– Administered questionnaire

Respondents are directly given the questionnaire

– Distributed questionnaire

Questionnaire is mailed or electronically delivered

Majority of survey research in HHP uses a

questionnaire as data-collection technique

Questionnaire Development

Composing Questions – each question should have three important attributes: focus, brevity, and simplicity

– The questions should focus directly on the issue or topic relevant to the information needs of the study

– They should be as short or brief as possible while still conveying the meaning

– The questions should be expressed as simply and

clearly as they can be

Level of wording (vocabulary) should be

appropriate for the intended respondents

Questionnaire Format

Organization of Questionnaire

– appearance and layout is important

– length (no of questions) is a major factor

in general, longer questionnaires have a poorer return rate

– place easy to answer questions first

– sensitive questions should be near the end

– items should be placed in a logical order

– demographic information

recommend placing demographic questions at end

Response Format

– standard answers provided

– easy to code and score

– facilitates answering sensitive questions

– may make for a long questionnaire

– generally considered easy for respondent

– respondent may answer as they choose

– exploratory; allows detailed response

– preferable for complex questions

Appropriateness of Questionnaire

Validity and reliability of the questionnaire should

be determined before it is administered

Use of a pilot study

– Revise questionnaire as needed

Questionnaire Distribution

Controlling costs

– bulk mail rates

– length of questionnaire (i.e., weight of mailing)

High return rate

– self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE)

– postage-paid, business reply envelopes

– good mailing list

– follow-up strategy

Cover Letter Guidelines

All mailed surveys should include a cover letter explaining the following:

– who is conducting the survey

– what is the purpose of the survey

– why it is important for the respondent to answer

– inducements for the respondent, if any

– how is the confidentiality of the respondent being protected

– basic instructions for completing and returning the questionnaire

Cover Letter Guidelines – 2

Personalize cover letter if possible (mail merge)

– this has been shown to increase the return rate

Corporate or institutional letterhead and printed envelopes should be used for the cover letter and mailing envelopes

Mailing Guidelines

The typical survey questionnaire should be

mailed in a standard number 10 business

Return Mail Guidelines

The self-addressed return envelope should be smaller than the mailing envelope so that it can

be inserted in the mailing without folding

– usually a no 9 size business envelope

– return postage should be provided

affixing 1st class postage stamp results in the highest return rate

a postage paid business-reply return envelope is more economical and is an acceptable alternative

Survey Research Errors

Information obtained from a survey depends on the

questions that are asked, on how the respondents react

to the questions, and on what respondents choose to

reveal about themselves

Researchers are somewhat limited in their ability to

assess the quality of the findings since there is usually

no way of checking the accuracy or truthfulness of the responses

Gathering meaningful information is difficult because

survey research is particularly susceptible to two types of errors:

– Nonsampling errors

Nonsampling Errors

Nonsampling errors have several sources

including any differences in the way the

researcher and the respondents interpret

questions, the inability or unwillingness of the

respondents to provide correct or honest

information, mistakes made when recording or coding the responses, and missing responses

– controlling response errors when subjects provide incorrect or false information is particularly difficult since they depend on the

Sampling Errors

Sampling errors are those errors resulting from any differences between the data obtained from the sample, and the data that would have been obtained from the complete population

– this is the type of error made from inferring a population

characteristic based on a sample

Sampling error or margin of error is often

reported with survey findings

– For example, a survey reporting that 57% of Iowans favor

be 95% confident that the true population value lies within the