Descriptive Research Critics of descriptive research typically point out that the quality of descriptive research is often vulnerable

to poor planning, poor implementation of research methods, and poor development of research instruments (Gay, et al., 2006). isperceptions regarding descriptive research abound !ith individuals !ho do not clearly understand !hat descriptive research is, the purpose of descriptive research, and ho! various approaches can be effectively utili"ed to provide information (#odico et al., 2006). $o!ever, descriptive research is significant as surveys abound in educational research and are utili"ed by many researchers as an investigative tool to collect data in order to address educational questions (Gay, et al., 2006). Consider the follo!ing e%ample& s. 'spino"a, a principal at (ennedy iddle )chool, !ould li*e to implement a school+ !ide program in an effort to improve the climate of the school. ,n order to select a program that can appropriately meet the needs of (ennedy iddle )chool, she decides to collect data regarding the students- perceptions of the school climate as it currently e%ists. .hus, s. 'spino"a administers a questionnaire to students on !hich they are required to rate their perceptions of various aspects of the school climate. /hat potential problems should research0 s. 'spino"a be a!are of that are unique to descriptive

1irst, s. 'spino"a should be a!are that descriptive research often suffers from lo! levels of participant response. Can s. 'spino"a really consider her study valid if only 23 students of the 430 students !ho attend (ennedy iddle )chool return surveys0 5ften, researchers must consider that participants- motivation to respond to questionnaires may vary depending on their vie!s. 1or instance, !hile the students !ho believe that (ennedy iddle )chool-s climate is unsupportive may be more li*ely to complete surveys to ensure that their opinions are recorded, other students, !ho are more satisfied !ith the school-s current climate, may be less motivated to complete the questionnaire. )econd, s. 'spino"a should recogni"e that questionnaire items must be carefully constructed to provide results that can serve as accurate representations of the school climate. 1inally, if at any point during the study s. 'spino"a decides to conduct several observations to affirm the study-s findings, s. 'spino"a should be a!are that additional difficulties e%ist that are associated !ith observations as observations often require researchers to complete comple% tas*s, such as systematically code information (Gay, et al., 2006).

6escriptive research is typically identifiable as having the follo!ing characteristics& 1irst, researchers conducting descriptive research typically use a pre+established instrument to collect data.

7lso, !hile survey responses can vary from quantitative (quantitative research is research in !hich numerical data is collected) to qualitative (qualitative research is research in !hich narrative or visual data is collected to describe social settings ()lavin, 2008)) in nature, they are typically quantitative and are summari"ed in accordance to quantitative analyses. 1inally, in order to complete descriptive research, researchers use a sample representative of a larger population to collect data in an attempt to generali"e findings to a population (#odico, 2006).

Steps for Doing Descriptive Research $o! does an educator go about completing descriptive research0 r. /al*er, a fourth grade teacher at )impson 'lementary )chool, !ould li*e to *no! about the conditions in !hich his students complete their home!or* so that he can ad9ust their home!or* load accordingly and provide classroom instruction regarding effective home!or* strategies to increase studentssuccess in completing quality home!or*. ,n order to complete descriptive research, r. /al*er should follo! eight steps. Step One: Define a Problem to Research /ith all of the numerous possible topics that educators can potentially research, ho! does an individual go about selecting one particular problem to research0 ,n order to research a topic, a problem must be sufficient to both 9ustify that research is necessary and to incite individuals to respond to some form of data collection, such as a questionnaire, intervie!, etc. 7lso, individuals should have a set of specific ob9ectives !hen defining a particular problem to research so that they can begin to consider !hat data must be collected. 1or instance, in the e%ample, r. /al*er has identified that he !ould li*e to *no! the conditions in !hich his students complete their home!or* in an effort to ad9ust their home!or* load and provide classroom instruction of effective home!or* strategies. ,n order to ans!er this particular question, r. /al*er reali"es that he !ill need to collect data regarding students- activities !hile completing home!or*. 1inally, in order to complete step one, researchers should brea* topics into subareas to further focus the study and assist in the decision+ma*ing required in the follo!ing steps (Gay et al., 2006). 1or instance, r. /al*er may decide to as* students questions regarding the amount of time they spend completing home!or*, their interest in home!or*, the amount of home!or* assistance they get from parents, and the physical environment in !hich they complete home!or*.

Step Two: Write a Research Question and Sub-questions .o further focus the study, researchers must !rite a research question and sub+questions. /hat !ould be r. /al*er-s research question0 1irst, as !ith all research questions, r.

/al*er must specify !ho is being studied in his research. .his group of individuals being studied is called the sample. :esearch questions should also include verbs that e%plore individuals- attitudes, perceptions, feelings, and;or beliefs. 1inally, all research questions should clarify the topic or issue being studied. 1ollo!ing these perimeters, r. /al*er-s research question should be something similar to the follo!ing& /hat factors effect the home!or* completion of r. /al*er-s fifth grade students0

7lthough descriptive research is not considered a type of qualitative research, li*e qualitative research, descriptive research requires a set of additional questions called sub-questions that are used to support the research question that researchers have identified. )ub+questions allo! researchers to design surveys !ith more than a couple of questions. ,t is important to note that, although subquestions are more specific in comparison to the broader research question, subquestions must align !ith the research question. .hus, subquestions are utili"ed as categories for a survey or other instrument of data collection. :esearchers generally arrive at sub+questions !hile reading about the topic (#odico et al., 2006). 1or instance, some sub+questions that r. /al*er may !ant to consider !hen developing an instrument to collect information regarding his students might include& 6o the students get home!or* assistance from parents, siblings, etc.0 /hat is the environment li*e in !hich students- complete home!or*0 /hat are students- perceptions of home!or*0 /hat other activities are students involved in that may limit the amount of time they can dedicate to completing home!or*0

Step Three: Desi n and Develop a Surve!"Questionnaire ,ndividuals often erroneously believe that survey development is a simple process. :ather, a significant amount of planning and *no!ledge are required to develop a sound instrument (#odico et al., 2006). :esearchers must carefully construct an attractive and concise survey !ith items that are directly+related to the topic to ensure that participants do not !aste valuable time responding to unnecessary questions. :esearchers should adhere to several guidelines !hen creating a survey or questionnaire (Gay et al., 2006). #se Structured $tems as Often as Possible )urvey items can be either structured or unstructured items. Structured items, often referred to as close+ended items, require respondents to choose from items presented among options. )tructured items include scaled items, ran*ed items, and chec*list items, all of !hich are discussed in greater depth in the follo!ing guideline for creating a survey. #nstructured items provide respondents the opportunity to respond to a question !ithout constraints (e.g. </rite in the provided space instructional strategies that you !ould li*e to learn more about.=). 7lthough unstructured items often allo! respondents

to provide a response of greater depth and detail and are often simpler to create, structured items are the preferred item type for several reasons. 1irst, unstructured items are time+consuming for researchers to score. 7dditionally, many respondents often do not respond to unstructured questions as they require additional time to formulate responses. Generally, it is recommended that surveys include one or t!o unstructured questions !hile the ma9ority of questions are created as structured items (Gay et al., 2006). %onsider Different T!pes of $tems )everal self+report types of measures e%ist from !hich researchers can select. Scaled items include #i*ert and semantic differential items that allo! respondents to select a numeric or nominal response. .he follo!ing is an e%ample of a #i*ert+type item that a science teacher might as* during a unit to determine !hether students are being appropriately challenged by a particular group of e%periments& :ate the difficulty of the electricity e%periment your group recently completed. . Strongly Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Agree Disagree 2 2 4 > 3 )emantic differential items require respondents to reply to a survey item by selecting bipolar ad9ective responses. 1or instance, rather than allo!ing students to select from a range of responses regarding the difficulty of an e%periment, a science teacher might require that students respond in the follo! !ay& :ate !hether you consider the electricity e%periment easy or difficult. Very Much 2 Somewhat 2 Neither 4 Somewhat > Very Much 3

Easy

Difficult

)urvey questions also can be constructed as ran&ed items that require respondents to ran* provided responses according to a particular criteria. 1or instance, a science teacher may be interested in gathering data regarding the specific concepts !ithin a particular electricity e%periment that students considered the most difficult to understand. 1or instance, the follo!ing is an e%ample of a ran*ed item& :an* the follo!ing concepts of the electricity e%periment according to the level of difficulty of concepts !ith 3 being the most difficult concept to understand and 2 being the easiest concept to understand. ????? .he purpose of a circuit brea*er ????? 6ifferences bet!een conductors and inductors ????? @rinciples of current flo! ????? ethods of increasing current flo! resistance

????? 7pplying 5hm-s #a! )urvey questions can also be created as chec&list items that require respondents to chec* specific responses according to a particular criterion. 1or instance, rather than requiring students to ran* concepts presented during a science e%periment regarding electricity, a science teacher might as* students to chec* concepts that they are interested in learning more about (Gay et al., 2006). 'ather Demo raphic Data to (a&e %omparisons Auestions concerning demographic information (e.g. gender, age, school !here a teacher currently teaches) should be considered a ma9or section of a survey as it can be utili"ed to compare subgroups. 1or instance, if a researcher !ere to have teachers from t!o schools complete surveys but had not thought to include a demographic section, the researcher !ould be unable to determine !hether differences e%ist bet!een the responses of teachers in )chool 7 and )chool B. /hile educational researchers are typically interested in the follo!ing demographic information !hen studying teachers& the grade levels teachers are responsible for teaching, the length of time each teacher has been teaching, and teachersareas of e%pertise. )pecific demographic information researchers decide to gather is dependent on the question(s) researchers are attempting to support. ,n order to consider possible demographic questions to as* respondents, researchers should ta*e note of demographic questions as*ed to respondents !hile revie!ing previous research conducted of a specific topic, as !ell as demographic questions previous researchers have neglected that could be of consequence to further understanding a topic. /hile designing a survey, researchers should have specific reasons for deciding to as* particular demographic questions to respondents as too many demographic questions may serve to frustrate respondents and create concern from respondents regarding ho! researchers may utili"e such information. .his can especially be the case !hen researchers request ethnicity and race information from respondents. 1inally, !hile the ma9ority of demographic sections of surveys are included at the beginning of surveys, in some cases placing demographic questions at the end of a survey may be 9ustified. .his decision should, ultimately be made by considering the importance of demographic questions to the study. ,f respondents- completion of demographic questions is imperative to the study, then demographic questions should appear at the beginning of the study (#odico et al., 2006). )ocus Questions on a Sin le %oncept ,tems should be carefully constructed as to as* one question of participants at a time. 7lthough combining several questions into a single item, called double-barreled questions* may seem an effective time+saver for respondents, the result !ill be both confusing for respondents to ans!er and impossible for researchers to interpret (Gay et al., 2006C Dohnson E Christensen, 200>C #odico et al., 2006). 1or instance, consider if a teacher !ere to survey parents to analy"e their e%periences during parent+teacher

conferences and the teacher as*ed that parents rate a specific part of the conferences !ith the follo!ing question& /as the teacher-s e%planation, during parent+teacher conferences, of your child-s ,o!a 7ssessments and )*ills ,o!a scores clear0 Not at All Clear 2 Moderately Clear 2 Neutral 4 Clear > Extremely Clear 3

7lthough this e%ample may seem to as* a single question of respondents, consider the situation in !hich a parent believes that a teacher clearly e%plained their child-s ,o!a 7ssessments score but provided an unclear and confusing e%planation of the same student-s )*ills ,o!a score. .his single survey item actually requires respondents to reply to t!o separate questions and, thus should be formatted as t!o individual questions& </as the teacher-s e%planation during parent+teacher conferences of your child-s ,o!a 7ssessment scores clear0= and </as the teacher-s e%planation during parent+teacher conferences of your child-s )*ills ,o!a scores clear0 +void or Provide %larification of +mbi uous Terms Clarification should be provided of any term that may be interpreted differently by different individuals. .his requires that researchers either define or restate terms to avoid ambiguous terms. /hile this guideline can apply to specific educational terms that all respondents may not be familiar !ith (such as constructivist, differentiated, mainstreaming, etc.) (#odico et al., 2006), this guideline applies to general !ords that can be interpreted sub9ectively by respondents including the terms <several= and <often.= Consider for e%ample if a teacher !ere to as* parents the follo!ing survey item& <6o you read to your children often0= /hile some parents might interpret <often= as meaning once a day, other parents might interpret <often= to mean once a month (Gay et al., 2006). )o first as* if a school has a computer lab. .hen, for respondents !ho ans!er yes, as* the question !ritten above. 1or respondents !ho ans!er no, allo! them to s*ip the question and direct them to the ne%t question. Provide Reference Points as ,ecessar! )ince respondents cannot provide accurate responses to questions that researchers have not clarified past ambiguity, researchers must not only provide clarification to any ambiguous terms, they must also provide references points in order to design items that are as specific as possible. 1or instance, if a principal !as interested in surveying teachers to determine the amount of time teachers dedicate to different tas*s throughout the day, rather than as*ing teachers, <6o you spend a lot of time !riting lesson plans0= a principal should as*, <6o you spend a lot of time !riting lesson plans in comparison to other teachers at your elementary school0= )uch reference points ensure that all respondents are using the same point of reference (Gay et al., 2006).

+void Questions in Which Respondents (a! ,ot Repl! with -onest! :esearchers should attempt to avoid questions that demand all respondents reply in a particular !ay regardless of !hether the respondents- replies are honest. 1or instance, a researcher can be fairly certain that all educators are going to respond affirmatively to a question such as <6o you have high e%pectations for your students0=

Don.t +s& Questions that (a&e +ssumptions 7ssumptions are often e%tremely subtle !hen included in survey questions. 1or instance, consider !hy the follo!ing question might be problematic, <$o! many hours does your class spend in your school-s computer lab0= /hile the question seems straight for!ard, researchers in this e%ample must consider that not every school may have a computer lab. /hile teachers in schools !ithout computer labs may respond to the question by stating that they do not spend anytime in their school-s computer lab, such a response may cause a researcher to interpret the study-s findings incorrectly. .he researchers might incorrectly believe that their study supports that teachers are not ma*ing use of computer labs in their schools since half of the study participants responded that their classes do not spend any time in their school-s computer lab !hen, in fact, the teachers might often ta*e their students to the computer lab if their school had a computer lab (Gay et al., 2006)F

+void /eadin Questions :esearchers can lead respondents to reply to survey items in multiple !ays. 1or instance, questions can be designed as to be obviously interpreted by respondents that they should respond in a particular !ay. .he follo!ing question is an e%ample of a leading question& <6o you agree !ith most teachers !ho believe that good reading programs require that students receive four hours of reading instruction daily0=

Pro ress from 'eneral to Specific Questions /hen organi"ing survey items, researchers should place items from general to more specific questions !hile also placing similar items together. .his prevents respondentsresponses of specific questions from influencing their responses to general questions (Cohen, anion E orrison, 2008).

0e in with /ess Threatenin Questions :espondents may be less li*ely to complete surveys in !hich sensitive questions are as*ed at the beginning of the survey for fear that further questions !ill be increasingly sensitive. .hus, researchers should place less threatening questions at the beginning of the survey and conclude the survey !ith items that may be considered sensitive to respondents (Gay et al., 2006).

,umber $tems

Gumbering items is beneficial to researchers as it can save valuable time as they analy"e the data they have gathered (Gay et al., 2006). Don.t +s& $mportant Questions /ast 7s some participants may not ans!er all survey items for a variety of reasons such as time constraints, important survey questions should not be placed last in the survey (Gay et al., 2006). $nclude Directions for 1ach Section /hile general directions should be mentioned in the cover letter that accompanies most surveys, directions should also precede each section to ensure that participants clearly understand !hat researchers are as*ing of them. $aving directions precede each section is critical especially for surveys in !hich different sections are intended to provide different information to researchers. :esearchers can use italics, underlining, all capital letters, and bold type to be certain that directions are clear and gain participantsattention. 6irections to each section also provide an opportunity for researchers to clarify ambiguous terms (#odico et al., 2006). Thin& /i&e Research Participants /hen designing a survey, it is often useful if researchers can thin* li*e the individuals they plan to include as respondents in their study. .his allo!s researchers to consider !hich terms, questions, and;or !ording might be difficult for respondents to clearly understand (Dohnson E Christensen, 200>). (a&e Sure $tem Responses Do ,ot Overlap 'ven the most seasoned of researchers can create a survey item in !hich possible responses overlap. Consider the follo!ing e%ample in !hich a researcher is attempting to gather information concerning the amount of years of teaching e%perience that educators possess. .he researcher has directed teachers to select one of the follo!ing options& 2+4 years 4+3 years 3+8 years 8+20 years Can you identify the issue !ith this item-s response options that !ould be problematic !hen researchers attempt to analy"e the study results0 $o! is a teacher !ho has been teaching for five years e%pected to respond since five years is included in the second and third options provided0 /hen items do not overlap they are considered mutuall! e2clusivel!3 7ll items in a survey should be mutually e%clusively to ensure that data collected is accurate. ,tem response options should also be e2haustive in that they should provide a response option for all possible legitimate responses (Dohnson E Christensen,

200>C #odico et al., 2006). 1or instance, ho! !ould a teacher !ho has been teaching 23 years respond given the above response options0 +void #sin Double ,e atives 6ouble negatives should be avoided as they may require participants to !onder !hat response options mean. 1or instance, <,t is not good for teachers to not have high e%pectations of students.= .his question could be confusing to respondents as it requires that individuals ta*e a moment to consider !hat response options such as <strongly agree= or <strongly disagree= might mean in this conte%t (#odico et al., 2006). ,f a researcher must frame a question negatively, the negative !ord should be underlined or in some other !ay emphasi"ed to avoid respondent confusion (Dohnson E Christensen, 200>). Step )our: %reate a %over /etter 'ach mailed survey should include a cover letter. .he primary purpose of creating a coverletter is to invite participants to participate in a study (#odico et al., 2006). Cover letters should include the follo!ing components& Detail Wh! the Stud! is $mportance .he cover letter, !hich should be individually addressed to potential research participants, provides researchers the opportunity to specifically state !hy the research pro9ect is important. .his area should address !hy the survey has been distributed to a particular group (e.g. teachers, parents) and !hy individuals- responses are valuable (Cres!ell, 200H). 1inally, the cover letter also provides researchers an opportunity to state ho! research findings !ill be shared !ith participants (Gay et al., 2006). Describe the Purpose of the Stud! :esearchers should provide information regarding the purpose and intent of a study. .his information provides a conte%t for responders to ans!er survey items (#odico et al., 2006). ,n addition, researchers should also detail e%actly !hat participants are being as*ed to do in order to participate (Gay et al., 2006). Provide +ssurances to Participants :esearchers should assure participants that confidentiality !ill be maintained throughout the course of the study from the time that ra! data is collected through !hen the study results are reported (Cres!ell, 200H). .his means that research consumers should not be able to identify individual study participants. :esearchers often confuse confidentiality !ith the issue of ensuring that participants remain anonymous during the course of a study. :esearchers !ho promise participants that they !ill remain anonymous promise that no one, including the researcher, !ill have *no!ledge of participants- namesC !hereas, confidentiality requires that !hile researchers !ill have *no!ledge of

participants- identities, they !ill not disclose participants- identities to others (Gay et al., 2006). /hile confidentiality seems fairly easily achieved, in fact, confidentiality is often more difficult !hen researchers use smaller settings to conduct research. ,n some cases, researchers are unable to report some findings as they could be directly used to identify individual participants. 1or instance, consider conducting research in a small school building in !hich there is only one teacher per a grade level. ,n this situation a researcher !ould not be able to report that the study found that the first grade teacher-s perceptions of a particular event greatly differed from the fifth grade teacher-s perception as reporting such a finding !ould brea* confidentiality. aintaining participants- confidentiality is not only one of a researcher-s primary ethical responsibilities (#odico et al., 2006), it also serves to increase the li*elihood that individuals !ill respond to survey items truthfully (Gay et al., 2006). Discuss Sponsorship .he cover letter also should address the issue of sponsorship by including identification and contact information (e.g. phone number, physical address, email) for the research advisor(s) and the principal investigator (Gay et al., 2006). .his information allo!s participants to contact the researcher to as* questions and as* for clarification of survey items as needed (#odico et al., 2006). .he institution through !hich the research is being conducted should also be identified in the cover letter. .hus, cover letters should be typed on the letterhead of the institution sponsoring the research pro9ect (Cres!ell, 200H). 1inally, each letter should be signed individually by the researcher. /hile this practice obviously can ta*e some time, this is one more step that can be used to encourage potential participants to complete surveys (Gay et al., 2006). State That Participation is 4oluntar! Cover letters provide researchers an opportunity to address another critical issue of research, that an individuals- decision to participate in research is voluntary. .his means that individuals !ho decline to participate in a study !ill not e%perience negative consequences due to their decision. 1or instance, students !ho do not participate in a study !ill not receive lo!er grades or a teacher !ho declines participating in a study !ill not be demoted as a result of their decision. )tatements addressing the voluntary nature of study participation should also state that participants may choose to discontinue their participation at anytime !ithout fear of negative consequences (#odico et al., 2006). Provide Timetable Cover letters should also provide a timetable for participants by providing an estimation of the amount of time that is required to complete the survey, as !ell as detailing the return procedure (Cres!ell, 200H). .he deadline for returning completed surveys should be placed appro%imately t!o !ee*s from the time that surveys are distributed. :esearchers should also provide a self+addressed+stamped+envelope to encourage individuals to return completed surveys (Gay et al., 2006). 1inally, researchers should

conclude the cover letter by than*ing participants for their involvement in the research pro9ect (#odico et al., 2006). Step )ive: Select a Sample )urvey research can be considered unique among quantitative research in that researchers conducting surveys typically attempt to include the largest possible sample. .his means that survey researchers often attempt to survey either an entire population, such as all of the teachers in a district or all school psychologists in a state. ,t is important to note that, although researchers may attempt to survey a larger population, not all individuals surveyed !ill select to complete and return the survey. #o! response rates from participants become an issue for researchers !hen attempting to generali"e study findings. ,n such a situation, researchers become concerned that individuals !ho decided to parta*e in the study by returning surveys differ in some !ay from those !ho selected not to return surveys. .his !ould mean that participants !ho completed surveys may represent a subsample of the population rather than the entire population that researchers are attempting to study (#odico et al., 2006). Step Si2: Pilot the Surve! Can you imagine follo!ing all of the steps required to complete a descriptive research study only to reali"e, !hen analy"ing the data you have gathered, that participants did not understand questions included in the survey0 .his situation can often be avoided by piloting the survey. @ilot testing a survey can often be sufficiently completed by having a fe! (three, four, or a small group) people complete the survey and provide feedbac* including questions, suggestions, and;or comments they might have regarding the survey. 1eedbac* collected during pilot testing can be used to revise and improve the survey prior to administering the survey to study participants. .o acquire the most accurate feedbac*, researchers should pilot a survey !ith individuals similar to those !ho !ill parta*e in the actual study. 1or instance, if a researcher plans to survey teachers for a study, then he;she should pilot test the survey !ith teachers (Gay et al., 2006). ,ndividuals !ho complete a survey during a pilot test should be encouraged to provide feedbac* regarding the coverletter, clarity of directions, specific survey items, correctness of grammar, punctuation, and spelling, clarity of language and terms used, and procedures follo!ed by the researcher to collect data. :esearchers should provide paper during a pilot test on !hich respondents can ma*e comments (#odico et al., 2006). @ilot test respondents can also revie! the completeness or overall depth of the survey to verify content validity (the degree to !hich items on a survey correspond to the intended topic of !hich researchers are attempting to gather information ()lavin, 2008)) (Gay et al., 2006). Step Seven: +dminister the Surve! 7t this step in the process of descriptive research, researchers must consider !hat method they !ill utili"e to administer surveys. .here are five methods used by researchers to distribute surveys& e+mail, intervie!, mail, personal administration, and telephone. /hile the ma9ority of educational survey research typically selects to send surveys to participants via mail, sending surveys via e+mail is also quic*ly becoming a common method of distribution. ,n order to select a distribution method, researchers must consider the advantages and disadvantages associated

!ith each method. /hile mailed surveys have the advantage of being relatively ine%pensive, easy to score, standardi"able, and confidential, they also do not allo! researchers to as* respondent follo!+up questions. 6istributing surveys via email is a speedy, as !ell as an efficient methodC ho!ever, researchers must also consider that all respondents may not have email access. .he follo!ing table provides a list of advantages and disadvantages associated !ith each of the five methods of survey distribution available. Distri ution Method E!Mail Advantages 6ata can be automatically tabulated. :esults can be obtained quic*ly. ,ne%pensive. @rocedures can be standardi"ed. ,ntervie!er can clarify questions as needed. ,mproves response rates. ,ntervie!er can probe for further responses. 7ssists respondents !ho have difficulties reading E !riting. ,ntervie!er can control the environment. ,ntervie!ers can ensure survey protocol is follo!ed. :espondents are more li*ely to respond spontaneously. ,ntervie!s may be recorded and transcribed at a later date. Cost efficient. Can include a large amount of individuals. Convenient for respondents. @rovides time for respondents to consider responses. )tandardi"ed !ording of surveys. ,ntervie!er bias is eliminated. Can include respondents scattered throughout an area. aintains confidentiality. 'asy to score items. Disadvantages )ome respondents may not have e+mail access. ,ndividuals may respond multiple times.

"nterview

,ntervie!er characteristics and demeanor may influence responses. :espondents may feel a loss of confidentiality. #ac* of standardi"ation. .ime+costly. ay require travel costs.

Mail

.ypically has a lo! response rate. 6oes not provide researchers !ith information about non+ respondents. :espondents may not understand questions. @ostage can be e%pensive. :equires participantsmailing addresses. )urveys ma*e not be returned for several !ee*s. :esearchers cannot as* follo!+up questions.

Contact !ith the researcher can bias responses. .ime+consuming. $elephone Got all respondents may have telephone access. Got all respondents have listed numbers. ,ndividuals !ho ans!er the phone may not be the intended participant. 5rder of questions can greatly influence participants- responses. .ime+consuming. )coring can be comple%. Gay, ills, E 7irasian (2006) E #odico, )paulding, E Ioegtle (2006) 5nce a researcher has distributed surveys and begun to receive completed surveys, a researcher is 9ust a step a!ay from beginning to analy"e the data that has been gathered, right0 Got so fast. .here is another issue researchers !ho complete descriptive research must consider, response rates. Response rates are the percent of a sample that return completed surveys and can vary based on the research topic and a researcher-s relationship to participants. :esponse rates typically vary from 40+30J for surveys that have been distributed via mail. ,n situations in !hich respondents believe they have a vested interest in a study-s results, response rates may e%ceed H0J. ,nternet surveys have a history of lo!er response rates in comparison to other methods (#odico et al., 2006). /hy must researchers be concerned about survey response rates0 :esponse rates are critical as lo! response rates can lead to issues !ith the generali"ability of a study. #o! response rates are concerning as nonresponders may systematically differ from responders. 1or instance, if a fifth grade teacher !ere to survey his students to determine the amount of time they spend on home!or* each night, the teacher may become concerned about the results of the study if only 40J of students returned complete surveys. @erhaps the students !ho returned completed surveys are more organi"ed and responsible in comparison to their peers, such qualities may also impact these students- survey responses !hen they completed the survey. /hile the students !ho completed the survey report spending an average of four hours each night on home!or*, the nonresponders may spend less than thirty minutes on home!or* each night. .hus, !ithout some idea of ho! the nonresponders differ from the responders, a researcher cannot generali"e findings of a study to an entire population (the population is a large group !hich the sample should represent so that results of the study can be applied to the population) (Gay et al., 2006). /hat can a researcher do !hen their survey has a dismally lo! response rate0 )ome researchers choose to intervie! a small sample of nonrespondents to determine !hether differences e%ist bet!een those !ho completed the survey and those !ho did not. By having a small sample of individuals !ho originally did not respond to the survey complete the survey, as !ell as provide demographic information, researchers can determine !hether differences e%ist among responders

#ersonal Administration

'fficient !hen respondents are located in the same place at the same time. .ime and cost efficient. .ime delay in responses is eliminated. :esearcher can encourage participation. :esearcher can e%plain survey questions. 6oes not require researcher to travel.

and nonresponders that !ould ma*e the practice of generali"ing results impossible. Generali"ability may be of concern even !ith a descriptive survey !ith a 30J response rate since surveys are typically completed more readily by individuals !ho have more e%treme vie!s of a research topic (either a more positive or negative vie!) !hile individuals !ith less e%treme vie!s may feel less compelled to complete a survey. $o! can researchers attempt to increase a lo! response rate0 :esearchers can increase response rates for surveys that !ere distributed via mail in the follo!ing !ays& @reparing a follo!+up reminder for nonresponders (e.g. by mail, email). ,ncluding pre+paid addressed envelopes to be used by responders to return completed surveys. 7c*no!ledging any affiliations in documents such as the coverletter (e.g. university, school district). 5ffering re!ards or incentives for survey completion. @roviding clear directions to respondents to follo! !hen returning completed surveys. @ersonally delivering surveys.

/hen preparing a follo!+up letter researchers should& :e+emphasi"e the study-s importance. Convey some disappointment and surprise regarding the non+cooperation of the individual. 7void sharing that researchers e%pect some individuals not to complete surveys. ,nclude another copy of the survey. )end a follo!+up three !ee*s after the initial survey has been distributed, then send a second follo!+up one !ee* after the first follo!+up, and a third follo!+up may also occur at a later date. '%pect that, !hile response rates !ill increase as a result of each follo!+up, response rates from the first follo! up !ill be lo!er than response rates of the original distribution of a survey. #i*e!ise response rates from the second follo!+up !ill be lo!er than response rates of the first follo!+up (Cohen et al., 2006).

Step 1i ht: +nal!5e Data :esearchers should be certain to include specific information !hen reporting results of descriptive research. 1irst, the response rate for each questionnaire item should be included, as !ell as the sample si"e (this is the amount of individuals !ho participated in a study), and the overall response rate of the survey should be e%pressed as a percentage. .he percentage of item options selected by respondents should also be considered !hen researchers are analy"ing data they have gathered (Gay et al., 2006). 1or e%ample, a researcher might record the percentage of respondents !ho selected each item response option if the follo!ing !as an item on a questionnaire& 2. $o! many years have you been teaching0 a. 2+3 years (23J selected)

b. 6+20 years (30J) c. 22+23 years (23J) d. Greater than 26 years (20J) :esearchers should also analy"e data collected from descriptive research by comparing responses of subgroups. 7s mentioned earlier, researchers can also compare subgroups based on the demographic information respondents !ere as*ed to provide on the questionnaire. 1or instance, a researcher may be interested !hether teachers- and principals- perceptions of school climate differ or !hether the !ay in !hich middle school or high school teachers spend the time they are allotted to prepare for lessons differ (Gay et al., 2006). $ypes of Descriptive Research /on itudinal Surve! .he purpose of longitudinal surveys, !hich includes a variety of survey types, is to <trac* participants over an e%tended period of time= (#odico et al., 2006, p. 282) !hich typically spans from ten to thirty years. #ongitudinal surveys are used to investigate changes in individualsattitudes or perceptions regarding an issue or topic, to follo! participants to determine ho! their lives progress, and investigate ho! participants- philosophies and interests change in the course of many years (2006). 7s longitudinal surveys can investigate changes in cohort groups, subpopulations, or panel groups, longitudinal surveys can be conducted by surveying the same group of individuals or surveying different individuals during the course of many years (Cres!ell, 200H). #ongitudinal surveys are appealing to researchers as they allo! researchers to ma*e inferences, determine causality, and include qualitative and numerical information (Cohen et al., 2006). Consider the follo!ing e%ample of a longitudinal survey that !ould survey the same group of individuals several times over the course of years& s. Bro!n, a high school history teacher, is interested in determining the amount of her students !ho enter professions in the field of social studies after graduating from high school. .hus, s. Bro!n surveys a group of students shortly after they graduate. s. Bro!n then surveys the same group of students at their five year high school reunion and again at their ten year high school reunion to determine the amount of students !ho have careers in the field of social studies. s. Bro!n-s study is a type of longitudinal survey called a panel stud!. @anel studies survey the same group of individuals over a period of time. .here are several types of longitudinal surveys including trend surveys, panel surveys, follo!+up surveys and cohort surveys (Cres!ell, 200H). .he follo!ing types of longitudinal surveys are similar in that they survey participants several times during the course of researchC ho!ever, the different types of longitudinal surveys differ in the samples and groups from !hich they collect data (Gay et al., 2006). Trend Surve!

.rend surveys are typically conducted to investigate groups- perceptions regarding a shared e%perience or another factor rather than specific people (Cohen et al., 2006). .he purpose of trend surveys is not to compare ho! one group-s perceptions have changed over time but rather to investigate each group-s perceptions and then note any trends that occur (#odico et al., 2006). .rend surveys sample from a general population !hile using different groups and samples over years during each survey stage to represent the general population of interest (Cres!ell, 200H). .rend surveys vary from short to long in duration. :esearchers completing trend surveys often face difficulties associated !ith unpredictable factors that can invalidate data interpretation. .hus, trend surveys that are shorter in duration tend to have greater accuracy in comparison to longer studies. :esearchers must also be cautious !hen interpreting findings from trend surveys as differences in data may be due to differences among individuals !ho participated in each survey stage (Cohen et al., 2006). 7n e%ample of a trend survey !ould be a study in !hich a principal is interested in determining trends in a school-s practice of hiring teachers. )uch a study !ould require that a principal !ould survey teachers hired each year to note any trends that emerge !ithin individuals- responses. %ohort Surve! .o conduct a cohort survey, a researcher must identify a cohort (a subgroup of a population that shares a common characteristic) and survey the subgroup over time (Cres!ell, 200H). Cohort surveys include different actual groups of individuals based on the characteristic being researched. :esearchers conducting cohort surveys may also select to continue to include previous years- participants !hile adding additional participants yearly (#odico et al., 2006). 1or e%ample, the follo!ing !ould be considered a cohort survey& r. Bell, a special education consultant, !ould li*e to study teachers- perceptions of their e%periences during the first year they are a member of the @roblem+)olving .eam. .hus, r. Bell surveys teachers at the end of their first year on the team. .he second year of the study r. Bell surveys a different group of teachers e%periencing their first year as members of the @roblem+)olving .eam. Panel Surve! @anel surveys require that a researcher surveys a group of individuals then again surveys the same group several years later. .his type of survey might be beneficial for researchers !ho !ant to gather information regarding the !ays in !hich teachers- perceptions change as they teach for several years. .his !ould require teachers to complete a survey shortly after graduating college and again after teaching for several years (#odico et al., 2006). 1requently, panel surveys face difficulties including loss of research participants due to lac* of interest, relocation, death, or name change (Cohen et al., 2006). )ince the same participants are surveyed each time, panel studies are considered the most rigorous of longitudinal studies (Cres!ell, 200H). )ollow-#p Surve! 1ollo!+up surveys require an additional step past panel surveys. ,n a follo!+up survey, researchers survey a group of individuals then again survey the same group several years later,

then surveys the same group a third time several years after the panel group study has completed (Gay et al., 2006). %ross-Sectional Surve! .he most popular survey in education, the cross+sectional survey, is primarily concerned !ith gathering data at a single time from a group. Cross+sectional surveys are primarily used to gather information concerning individuals- opinions, beliefs, perceptions, or practices (Cres!ell, 200H). /hile cross+sectional surveys are convenient and time+efficient, there are several limitations associated !ith cross+sectional surveys. 1irst, a survey completed by participants at a single time may not provide participants the opportunity to develop their perspective of a topic over the time. 7lso, researchers must be especially careful !hen selecting samples for cross+sectional surveys as some samples may not be as representative of a population as others. 1inally, participants selected for cross+sectional surveys may not be as similar as a researcher !ould hope (Gay et al., 2006). 7nother form of a cross+sectional survey can be utili"ed by researchers to compare the opinions, beliefs, perceptions, or practices of different educational groups. ,n education, researchers often use cross+sectional surveys to compare groups such as parents and teachers, elementary and middle school teachers, and social !or*ers and school psychologists. Cross+ sectional surveys can be used to measure the needs of communities, schools or any other educational organi"ation, evaluate an educational program, and survey teachers or students nationally or state!ide (Cres!ell, 200H). Developmental Surve! .he primary purpose of developmental surveys is to gather information regarding variables of children at different levels (e.g. age, maturation, gro!th) of development. 6evelopmental surveys are often used by researchers to gather information regarding characteristics including intellectual, emotional, social, and physical development. Groups of children used for developmental surveys can be selected based on a general or more specific characteristic. 7 general characteristic that researchers might decide to study could include children of a particular age, gender, or socioeconomic status. 7 more specific characteristic a researcher might consider studying could include selecting children !ho have been identified as academically gifted, athletically+inclined, or children !ho have relocated at least five times in the past academic year. 6evelopmental surveys can be especially useful for researchers (Gay et al., 2006). 1or instance, information regarding !hether 24+year+old students prefer to complete pro9ects individually or collaborate !ith a group !ould be important information for a middle school teacher.

:eferences Cohen, #., anion, #., E orrison, (. (2008). Research methods in education3 Ge! Kor*&

:outledge. Cres!ell, D. (200H). 1ducational research: Plannin * conductin * and evaluatin quantitative and qualitative research3 Ge! Dersey& @earson& Gay, #., errill @rentice $all.

ills, G., E 7irasian, @. (2006). 1ducational research: %ompetencies for anal!sis and

applications3 Ge! Dersey& @earson 'ducation, ,nc. Dohnson, B. E Christensen, #. (200>). 1ducational research: Quantitative* qualitative* and mi2ed approaches3 Boston& @earson 'ducation, ,nc. #odico, ., )paulding, 6., E Ioegtle, (. (2006). (ethods in educational research: )rom theor!

to practice3 )an 1rancisco& Dossey+Bass. )lavin, :. (2008). 1ducational research in an a e of accountabilit!. Boston& @earson 'ducation.