A topic in research methodology
A choice of research strategy should fit the background assumptions underpinning a particular study (see research paradigms):
Surveys are on the main types of social research methodology. A methodology can be seen as an overall strategy, rather than a specific technique. Commonly surveys use questionnaires. Traditionally these were paper forms, but increasingly web-based forms are being used. However, surveys can be carried out by interviews or observations.
"Surveys usually look for data from large numbers of people. Some surveys collect information from whole populations of people. For example, a school could survey all its pupils, or all their parents, to find out their views on some issue relating to school policy. In such situations a high return rate, or at least making sure that everyone eligible to respond has the opportunity, may be sufficient for the findings to be of import. A more complex situation occurs when the population of interest is too large for all members to be asked to respond. In these situations, a sample of the population is surveyed. The sample has to be defined to ensure that it is representative of the wider population."
Taber, 2013: 89
Purpose of surveying
"Survey: a survey is used to find about the level of association of one type of element with a different type of element. So for example, a survey could be used to find how many fume cupboards school science laboratories are typically equipped with (i.e., reporting the proportion of such laboratories having no fume cupboard, one fume cupboard, etc.). Commonly surveys are used to seek self-report information from people, regarding such matters as their attitudes or behaviours. Surveys may be used to test hypotheses by comparing responses of different survey items – for example, one could test the hypothesis that a higher proportion of male science teachers than female science teachers expect to be promoted to head of department."
Taber, 2014
Ontological assumptions in surveys
A choice of survey as methodology tends to be aligned with a more positivistic, or at least 'confirmatory' approach. (Consider the examples above: e.g., fume cupboards are considered to unambiguously exist, to be objectively identifiable and readily countable)
That is, questions can be asked about qualities of entities which can be readily characterised according to simple typologies…
Often in surveys, closed questions are asked so that responses can be readily analysed within pre-determined categories (n.b., confirmatory mind-set), to allow response frequencies to be used in statistical tests.
"Surveys may be applied within limited populations (the students in one school, for example), but are commonly used in relation to larger populations (e.g., secondary chemistry teachers in a national context) using sampling techniques and inferential statistics to make inferences about the populations sampled. A survey that all, or nearly all, science teachers responded to could tell us whether or not a higher proportion of male science teachers expect to be promoted to head of department than female science teachers; but in practice a representative sample of modest size is likely to be sought from which [statistical] inferences can be drawn about the broader population."
Taber, 2014
Epistemological assumptions in surveys
- It is possible to identify a 'population' of interest (consider the examples above, e.g. secondary chemistry teachers in Scotland)
- It is possible to sample the population to collect 'representative' data
- A survey allows the same question to be asked of everyone in the sample
(Taber, 2013: 43)
Interview surveys
A survey may be carried out by interview in several circumstances – for example if the participants are very young or from a group with low literacy.
However, some surveys may use interviews because they deliberately wish to avoid the highly structured format where the intention is to provide a uniform set of question to each respondent. This loses some of the power of fully structured questioning to make produce quantitative findings, but increases the possibility of researcher-participant interactivity.
"Much of our knowledge of social, political, and economic life [since the 1940s] was gained through interview surveys, a mode of active intervention shaped by specific needs and governed by pragmatically developed rules. 'Conversations with a purposes' or 'guided conversations', as the method was called, replaced ad hoc modes of questioning that ignored the Heisenbergian effects of the inquiry upon the information gathered."
Gollin, 1956/1990
Sources cited:
- Gollin, A. E. (1990) Foreword, in R. K. Merton, M. Fiske, M., & P. L. Kendall. The Focused Interview. A manual of problems and procedures (2nd ed.), pp.ix-xii. New York: The Free Press.
- Taber, K. S. (2013). Classroom-based Research and Evidence-based Practice: An introduction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
- Taber, K. S. (2014). Methodological issues in science education research: a perspective from the philosophy of science. In M. R. Matthews (Ed.), International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching (Vol. 3, pp. 1839-1893). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
My introduction to educational research:
Taber, K. S. (2013). Classroom-based Research and Evidence-based Practice: An introduction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
