Research Methods in Computing

and Technology
CT098-3.5-2

Survey

Topic & Structure of the lesson

Empirical Research
Questionnaire / Survey
Key issues in considering survey research
Types of questionnaire
Designing individual questions
Types of questions
Layout of questionnaire

CT098-3.5-2 Research Methods in Computing & Technology

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Learning Outcomes
At the end of this topic, you should be able to:
Understand the need for empirical research
Identify key issues involved in survey /
questionnaire
Know the types of questionnaires / surveys
Design a typical questionnaire / survey for
your final year project

CT098-3.5-2 Research Methods in Computing & Technology

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Empirical Research
Gathering data from the world beyond the
university the so-called real world
Research that finds out from the world and
provides experience that the researcher /
developer can use to achieve better
understanding of that world
(Condford & Smithson, 2006)

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Questionnaires & Surveys

When to use?
When researcher wants to obtain views or data from a large number of
organisations or individuals in a limited time period
For descriptive or explanatory research
With other data collection methods

How to distribute?

Post
Hand
Fax
E-mail
Online SurveyMonkey, WebSurveyor, Zoomerang

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Key issues in considering survey

research

Effort
Required

Poor
response

CT098-3.5-2 Research Methods in Computing & Technology

Structure
of
questions

Developing
sampling
frame

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Biasness

Limited to
well
understood
topics

Need to
pilot

Key issues in considering survey

research
In designing, producing and distributing is
considerable
Need to go through 3 4 iterations before
reaching a satisfactory design
Problems in response rate need to send out
a large number
Follow up procedure to improve response rate
Create huge mailing list
Pre-test the questionnaire
Enter data once it is entered
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Key issues in considering survey

research
If sent at random to people in business or
organisations, response rate is about 20%
If distributed internally to an organisations
workforce, with management support
higher response rate

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Key issues in considering survey

research
Difficult to formulate questions that are
Clear, Unambiguous and easy for respondents
to understand
Free of unnecessary assumptions
Free of jargon
Comprehensive covers every possible case
Answerable directly without having to seek out
information

Difficult to select scales for questions that

require graded response
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Key issues in considering survey

research
Responses small likely to be from
biased sample
Enthusiasts will predominate and those
with less enthusiasm may not be
motivated to complete questionnaire
Cannot assume the response is a
representation of the population
Inaccurate replies errraneous affirmative
answers
Does your company use IT strategically?
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Key issues in considering survey

research
Suitable for certain fairly straightforward
topics
Not highly abstract, complex or poorly
understood topics

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Key issues in considering survey

research
Purpose
To refine the questionnaire no problems in
answering and no problems in recording the
data
To assess the validity and reliability of the
questionnaire

How? Preliminary pilot testing

Ask experts to comment on representativeness
and suitability of questions
Allow suggestions to be made - structure

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Key issues in considering survey

research
How many?
Sufficient to include any major variations
affect the responses
Student questionnaires 10
Large surveys 100 200

What to check for?

Did the respondents have problems
understanding / answering questions?
Have the respondents followed all instructions
correctly?
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Key issues in considering survey

research
Provide a further short questionnaire
How long did it take to complete the
questionnaire?
Were the instructions clear?
Which, if any, questions were unclear /
ambiguous?
Which, if any, questions the respondent felt
uneasy about answering?
Were there any major topic omissions?
Was the layout clear and attractive?

CT098-3.5-2 Research Methods in Computing & Technology

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Types of questionnaire

Self
Administered
Internet-mediated
questionnaire
Postal questionnaire
Delivery and collection
questionnaire

CT098-3.5-2 Research Methods in Computing & Technology

Interviewer
Administered
Telephone questionnaire
Structured Interview

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Designing individual questions

Adopt / Adapt questions used in other
questionnaires
If want to replicate / compare findings with another
study - assess reliability
More efficient (provided maps with research questions
and objectives) questions and coding schemes may
meet needs
Beware of poor questions
Beware of copyright
Give credit to the author

Develop own questions

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Types of questions

Open questions

CT098-3.5-2 Research Methods in Computing & Technology

Closed questions

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Types of questions

Types of questions

Open questions

Objective

CT098-3.5-2 Research Methods in Computing & Technology

Subjective

Closed questions

Speculative

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Types of questions
Types of
questions

Open questions

List

Category

CT098-3.5-2 Research Methods in Computing & Technology

Closed questions

Ranking

Rating

Quantity

Likert-style

Numeric
Rating
Scale

Semantic
Differential
Scale

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Grid

Layout of questionnaire
Interviewer administered questionnaire
make reading questions and filling
responses easy
Self administered questionnaire
Attractive to encourage people to fill it in
and to return
Not appearing too long

Visual appearance professional

Wording simple
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Question and Answer Session

Q&A
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Quick Review Question

Compare the various types of sampling
you could use in selecting your
respondents for a survey. Which would
you choose and why?

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For next class

Select a sample questionnaire for the
internet
Observe the best practices
Improve on the flaws

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Question and Answer Session

Q&A
CT098-3.5-2 Research Methods in Computing & Technology

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