conducting social research
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Conducting social research. Carolyn Black. Ipsos MORI – More than just opinion polls. Leading, world-wide research company Work with the world's leading businesses, governments and institutions We specialise in researching: Advertising (brand and communications); - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Conducting social researchCarolyn Black
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Ipsos MORI – More than just opinion polls
Leading, world-wide research company Work with the world's leading businesses, governments and
institutions We specialise in researching:
– Advertising (brand and communications); – Loyalty (customer and employee relationship management); – MediaCT (media, content and technology research); – Marketing (understanding markets and building brand portfolios) and – Public Affairs (social & political issues)
Ipsos MORI Scotland focuses on Public Affairs research
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Who are our clients? Public sector
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My background Higher Modern Studies
Degree in Psychology, University of Edinburgh (but employees have diverse academic backgrounds e.g. Politics, History, Journalism)
Started as a Trainee Research Executive at Ipsos MORI in March 2008
There is no one path!
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Some current projects
Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2012 – Scottish Government
Evaluation of the ‘You First’ programme – Scottish Government
Glasgow City Council Staff Survey – Glasgow City Council
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Research methods
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Characteristics of Qualitative Research Characteristics In-depth, open-ended interviewing with a discussion or topic guide Relatively small samples
Benefits Respondents define issues
– identify the full range of issues, Probe views in-depth (including unconscious associations)
– understand why people think/ behave as they doLimitations Small sample sizes so not statistically reliable Can never be representative
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Characteristics of Quantitative Research Characteristics Relatively large samples of people (aims to be representative) Mainly ‘closed’ questioning
Benefits Measures the prevalence of attitudes/behaviours etc
– Estimate for whole population– Identify clear priorities in a reliable way– Useful for tracking
Limitations Tells you ‘what’ and ‘how many’ but not always ‘why?’ The researcher defines the range of answers given
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Different types of data
What is primary data vs. secondary data?
– Primary data is something that you interact with – if ‘you’ didn’t instigate it, the data would not exist
– Secondary data is something that exists despite ‘you’, for example desk research (market reports, sales data etc)
Quantitative Research
Qualitative Research Desk Research
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Qualitative research
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Methodologies available – Qualitative Research
Qualitative research
Deliberative workshops
In-depth interviews
Paired-depths
Discussion groups
Standard
Conflict/ Krisis
Mini
Ethnography
OnlineBulletin boards
Testing concepts/
ads
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Group discussions
Exposes participants to other views (ideas/consensus)
Multiplier effect Less time intensive than
depths
Exposes participants to other views (may defer/change)
One participant can dominate
Easier for participant to ‘coast’ & not engage fully
Not good for busy/dispersed audiences
Social desirability bias
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One to one - depths
For busy professionals (B2B research)
Widely dispersed
May speak more freely
Sensitive topics
Detailed case studies
More time intensive than groups (expense per person)
Often re- scheduled/cancelled
No deliberation/ consensus (ideas?)
Telephone - harder to build rapport
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Quantitative research
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Methodologies available - quantitative
In-homeIn street
On site
Face-to-face
Quantitative surveys
Self-completion
PostalOn site
Online
Telephone surveys
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Face to face research
Use of visual aids/show cards
Sensitive questions Longer (more detailed)
interview possible Personal rapport Good response rates Know you are speaking to
the right person
Expensive Takes time Cluster sampling (sample
bias) Interviewer bias Social desirability bias
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Telephone research Speed
Cost effective
Easy to control quotas and sample
Especially appropriate for B2B
Good for widely dispersed audiences
Client can observe
Perceived anonymity
Difficult to ensure representative and might exclude mobile owners and/or those who are ex-directory
No visual aids (unless posted) / show cards
Difficult to explain complicated concepts or products
Higher refusal/drop out rate
Shorter interview length (less detail)
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Postal research Can be much cheaper Large number of people can
be invited to take part Best for high interest/
involvement studies No interviewer bias Can show basic visual
material Can reach dispersed sample Anonymity Complete in own time – more
considered answers?
Low response rates are common (representative?)
Self-selecting - more critical/those with strong opinions likely to take part
No check on who actually responds
Poor qualitative information Less sophisticated questions Hard to control use of prompt
materials Cannot use complex routing
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On-line
Cheap (No interviewer costs) Can be extended internationally Large samples Best for high interest/ involvement
studies Particularly suitable for employee
studies Complex routing and questions
possible No interviewer bias Anonymity Complete in own time – more
considered answers?
Sample issues:Internet penetrationSelf selection (panels)Out of date / incorrect email
addresses
Response rates can be low
Many of the same characteristics as postal
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New methodologies – Social listening What is Social Listening?
– Capturing online ‘buzz’, conversations and opinions
– We use a tool that trawls through the internet daily to monitor mentions of particular words or phrases
– It sorts through blogs, social networking sites, forums, wikis, news sites, and video and image sites and then complies the data into a manageable format
How does it work?– The volume of mentions
– What is being said
– Where it is being said
– Who is saying what on Twitter
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Questionnaire designA. Things you should do:
As a rule, keep questions short and simple
Use familiar words and concepts Start the questionnaire with easy questions they can all answer that are
relevant to what respondents have been told the survey is about
Ask sensitive and demographic questions at the end of the questionnaire
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Questionnaire designB. Things to avoid:
Avoid ambiguity
Avoid leading questions
Avoid double barreled questions
Avoid double-negatives (usually with agree-disagree questions):
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Question Validity A valid question is one that measures what we think it
does A question is of little use if people measure it one way
one day and another the next E.g. Self rated health question: How healthy are you?
Does this measure health or does it measure something else, such as optimism or happiness?
E.g. What is your national identity? Measure of subjective feelings or emotions towards a nation or an objective measure of citizenship or legal status?
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Checking validity – cognitive testing
Cognitive testing allows an investigation into the way people understand, mentally process and respond to the question under scrutiny to explore whether the question, response options and accompanying instructions are interpreted in the way they are intended.
Is there a common understanding between researcher and respondent (which will result in valid data)?
How? Test in true-to-life conditions, small samples, in-depth discussions
2011 Census – health, household composition, qualifications, national identity, ethnicity, language, Scots!
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Sampling – ensuring the results are generalisable
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Definition of sampling
Learning about the views of a large group of people by speaking to a smaller number of them
On the assumption that the characteristics of the few we have interviewed (the sample) match those of the population i.e. they are to REPRESENT the population of interest
Making an INFERENCE about a….
POPULATION…….. …from a….. …..SAMPLE
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Representative samples
The usual goal in sampling is to produce a representative sample (i.e. a sample that is similar to the population on all characteristics, except that it includes fewer people because it is a sample rather than the complete population)
In other words, a representative sample is a "mirror image" of the population from which it was selected.
If a sample is representative of a known population inferences can be made to the population as a whole i.e. we can generalise the results
Unlikely to be perfectly representative – use statistical theory to help estimate how close the true population figure is likely to be to the figure obtained in the any particular sample
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Types of samples Random Probability
– Simple Random
– Stratified
– Clustered
Quota ‘Snowballing’ - Specific groups not easy to find
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Random probability samples Every member of the population has an equal chance of
inclusion in the sample Purest form of sampling (in theory) Most credible method Relatively easy process Usually used in postal, telephone and face to face surveys
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Quota sampling Aims to control for variables that could affect the accuracy of
the sample. For example:– total of 12 per Output Area
– 5 men, 7 women
– 2 aged 16- 34, 4 aged 35-54, 6 aged 55+
– generally reflecting profile of local population
Fast / easy Mainly used for face to face surveys
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Random or quota - which is best? Quota sample– cheaper than random (f2f)– can achieve representative
samples (on key factors controlling for)
BUT– interviewers have freedom of
selection– quotas not met for certain
target groups
Random sample– theoretically most pure– Everyone has an equal
chance of selectionBUT– costly (to do well f2f)– non-response bias
Generally, Random Sampling is statistically purer, but Quota Sampling is much cheaper and quicker to administer
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Thank you!
Thank you for listening!
If you need any further information, please get in touch: