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Often, psychologists develop surveys as a means of gathering data. Surveys are lists of questions to be answered by research participants, and can be…
Oftentimes in psychological studies, researchers want to collect information from their participants as quickly and easily as possible. Perhaps it’s the end of the semester and a professor wants to swiftly measure his honors students’ experience at college before they leave for summer break.
He can accomplish this goal by giving out a survey—a means of collecting data that requires participants to answer a set of questions. Depending on the circumstance, surveys can be administered verbally, as a pen-and-paper task, or by using an electronic device.
Surveys often include Likert scales—numbered scales that participants use to rate questions or statements. In the professor’s case, he may ask students to answer how much they agree or disagree with a statement like, “I’m unhappy with most of my classes,” on a continuum from 1—they strongly disagree—to 5—they strongly agree.
Now, technically, the professor is only administering the survey to a biased sample of his own students, which is known as convenience sampling—non-randomly recruiting research participants who are easily accessible.
As a result, he is limiting his ability to generalize the results to the population he’s interested in—all students at the college. Instead, he’ll only have the biased opinions of his own honors students.
Alternatively, he can use random sampling and give out surveys to randomly selected students across the population, say in different classes at the college. This way, every student will have an equal chance of participating in the study, and the large number of students who fill out his survey will actually be representative of the population he set out to measure.
A major limitation of surveys, inherent to self-reporting, is that participants can be dishonest in what they report. For example, although the surveys are anonymous, students may be wary of being completely truthful about their disappointment with their time at college.
Despite their limitations, surveys can provide researchers with the opportunity to capture the diversity within a given population.
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Q1: What is a survey and how do researchers use it to collect data?
A survey is a research method where participants answer a set of questions, administered verbally, on paper, or electronically. Surveys allow researchers to collect information quickly from large numbers of people, making them efficient for gathering data on diverse populations. This approach enables researchers to capture the diversity within a given population and generalize findings more broadly than smaller-scale methods.
Q2: What are Likert scales and how do they work in surveys?
Likert scales are numbered rating scales that participants use to respond to survey questions or statements. Typically ranging from 1 to 5, these scales allow respondents to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with a statement. For example, a participant might rate agreement with 'I'm unhappy with most of my classes' on a scale where 1 means strongly disagree and 5 means strongly agree.
Q3: How does convenience sampling differ from random sampling in survey research?
Convenience sampling recruits easily accessible participants, such as a professor's own students, creating a biased sample that limits generalizability. Random sampling selects participants across the entire population, giving every individual an equal chance of participation. Random sampling produces more representative results that can be generalized to the broader population, whereas convenience sampling yields biased opinions specific to the accessible group.
Q4: What is a major limitation of surveys as a research method?
A primary limitation of surveys is that participants may not provide honest responses. People may lie, misremember, or answer in ways they believe make them look good rather than truthfully. For instance, survey respondents might underreport alcohol consumption or hide prejudicial attitudes. This self-reporting bias can compromise the accuracy and reliability of survey data, even when responses are anonymous.
Q5: Why is sample size important when generalizing survey results to a population?
A larger sample better reflects the actual diversity of the population, allowing researchers to generalize findings with greater certainty. When a sample is sufficiently large and diverse, the data collected is more representative of the broader population. Conversely, smaller or biased samples limit generalizability because they may not capture the full range of characteristics present in the population researchers aim to study.
Q6: How can surveys reveal subtle prejudice that participants deny?
Surveys can include both direct and indirect questions to uncover hidden attitudes. Direct questions ask about overt prejudice, while indirect questions assess behavioral intentions, such as willingness to interact with specific groups. Research on Arab-American prejudice found participants denied prejudicial attitudes but showed less willingness for social interaction with Arab-Americans compared to other groups, revealing subtle prejudice despite explicit denials.
Q7: What is the trade-off between survey breadth and depth compared to case studies?
Surveys collect information from larger samples, providing better generalizability and capturing population diversity. However, this breadth comes at the cost of depth—researchers cannot collect the same detailed, nuanced information about each individual that case studies provide. The choice depends on research goals: surveys prioritize breadth and representativeness, while case studies prioritize in-depth understanding of individuals or small groups.