Conducting a Survey

Abstract

When the questionnaire is in its final form, the researcher needs to determine what the sample and what the population of her study is. This chapter first explains both terms and further distinguishes between random, representative, and biased samples. Second, it discusses several sampling techniques such as quota sampling and snowball sampling. Third, it introduces different types of surveys (e.g., face-to-face surveys, telephone surveys, and mail-in or Internet surveys) the author of a survey can use to distribute it. As a practical component, students test their surveys in an empirical setting by soliciting answers from peers. While this procedure does not allow students to get representative or random samples, it nevertheless offers students the possibility to collect their own data, which they can analyze later. At the end of the unit, students are taught how to input their responses into an SPSS or Stata dataset.