The A-Z of Social Research

Social surveys
Contributors: Robert L. Miller & John D. Brewer
Print Pub. Date: 2003
Online Pub. Date:
Print ISBN: 9780761971320
Online ISBN: 9780857020024
DOI: 10.4135/9780857020024
Print pages: 302-305
This PDF has been generated from SAGE Research Methods. Please note that the
pagination of the online version will vary from the pagination of the print book.
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The social survey is one of the best known and most widely used approaches to
investigation in the social sciences. It is normally associated with the questionnaire,[p.
302

] the most common technique for data collection used by surveys. However, the
survey is more than a data collection technique. Rather it refers to a research design
and can include a range of research goals.
A defining feature of the survey is that it is a structured method of data collection.
Surveys collect information on the same characteristics or variables about each
respondent or case. While surveys are used to collect information on individuals, groups
and organisations (for example, schools), most often it is individuals who provide
information about themselves. The term social survey usually implies interviewing a
sample taken from the general population. Indeed the intention of a survey is usually to
generalise from a sample to a population.
As a research design each survey should contain a statement of its purpose. The goals
of survey research may be simply descriptive or may be explanatory. While the potential
subject matter of surveys can be quite diverse, the survey is more appropriate to some
topics of research than others. It lends itself to the collection of data on demographic
characteristics and routine behaviour and to reporting opinions. A great variety of
surveys are carried out by market researchers, government agencies and academics.
The focus of market research is typically on consumer behaviour. Market research
companies also conduct opinion polls. Government agencies may conduct surveys
to collect factual or administrative information. They may focus on particular policy
areas, for example poverty or employment, and are often concerned with evaluating
specific services. Governments may also conduct a national Census of Population that
covers the entire population. In contrast to the Census, a nationwide sample survey
may involve only a few thousand respondents.
Academic surveys are more likely to be in part driven by theoretical concerns and
to aspire to an explanatory purpose. This may be seen in the type of analysis that is
carried out once the data has been collected. If the goal is explanatory and not just
descriptive the analysis may be quite complex, examining multiple relationships among
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variables. The researcher should think ahead to the type of analysis before carrying out
the data collection in the survey.
The social survey offers many attractions to those who adopt it. This approach to
data collection, especially the use of questionnaires, enables data to be collected
about relatively large numbers of people. Because data are collected about the same
characteristics from multiple respondents, it allows us to compare respondents.
The data should be suitable for enumeration, facilitating quantitative analysis. The
availability of computer software for data input and statistical analysis have greatly
assisted this. When the respondents comprise a representative probability sample
we can generalise from them to the entire population. Even the modest goal of the
descriptive survey ensures the collection of relevant data on topics of interest and is a
necessary stage in the progress of sociological investigation. Another commendable
feature of the social survey is that the research process is relatively transparent. Each
stage of the research design may be visible and can be replicated by other researchers
as a check on the reliability of the data or results.
Despite the attractions of the social survey there are some problems and it has not been
exempt from negative criticism. A main charge against the survey method is that it is
liable to the criticisms directed at positivism generally. The survey method has been
criticised for paying inadequate attention to the different[p. 303

] meanings which
respondents attribute to their actions. More directly, all respondents to a survey might
not have the same understanding of the questions asked in the survey. These pose
problems for the validity of survey research.
The survey approach also has been criticised for being superficial in its treatment of
either complex or sensitive areas of research. When a questionnaire is used, the design
must be such that it is easy to administer by the researcher and easily understood
by the respondent. Therefore, the questions tend to be relatively simple and strive
to quantify, which may be inadequate to capture complex situations or processes.
The predetermined list of questions and fixed format of a questionnaire do not allow
for probing the initial responses of respondents and make it inflexible for exploratory
inquiry. Surveys assume that persons are comfortable in reporting their behaviour and
opinions, as well as a certain level of communication skills and memory recall.
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An important and growing methodological problem is that of non-response. Persons
may decline to participate in the survey or they may refuse to answer some of the
questions. Non-respondents tend to be different from respondents, for example older
and less educated. This introduces a bias into the sample and consequently we can
generalise to the population less confidently.
There are three main types of survey: the survey with personal interviews; the postal
survey; and the telephone survey. The type of survey that the researcher proposes to
use affects the ease with which a representative sample can be obtained, the type of
questions which can be asked and the response rates.
In the survey with personal interviews, an interviewer is physically present in order to
collect the data from the respondent. This has the effect of increasing the overall rate of
participation in the survey and of reducing the number of individual questions that are
left unanswered. The presence of an interviewer may allow more complex questions to
be included in the questionnaire design, as the interviewer can advise on difficulties with
completion. On the other hand, there is the possibility of an interviewer effect or bias
if interviewers intervene in different ways. The main disadvantages of administering a
survey face-to-face is that it is time-consuming to complete and expensive to conduct.
An interesting recent innovation in face-to-face personal interview surveys is data
collection at point of interview. Instead of using a traditional interview schedule in which
the questions are printed on paper, the interviewer uses a laptop computer in which
questions are read off the screen as they come up. The interviewer types the answer
directly into the laptop. The result is that the respondent's answers are immediately
coded on the spot and stored on the laptop's hard disk for easy retrieval later.
In the postal survey a questionnaire is mailed to respondents, usually with an enclosed
stamped addressed return envelope, and the participant completes it and returns it to
the researcher. The main advantage of a postal survey is that it is much less expensive
to conduct. Since there is no face-to-face contact with an interview, the postal survey
also offers increased anonymity, which can be a major advantage if research is being
carried out on sensitive topics. The main disadvantage of a postal survey is that it
suffers from the problem of non-response. Typically, response rates in postal surveys
can amount to no more than 50%; that is, less than half those contacted may reply.
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[p. 304

] The telephone survey has become increasingly popular in recent years. It

is a favourite of market research companies. It has been aided by computer software
similar to that used by data collection at point of interview which enables the interviewer
to input the responses directly into a computer as they are provided by the respondent.
It is faster and cheaper than personal interviewing. It has, for example, proved to be
very useful in opinion polling of voting intentions. On the other hand, it must be stressed
that telephone connection is still not universal, with lower possession among the poor
and elderly and consequently the method suffers from problems of bias (exacerbated by
the tendency for more affluent families to have multiple phone lines). Nor is it as suitable
as the face-to-face situation for presenting questions with a complex structure.
Technological developments mean that the conduct of surveys is constantly changing.
The decline in residential landline telephones poses a challenge to the telephone
survey. More generally, problems such as that of non-response endure and are getting
worse from a public increasingly weary of requests to co-operate with surveys. There
is now also the issue in some countries of data protection legislation which places new
responsibilities on researchers who use the survey method.
The survey should be an intellectual and not simply a technical exercise. Good practice
when using social surveys should include a clear rationale for the choice of this
particular research design, with clearly stated goals and precise research questions.
Given the commitment of time and resources that a survey requires, the researcher
should at the outset be sure that the information does not already exist in another
survey or in some form, such as official statistics. The quality of a survey cannot be
judged simply on the basis of a reading of the data collection instrument such as a
questionnaire it can only be judged on the basis of whether it is appropriate and meets
its stated goals.
RICHARD O'LEARY
10.4135/9780857020024.n104
Suggested further reading
De Vaus, D.A. (1996) Surveys in Social Research , 4th edn. London: UCL Press.
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Moser, C.A. and Kalton, G. (1971) Survey Methods in Social Investigation . London:
Heinemann.
Oppenheim, A.N. (1992) Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement .
London: Pinter.