FRHD 3070 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Design Issues, Cognitive Interview, Mass Media

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Family Relations and Human Development
• Course: FRHD 3070
• Professor: John Dwyer

Document Summary

Survey research: a quantitative social research technique in which one systematically asks many people the same questions, then records and analyzes their answers. Most widely used data-gathering technique in social research. Deductive approach: starts with theoretical problem, ends with empirical data. Easy to yield misleading results (be careful what you believe) Appropriate for research questions about self-reported beliefs/behaviors. Often test several hypotheses and measure many variables in one survey. Factors that can be asked in a survey: behavior, attitudes/beliefs/opinions, characteristics, expectations/plans, self-classification, knowledge. Why questions are only appropriate in surveys when asking about subjective understanding or informal theory. Surveys only provide data for what people say, not necessarily what they do. Asking many respondents the same questions, in the same order, in the same way. Control variables used in order to test for causality/correlation and to minimize confounding factors. First phase (planning): develop instrument (questionnaire used to measure variable)