The research process, surveys & questionnaires Communication Research Week 4.

The research process, surveys & questionnaires

Communication Research

Week 4

Communication Research 2

Steps in the research process 1) Establish the need for research 2) Define the problem 3) Establish research objectives 4) Determine research design 5) Identify information types and sources 6) Determine methods of accessing data


Steps in the research process 7) Design data collection forms 8) Determine sample plan and size 9) Collect data 10) Analyse data 11) Prepare final research report


Preparing an hypothesis or research question

An hypothesis is a ‘reasonable scientific proposal’ or a ‘statement of expected results’

It is not a statement of fact but a declarative statement which tells the reader what you are going to do NOT how you plan to do it

An hypothesis is common to scientific research methodologies while qualitative research more commonly uses research questions to focus


Writing a hypothesis A well written hypothesis

Is stated in declarative form Posits a relationship between variables Reflects a theory or body of literature upon

which it is based Is brief and to the point Is testable


Developing an hypothesis An hypothesis should be developed from a well-

researched body of knowledge which is both logical and feasible eg Inland waterways are becoming polluted through fuel

discharge from petrol-driven powerboats Powerboats are noisy thus creating auditory pollution Alternatives to petrol engines exist

Electric (battery-powered) boats will decrease pollution on

inland waterways


Ideas, questions & hypothesesResearch Interest or

IdeasResearch Problem or

QuestionsHypothesis

Open classroom and academic success

What is the effect of open vs traditional classrooms on reading level?

Children taught reading in open classroom settings will read at a higher grade level than children taught reading in a traditional setting.

Test-taking skills and grades

Will students who how to “take” a test improve their scores?

Students who receive training in the “Here Today – Gone Tomorrow” method will score higher on the SATs than students who do not receive the training.

Television and consumer behaviour

How does watching television affect buying behaviour of adolescents?

Adolescent boys buy more of the products advertised on television than do adolescent girls.

Drug abuse and child abuse

Is drug abuse related to child abuse?

There is a positive relationship between drug abuse among adults and their physical and psychological abuse as children

Adult care How have many adults adjusted to the responsibility of caring for their aged parents?

The number of children who are caring for their parents in the child’s own home has increased over the past ten years.


Rats & scientific research


Problems with asking questions as evidence (from Vance Packard (1956) The Hidden Persuaders)

1. You can’t assume that people know what they want In a survey of male drinkers the men expressed a

strong preference for a ‘nice dry beer’. When they were then asked how a beer could be dry, they were stumped.Those able to offer any answers at all revealed widely different notions.



2. You can’t assume people will tell you the truth about their wants and dislikes even they know them. Psychologists at the McCann-Erikson ad agency

asked a sampling of people why they didn’t buy one client’s product – kippered herring.The main reason the people gave under direct questioning was that they just didn’t like the taste of kippers. More persistent probing however uncovered the fact that 40% of the people who said they didn’t like kippers had never in their entire lives tasted kippers.



3. It is dangerous to assume that people can be trusted to behave in a rational way. A test was designed to establish the influence of the

package on the product. It gave housewives three different boxes filled with detergent and requested that they try them all out for a few weeks and then report which was the best for delicate clothing (Note: actually only the boxes were different, the detergents were identical – one box was predominantly yellow; the second was blue and the third was blue with splashes of yellow).

Result: the detergent in the yellow box was too strong, in the blue box it left the clothes dirty and in the blue and yellow it was ‘fine’ and ‘wonderful’.


Survey research

Purpose is to determine the current status of a population with respect to one or more variables

Can be qualitative or quantitative, depending on data sought


Advantages of surveys Inexpensive Can obtain current information Enable the researcher to obtain a great deal of

information at one time Provide quantitative or numerical data Very common and so some of the info you seek

may have already been gathered eg ABS


Problems with surveys People often don’t tell the truth, especially

about personal matters People make mistakes about what they’ve

done Obtaining representative samples is frequently

difficult People often refuse to participate Relatively small percentages of people answer

and return questionnaires Writing good survey questions is difficult


Stages of a survey 1. Define your information needs

what information? purpose of information? who knows the answers? practical issues eg time

2. Carry out background research – what work has been done before in this area?

3. Choose a survey technique questionnaires diaries individual interviews group discussions


Stages of a survey 4. Define and test your methodology

Open or closed questions? Pre-test questions Ordering of questions Trial questioning techniques

5. Administer your survey – consider any problems By mail/email Is target group representative? Were all questions answered satisfactorily?

6. Analyse your results Did enough people reply? Is target group representative? Were all questions answered satisfactorily?


Stages of a survey 7. Present your findings

Usually in report format Outline parameters of survey critically Do your results prove or imply results? Acknowledge limitations eg time, sample size,

demographics of sample etc


Problems with Survey Research Inadequate response

Including unrelated items on questionnaire

Poorly worded items

Complex items

Leading questions

Assuming facts not necessarily in evidence

Analysing open-ended questions

The research process, surveys & questionnaires Communication Research Week 4.

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