Chapter+6

__ Chapter 6: Quantitative Data Collection Methods __

= 1.1: What are the advantages of person-administered surveys over computer-administered ones? =

“**Person-administered survey**” is a data collection survey type in which the person conducting the survey (interviewer) asks the person being interviewed (respondent) a series of pre-determined questions, either face-to-face or over the telephone. There are five methods of this particular collection type: in-home interview, mall-intercept interview, in-office interview, telephone interview, central location telephone interview.


 * “Computer-administered survey” ** is a data collection survey type in which computer technology has a pivotal and central role in the interview process. There are three methods of this particular collection type: computer-assisted telephone interview, fully computerized interview, online or other internet-based survey.

The **advantages** of a person-administered survey are:
 * 1) **__Feedback __**: the opportunity for the interviewer to flex to the input of the individual respondent; for example, restating instructions to ensure the respondent’s clarity of understanding or helping to keep the respondent focused on the survey if he/she is losing interest.
 * 2) **__Rapport __**: the opportunity to ease the concerns of reluctant or suspicious respondents through relationship building; for example, it’s easier to trust another human being than a clinical computer-generated voice.
 * 3) **__Quality control __**: the opportunity for the interviewer to verify respondent(s) fit the criteria of the survey; for example, when a survey is focused on a particular niche target market it is important to ensure that the respondents fit within the key demographics.
 * 4) **__Adaptability __**: the opportunity for the interviewer to flex to the needs of the individual respondent; for example, assisting respondents who require more in-depth instructions on how to complete the survey. NB: any question adaptation follows a series of pre-determined guidelines to ensure that the interviewer doesn’t alter the meaning or intention of the question(s).

The overall advantage of a person-administered survey over a computer-administered one is based on flexibility; in other words, the ability to think outside the pre-existing parameters to meet the same end. A computer-administered survey is confined by the data set programmed and the established operational parameters. If situations arise that require further involvement to ensure accurate participation, the computer-administered survey is unable to respond to that need. Another useful aspect of flexibility is the opportunity to place the interviewer(s) directly in the path of the targeted respondents. For example, if an entertainment company (for example, Cineplex Odeon or Mandalay Entertainment) is interested in viewer feedback on a film that they have just seen, it would be the highest and most accurate response rate to place the interviewer(s) outside the movie theatre to ask questions of the exiting audience rather than hand the audience a mail-in survey or do a phone interview when their immediate reactions may have changed to measured responses.

= 1.2: Discuss why a researcher would or would not use a mixed-media survey. Give an example to illustrate your point. =

“**Mixed-mode survey**” (also known as “hybrid survey”) is a data collection survey type in which the opportunity exists to utilize all of the multiple data collection methods to achieve greatest quality of representative sample for data collection. For a comprehensive comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of each method, see Table 6.2 of text book (p. 218).

The **advantages** of a mixed-mode survey are: 3. **__Convenience:__** Information collected from the panels can be easily accessed with a touch of a computer key. Responses are automatically downloaded to the panels statistical package for analysis The **disadvantages** of a mixed-mode survey are:
 * 1) **__<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Participation __**<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: the opportunity to raise the response rate of the survey by increasing the appeal to respondents by offering multiple avenues to participate; for example, by utilizing an online computer-administered survey, a person-administered phone survey and by direct mail self-administered survey, the coverage of respondents’ comfort levels are increased thereby widening the area of the population that the survey is available to.
 * 2) **__<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Efficiency __**<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: the opportunity to significantly reduce costs, increase efficiency of the process, and increase privacy for the respondents.
 * 1) **__<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Biases __**<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: several potential biases are inherent in surveys; for example, social-desirability bias, self-serving bias (“the tendency to perceive and present oneself favourably” - Myers & Smith, p.41), self-presentation bias (the drive to “present a desired image both to an external audience and an internal audience” – Myers & Smith, p. 38); for example, a respondent may not answer a question completely accurately if he/she perceives that the socially desirable response is contrary to their personally truthful answer.
 * 2) **__<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mode Affects Response __**<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: different responses to the same research questions arise correlating to the different types of modes used; for example, a question worded the same way in each mode may generate a different set of data unique to each mode regardless of the same group of respondents are asked the same questions with the only variable being the method used to ask the question.
 * 3) **__<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Complexity __**<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: when multiple data collection types are used, researchers must design different questions so that the meaning conveyed is the same across multiple modes to yield comparable results in order that the data collected can be entered identically; for example, a question asking respondents to rate several colours in order from most liked to least liked would have to be altered to fit the mode of response (see “Participation” above), however the data collected needs to be streamlined to correlate with the same answer group for each mode.

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Overall, a researcher would chose to use the mixed-mode survey type when the target demographic is widely variable and includes a high diversification in availability, both of the respondents to technology and of the interviewers to the respondents, for example geographical considerations. This type of data collection can reach the highest number of segments of the population in the shortest amount of time.

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">For an example of problem-solving the issues that arise with mixed-mode surveys, refer to: http://www.marketingresearch.org/mixed-mode-surveys

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">For more in-depth information on mixed-mode surveys, refer to: “Challenging Research Issues in Statistics and Survey Methodology at the BLS: Mixed-Mode Survey Design. What Are the Effects on Data Quality? <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Myers, D. and Smith, D. (2012) Social Psychology. 3rd Canadian Edition. Toronto: McGraw-Hill, Ryerson.

= 2.1: Why are telephone surveys popular? =

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The “**telephone survey**” is a data collection survey method in which the respondent is asked a series of pre-determined questions over the telephone by either a person or a computer. There are four types of this particular collection type: traditional telephone interview, central location telephone interview, computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI), completely automated telephone survey (CATS).

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The **advantages** of a telephone survey are:
 * 1) **__<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Inexpensive __**<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: relatively inexpensive way to collect data especially considering the competitive telecommunications industry and the availability of low long distance charges; significantly cheaper than the cost of face-to-face survey method.
 * 2) **__<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Quality __**<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: significant potential to produce very high quality data sampling provided that effective random-dialling procedures and call-back measures are in-place.
 * 3) **__<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Efficiency __**<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: short duration interviews enable quick turn-around times to gather the required sample size of data; for example, political polling, where real-time information on voter opinion is key, can typically complete a national poll in one evening.
 * 4) **__<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Self-Disclosure __**<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: the lack of a face-to-face interviewer when the research topic(s) have potential social ramifications can produce more accurate results by encouraging a feeling of security and privacy for the respondents; for example, level of alcohol consumption, contraception methods, view on abortion.

= = = 2.2: What advantages do online surveys have over telephones surveys? = = = = 3.1: What are the major factors to be considered in the choice of the survey method? = Each data collection method has advantages and disadvantages, and special features. In selecting a data collection method, you should balance quality against cost, time, and other special considerations. Also depending one what kind of question you want to ask will also have an effect on which method you pick.
 * 1) - Easy of creating and posting
 * 2) - Fast turn around
 * 3) - All of the results go right back to the computer and stores it
 * 4) - Eliminates cost of interviewer
 * 5) - Ability to present pictures, diagrams, or displays to respondent
 * 6) - You can track the clicks to measure how long each question took, which other answers they skimmed over, etc.

A huge factor in survey's is the incidence rate, which proves to advise the rate at which your response will be completed and how many numbers you can reach and transpose into factual data.