Stephen LattimoreEd Shawcross Ellie HendrickLizzie Chisholm Jessica Magaye

SURVEY AND QUANTITATIVE OBSERVATION

TECHNIQUES

Survey and quantitative observation techniques vital in descriptive research designs.

Examples being: telephone interviews, street interviews, computer – assisted telephone/personal interviews, personal in-home or office interviews, street interviews, postal interviews, mail panels, email and internet surveys.

OVERVIEW

SURVEY TECHNIQUES

Forms of administering questions and receiving results: Verbally Writing Via a computer

Structured data collection – use of a formal questionnaire that presents questions in a prearranged order.

PROS AND CONS - SURVEY TECHNIQUES

Pros ConsSimple to administer Respondents may be unwilling to give

desired information

Data consistent Wording of questions not easy

Reduced variability within results Surveys with closed-ended questions may have a lower validity rate than other question types.

Data can be easily analysis Wording of questions not easy

A broad range of data can be collected (e.g., attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values, behavior, factual)

Data errors due to question non-responses may exist

Cost-effective, but cost depends on survey mode

Survey question answer options could lead to unclear data because certain answer options may be interpreted differently by respondents

Can be administered remotely via online, mobile devices, mail, email, kiosk, or telephone.

Customized surveys can run the risk of containing certain types of errors

For major models for survey questionnaires:

Telephone interviews Personal interviews Mail interviews Electronic interviews

SURVEY METHOD

May be categorised as in-home, in-office, street or computer-assisted They constitute around 31% of the worldwide total spend on research

methods. Sweden : 6%   Russia: 65%

PERSONAL INTERVIEWS

Respondents are interviewed face to face in their homes or in their workplace.

Personal in home interviews are used because of the reassurances of quality of the interview process and the nature of the questions that are being administered.

Recently the use of personal in-home interviews has declined due to their high cost.

PERSONAL IN-HOME AND IN-OFFICE INTERVIEWS

PERSONAL IN-HOME AND IN-OFFICE INTERVIEWS

Omnibus survey: A distinctive form of survey that serves the needs of a syndicated group:

targets particular types of respondents, using demographicsWith that target group of respondents, a core set of questions can be asked, with other questions added as syndicate members wish.

In-office research: used extensively in business-to-business research to research subjects

which cannot be effectively interviewed by telephone or mail

PERSONAL IN-HOME AND IN-OFFICE INTERVIEWS

Respondents intercepted whilst in town centres or shopping centre Advantage: more efficient for the respondent to come to the interviewer

than for the interviewer to go to the respondent. May be questioned there and then in the street or taken to a specific test

facility. Street interviews can be used to test merchandising ideas, advertisements

and other forms of marketing communications.

STREET INTERVIEWS

STREET INTERVIEWS

The respondent sits in front of computer terminal and answers a questionnaire on the screen by using keyboard or a mouse

CAPI has been classified as a personal interview technique

Used to collect data at test facilities from street interviews, product clinics, conferences and trade shows

Customer satisfaction surveys

COMPUTER-ASSISTED PERSONAL INTERVIEWS (CAPI)

Email V. Internet

Together, they constitute to 11% of the worldwide total spend on research methods. However can range a lot from Italy at 1% and Australia at 20%.

ELECTRONIC SURVEYS

Use of ASCII Can be responded to and read by respondents with or without internet

access Closed/open ended answers in designated spaces then click ‘reply’ Responses are data entered and tabulated in the manner of a traditional

mail survey Although, program can be written that interprets the emailed responses

and reads the answers directly into compatible format

EMAIL

Can appear dry and uninteresting Questionnaires cannot utilise programmed skip patterns, logic checks or

randomisation Limited intelligence of ASCII text cannot keep a respondent from choosing

the wrong amount of answers etc Skipping questions must appear explicitly These factors can reduce quality of data therefore can require mush post-

survey data cleaning Problems in locating accurate and current email addresses Questionnaires may not reach respondents due to spam protection

software

PROS AND CONS - EMAILS

Use hypertext markup language (HTML) Surveys can be posted on website – respondents recruited online from

potential respondent databases maintained by a marketing research firm Participants asked to go to specific web location Every all or every x person are allowed to complete the survey Several advantages over email: HTML V ASCII Survey Stimuli can be added such as graphs and tables Data will require some processing before it can be tabulated and used in

statistical package

INTERNET

CASE STUDY

Pros ConsSpeed Sampling Frames

Quality of data Access to the web

Interviewer bias removed Technical problems

Cost

Contacting certain target groups

PROS AND CONS - INTERNET

Not all survey techniques are appropriate for a given situation Comparative evaluation of survey techniques must be carried out to to

determine which techniques are most appropriate Evaluation of techniques through the consideration of 16 different factors

A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF SURVEY TECHNIQUES

THE 16 SURVEY FACTORS

1) Flexibility of Data Collection*2) Diversity of Questions3) Use of Physical Stimuli 4) Sample Control5) Control of Data Collection

Environment6) Control of Field Force7) Quantity of Data*8) Response Rate*9) Perceived Response Anonymity10) Social Desirability* 11) Obtaining Sensitive Information

12) Potential for Interviewer Bias*13) Potential to Probe Respondents14) Potential to Build Rapport15) Speed*16) Cost*

1) Flexibility of Data Collection2) Quantity of Data3) Response Rate4) Social Desirability5) Potential for Interviewer Bias6) Speed7) Cost

MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION

Types of Telephone Interview Traditional Computer Assisted

Traditional Involves ringing a sample of respondents and asking a series of questions. Interviewer records all results on a paper questionnaire

Advantages From one location a large geographical location can be covered including international markets.

Disadvantages Telephone Interviewers have to write down all answers to any open ended questions resulting in a large

amount of data Interviewers have to find appropriate questions for some types of respondents, therefore taking up a large

amount of time.

Conclusion Today the traditional method of telephone interview is used very rarely and CATI is instead used.

TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS

Method Uses a computerised questionnaire to respondents over telephone with the interviewer

using a computer The interviewer then reads the questions which appear on the screen and directly input

the results to the online file on the computer for immediate analysis.

Advantages

Speed of collecting data is very efficient and the analysis is conducted very quickly. This is important where people’s opinions and attitudes may change over a short period of time.

The interviewer is shown one question at a time to show the respondent, this means that once the information of response has been filled in the computer can automatically adapt the questionnaire to suit the respondent and gain as much useful information as possible.

As the system is consistently updated it can provide interim reports almost instantaneously.

COMPUTERISED – ASSISTED TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS (CTAI)

Disadvantages Statistics shows that the willingness for respondents to answer a questionnaire via telephone is very low. Many large companies are now implementing new company policies to stop marketing researchers calling

business individuals.

ConclusionMost companies that commission market research stops their own employees from taking part in the interviews. This is because;

The confidentiality of information divulged to interviewers. Taking part is seen as no direct benefit to the company. These two points shows that the information the company are trying to gain is very sensitive and the

company wants accurate information and by letting employees take part could tarnish the accuracy of the final reports.

COMPUTERISED – ASSISTED TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS (CTAI)

Go to www.menti.com and use the code 64 15 24

Now for a quiz…

Wyse, S. E. (2012) Advantages and Disadvantages of Surveys. Available at: http://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/advantages-disadvantages-surveys/

REFERENCES