Survey Research and Designs: Strengths and Drawbacks

What is survey research? What are some different types of survey-research designs? What are the strengths and what are the drawbacks associated with these designs?
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RESPONSE:

1. What is survey research?

Survey research involves one, or some combination of two, procedure(s): questionnaires and interviews.

o A questionnaire almost always is self-administered, allowing respondents to fill them out themselves. Here, the researcher arranges delivery and collection.

o An interview typically occurs whenever a researcher and respondent are face-to-face or communicating via some technology like telephone or computer. There are three subtypes of interviews: unstructured, which allows spontaneous communication in the course of the interview or questionnaire administration; structured, where the researcher is highly restricted on what can be said; and semistructured, which restricts certain kinds of communication but allows freedom on discussion of certain topics. (http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/3760/3760lect04.htm).

1. What are some different types of survey-research designs?

The basic types of survey-research designs include:

(1) Cross-Sectional Surveys: Data are collected at one point in time from a sample selected to represent a larger population.

(2) Longitudinal Surveys include three types:

(a) Trend: Surveys of sample population at different points in time

(b) Cohort: Study of same population each time data are collected, although samples studied may be different

(c) Panel: Collection of data at various time points with the same sample of respondents (http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/3760/3760lect04.htm).

1. What are the strengths and what are the drawbacks associated with these designs?

The longitudinal-research design collects more …