USING SURVEYS

Generally, there are two major categories of studies: (1) surveys and (2) experiments. Other categories of studies also exist, but these two are predominant. The two types of studies differ in important ways.

In a survey, one records information. You ask people questions and record their answers, or you take some kind of a measurement. The important thing is that the experimenter does not actually do anything to the subjects or objects of the study. In fact, the experimenter tries very hard not to exert any influence whatsoever.

To conduct a good survey, the experimenter must phrase the questions so they do not suggest "correct" answers. In the case of surveying products, the experimenter must be conscious of their location, category, and so on, so that a general profile may be reconstructed with the results obtained and not by limited selection or discrimination of the product.

The great advantage to conducting your own survey is that you can tailor it for your own research project. You can ask the questions you want to ask in the way you want to ask them. You can choose the exact population that you want to study and select just the kind of sample you need. You can control the training of interviewers, and you can deal with all of the problems that come up during the actual survey. In short, you can do everything possible to make sure the survey will help you answer your specific questions of interest.

Doing all of these things takes a great deal of time and often a great deal of money. If you are going to invest a lot of time and money in a study, you owe it to yourself to get expert advice. Show your plans to someone who has actually carried out similar surveys, and ask for advice ” before you take any big steps such as printing the questionnaires. If in doubt, consult a statistician or a book on data analysis.