Survey

Why?

The survey is a quantitative method that students use in order to generate objective and generalizable knowledge about a problem, find facts and explanations, or forecast. The students can also use the survey as a tool for a further elaboration of findings from an in depth interview or an observation (e.g. is this a general trend?). Thus, a questionnaire is often dominated by closed questions as opposed to questions asked in a semi structured interview.

How?

The teacher asks the students to state and delimit the information that they want to obtain through their survey. Maybe the students find it relevant to test a theory or some specific hypothesis linked to the problem. The students need to turn this theory or hypothesis into a set of formalized and testable questions in a structured and well-designed questionnaire. Depending on the complexity and type of information in this questionnaire, the students can either conduct their survey as a face-to-face interview, telephone interview, or as an online survey.

Please note that it is always a good idea to pilot-test the questionnaire on a smaller sample beforehand as to discover potential flaws and deficiencies.

Tips

To improve the accuracy of the collected data, the students may use mixed method triangulation, in which they combine qualitative (e.g. interview and observation) and quantitative methods (e.g. survey). Please view the literature for further teaching material on how to prepare and carry through a survey.

Literature

Ruel, E. E., Wagner, W. E., & Gillespie, B. J. (2016). The practice of survey research: Theory and applications. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, Inc.

Malhotra et al (2007) Marketing Research – an applied approach. 3th European ed.