Chapter 9: Surveys, Longitudinal, Cross-sectional, and trend studies

Problem definition

________: deciding what kinds and contents of answers are required; what hypotheses there are to be tested; what variables there are to explore 2.

Sample surveys

________ are labor- intensive (see Davidson 1970), the largest single expenditure being the fieldwork, where costs arise out of the interviewing time, travel time, and transport claims of the interviewers themselves.

explanatory information

Provides descriptive, inferential, and ________ v. manipulates key factors and variables to derive frequencies (e.g.

Design of measurements

________: what will be measured, and how (i.e.

H Surveys

________ can also be confirmatory, in which a model, causal relationship, or hypothesis is tested (see the discussion of exploratory and confirmatory analysis in Part Five)

Dooley 2001

Telephone surveys, it is claimed (________: 122), have the advantage of reducing costs in time and travel b. if the intended participant is unable or unwilling to respond, then it is a relatively easy matter to maintain the required sample size by calling a replacement.

developmental

The term ________ is primarily biological, having to do with the organization and the life processes of living things c. surveys gather data at a particular point in time with the intention of describing the nature of existing conditions or identifying standards against which existing conditions can be compared, or determining the relationships that exist between specific events.

Sample selection

________: what is the target population; how can access and representativeness be assured; what other samples will need to be drawn for the purpose of comparison 3.

Interview methods

________ of gathering survey data are useful in that the presence of the interviewer can help clarify queries from the respondents and can stimulate the respondent to give full answers to an on- the- spot supervisor rather than an anonymous researcher known through an introductory letter (Robson 1993)

protection of confidentiality

Concern for participants: ________ and anonymity; avoidance of pain to the respondents; avoiding harm to those who might be affected by the results; avoiding over- intrusive questions; avoiding coercion; informed consent iv.

assurances of confidentiality

Postal surveys can reach a large number of people, gather data at a comparatively low cost and quite quickly, and can give ________ (Bailey 1994: 148)

direction of causality

The timing of cause and effect: some causes may produce virtually instantaneous effects and others may take a long time for the effects to show v. the ________ not always being clear or singular.

dynamics of change

I I Enables the ________ to be caught, the flows into and out of particular states and the transitions between states.

term ‘ longitudinal

The ________ is used to describe a variety of studies that are conducted over a period of time.

Cohort analysis

________ is especially useful in sociological research because it can show how changing properties of individuals fit together with changing properties of social systems as a whole.

Research Methods in Education Chapter 9

Surveys, Longitudinal, Cross-sectional, and trend studies 1

Problem definition

deciding what kinds and contents of answers are required; what hypotheses there are to be tested; what variables there are to explore 2

Sample selection

what is the target population; how can access and representativeness be assured; what other samples will need to be drawn for the purpose of comparison 3

Design of measurements

what will be measured, and how (i.e

Concern for participants

protection of confidentiality and anonymity; avoidance of pain to the respondents; avoiding harm to those who might be affected by the results; avoiding over-intrusive questions; avoiding coercion; informed consent iv

A fourteen-stage process of planning a survey can be considered

1

Formulate research questions or hypotheses (if appropriate)

the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis

v. Rosier (1997) suggests that the planning of a survey will need to include clarification of

1

c. Where successive measures are taken at different points in time from the same respondents d. In a cohort study, a specific population is tracked over a specific period of time but selective sampling within that sample occurs (Borg and Gall 1979

the Household Panel Studies) which follow individuals and families over time (Ruspini 2002

Longitudinal studies a. Longitudinal studies can use repeated cross-sectional studies, which are ‘carried out regularly, each time using a largely different sample or a completely new sample (Ruspini 2002

3), or use the same sample over time

e. Gorard (2001

87. suggests that this problem can be attenuated by a ‘rolling sample in which a proportion of the original sample is retained in the second wave of data collection, and a proportion of this sample is retained in the third wave, and so on

maturation

participants mature at different speeds and in different ways iii

the timing of cause and effect

some causes may produce virtually instantaneous effects and others may take a long time for the effects to show v. the direction of causality not always being clear or singular

the amount of information required for the study

the greater the amount, the harder it is to provide iv

human development), environmental influences, and intervention influences (Keeves 1997b

139. and their interactions o. Inevitably during the course of a long-term cohort study, subjects drop out, are lost, or refuse further cooperation

r. Cross-sectional studies require attention to be given to sampling, to ensure that the information on which the sample was based is comprehensive (Lietz and Keeves 1997

Postal surveys can reach a large number of people, gather data at a comparatively low cost and quite quickly, and can give assurances of confidentiality (Bailey 1994

d. As interviews can be flexible, questioners are able both to probe and explain more fully (Bailey 1994

Telephone surveys, it is claimed (Dooley 2001

122), have the advantage of reducing costs in time and travel b. if the intended participant is unable or unwilling to respond, then it is a relatively easy matter to maintain the required sample size by calling a replacement

d. order effects can be high

items appearing early in the interview exert an influence on responses to later ones, while items appearing early in a list of responses may be given greater consideration than those occurring later, a matter not confined to telephone surveys but to questionnaires in general

e. Dooley (2001

136. indicates that a 17 percent difference in agreement was recorded to a general statement question when it appeared before rather than after a specific statement f. ask general questions before specific ones

There is a difference between the intended and the achieved sample (Fogelman 2002

c. Punch (2003

43. suggests that it is important to plan for poor response rates (e.g

g. There are several possible ways of increasing response rates to mailed surveys, including, for example

i. arranging follow-ups and polite reminders (e.g

These might include, for example

i. the pressure of competing activities on the time of the respondent ii

j. On the other hand, potential respondents may be persuaded to participate depending on, for example

i. the status and prestige of the institution or researcher carrying out the research ii

Event history analysis ‘offers a record of the events that have punctuated the life-course of a group of subjects (Ruspini 2002

f. Event history analysis also uses a set of statistical techniques whose key concepts include

a risk set (a set of participants who have yet to experience a particular event or situation); a survivor function or survivor curve (the decline in the size of risk over time); the hazard or hazard rate (the rate at which particular events occur, or the risk of a particular event occurring at a particular time)

j. In event history analysis the task is to calculate the ‘hazard rate

the probability of a dependent variable occurring to an individual within a specified time frame k. Event history analysis also addresses the problem of attrition, as members leave a study over time

labor-intensive

Sample surveys are ______(see Davidson 1970), the largest single expenditure being the fieldwork, where costs arise out of the interviewing time, travel time, and transport claims of the interviewers themselves.

pre-pilot

the ______ is usually a series of open-ended questions that are used to generate categories for closed, typically multiple choice questions, the pilot is used to test the actual survey instrument itself