Social research methods lecture for animation masters students @salforduni. Introducing the two dominant social research methods - questionnaires and interviews.

1. Image: Flickr: allthecolor
Researching People: Using
questionnaires and interviews
Jenna Condie
University of Salford
@jennacondie

2. Overview
• A session for you – what are your research
questions?
• Research as a continuum
• Differences between questionnaires and
interviews
• Being a pragmatic researcher and ‘bricolage’
• The importance of being ethical
• Questionnaire & interview design
• Data collection and data analysis
• Interdisciplinarity as the future.

3. What kind of research questions are you asking?
What? How?
When? Why?
Who? Can?
Do?
Which?
Where? Does?
If? Would? Should? Could?
Flickr: dullhunk

4. Research as continuum
Ontology – what can we know?
Realism Relativism
Epistemology – how can we know?
Positivism Interpretivism/
Constructionism
Methodology – how can we find out?
Quantitative Qualitative
Method – what tool to use?
e.g. experiments, surveys e.g. interviews, diaries
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5. So, before you make any decisions
about method…
…ask yourself the following:
• What kind of knowledge does your
methodology aim to produce?
• What kinds of assumptions does the
methodology make about the world?
• How does the methodology conceptualise the
role of the researcher? (Willig, 2001)

6. Interviews – opportunity
for researcher to learn
Questionnaires - tools for about participants lived
gathering structured experience
information from people (Willig, 2001)
(Coolican, 1999)

7. Questionnaires and interviews most
dominant methods in research with people
Why?
– Building blocks of market
research (Hague, 1993) and
social research (Robson, 2002)
– Survey/interview society
– Easy?
But there are many other ways!
Flickr: AhmadHammoud

8. The pragmatic researcher
Do whatever is best to answer the research question
Bricolage: concept adopted by qualitative researchers to
define those who are increasingly using an eclectic range
of methodological approaches together (Denzin &
Lincoln, 2000, McLeod, 2001, Kincheloe, 2001)
Researcher-as-bricoleur (from French word for craftsman)
Blurred boundaries: “We are no longer bound by the rigid
scientific rigour and instead we seem to adopt a ‘pick n
mix’ approach that is adaptable to the circumstance and
needs of the research question” (Watt, 2010, p. 51).
Flickr: gregheo
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9. The importance
of being ethical
British Psychological Society (2009)
– Respect and integrity
– Confidentiality
– Informed consent
– Right to withdraw
– Avoid harm
– Debrief
• Consent form
• Information sheet
• Internet Mediated Research (IMR)
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Flickr: Michael D. Dunn

10. Qs and Is – general differences…
Questionnaire Interviews
(Realist, Positivist, Quantitative?) (Relativist, Interpretivist, Qualitative?)
o Larger data sets  Smaller data sets
o Frequencies  Meaning
o Statistical info  Language
o Measuring response  Lived experience
o Closed/Open Q’s  Open Q’s
 Understanding
o Knowing
 Cost
o Cost
 What method best fits your research question? 10

11. How to…good advice
1. Plan – what do you really want to know? (Back to
the question!)
2. Secondary research – how have others asked the
questions?
3. Future – what are you going to do with data?
What will it be used for?
4. Pilot – always (always!) test out your Q/I
5. Sample – who do you need to include?
6. Practical – what is possible? Realistic strategy
7. Target – how many Q’s/I’s needed?
8. Reflection – reflect along the way 11

12. Structured
Questionnaires
Usually followed
as a script
- Replicable
- Standardised
- Objective
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13. 8 rules for framing questionnaires
1. Think about the objectives of the survey
2. Think about how the interview will be carried out
3. Think about the knowledge and interest of the
respondent
4. Think about the introduction
5. Think about the order of the questions
6. Think about the type of questions
7. Think about the possible answers at the same time
as thinking about the question itself
8. Think about how the data will be processed.
(Hague, 1993) 13

14. Flickr: skittledog
Structured Questionnaires
Routing – only asking
the relevant questions

15. Response scales (to measure)
Strongly Agree Neither Disagree Strongly
Likert Agree agree nor Disagree
disagree
Semantic
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Differential Cold Hot
Numerical 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

16. Question Wording
Understandable Concise
Flickr: Orange Steeler
Jargon Free Ethical
Consistent Focused
Grammatically simple Answerable

17. Question Order
No surprises!
Time to build rapport
Flickr: *¦·sindorella·¦*

18. Open Questions
• Semi-structured questionnaire
• Capture nuances
“In giving this rating, are there any
particular
aspects of this event that you are thinking of?”
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

19. Asking about socio-demographics
• Look towards already established ways
• Key phrase ‘Do you mind me asking’
• Gender, age, occupation, ethnicity, tenure, car
owner, location…and so on… (ask at the end!)
• What will make your sample representative?
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20. What to do with the data?
Data Collection
• Collate and clean
• Software - SPSS/Excel
Data Analysis
• Frequencies (e.g. 79% of respondents said)
• Differences (e.g. females were more likely to)
• Correlations (e.g. between two scales)
• Open questions e.g. quantify or treat as interview data?
• Link to your theoretical framework!
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21. Semi-structured interviews
• Often use an Flickr: MyDigitalSLR
interview schedule
• Audio-recorded
• Co-constructed
• Rapport
• Role of interviewer
• A different researcher would get a different story
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22. Example interview schedule
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23. Example interview data
JC: erm what about the sort of more pleasant sounds you know not necessarily
MP: like the birds and things yeah you do get a lot of wild life and awful lot of wild life around here
and its like because we’re so close to the park its like living in the countryside cos you get the
birds chirping first thing in the morning outside your window so it is really nice for the wildlife as
well
JC: is that different from where you were living before?
MP: well we used to live right next to the woodland
JC: aw so its quite similar
MP: so it it is similar apart from you don’t hear the owls [JC: right ok] so (laughs) yeah that’s the only
difference really
JC: so is that a good thing?
MP: well not really cos I like the owl sound and because I’d lived on [PLACE OMITTED] for like 23
years it was what I was used to and coming over here at first it was very hard cos I’ve never been
so far away from my mum and dad erm but now I’ve just gotten used to it all and everything
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24. Reflexivity
Contemplating the ways the researcher may have
influenced the research and findings (Yardley, 2008)
“…how does who I am, who
I have been, who I think I
am, and how I feel affect
data collection and
analysis”
Flickr: tonyhall
(Pillow, 2003, p. 176)

25. What to do with the data?
• Transcription (1 hr audio = 10 hrs work)
• Be systematic and organised
• Interpretation required!
Thematic Analysis
f
“the first qualitative
method of analysis that f f
researchers should learn”
(Braun & Clarke,
2006, p. 78) f d f
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26. Interdisciplinarity as the future
• Social science research methods
• Psychology
• What assumptions are you making about people?
• How does Q/I data relate to your discipline?
• Objective (e.g. technical measurements)
• Subjectivity (e.g. attitudes, emotions, cognitions)
• Innovation
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27. Example: Interdisciplinarity
• DEFRA Vibration Project
Acoustics Social Science Team
Team
Human response to
vibration in
residential
environments
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28. No right or wrong way
• Criticisms of any method
• Acknowledge criticism
• Advantages to all methods
• Acknowledge advantages
• Evaluate research using criteria that is method-
appropriate
• Justify reasons for using methods you choose –
back to your research question!
• Make suggestions for further research
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29. Some Resources
• Toolkits – Realities at University of Manchester
• Online survey tools www.surveymonkey.com
• BPS ethical guidelines http://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/code-of-conduct/code-of-
conduct_home.cfm
• BPS conducting research on the internet http://www.bps.org.uk/publications/guidelines-for-
practitioners/guidelines-for-practitioners.cfm
• Sage Research Methods Online http://srmo.sagepub.com/
• Hague (1993) E-book - questionnaire design http://www.b2binternational.com/b2b-
blog/free-ebook-questionnaire-design/
• Braun, V., & Clark, V., (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology
http://www.resilienceresearch.org/files/braun_clarke_using_thematic_analysis_in_psycholo
gy.pdf
• Dancey, C., & Reidy, J. (2005) Statistics without maths for psychology: using SPSS for Windows
(AL)
• Field, A. (2005) (2009) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (CW/AL) & stats website
http://www.statisticshell.com/
• Robson, C. (2002) Real World Research (CW)
• Willig, C. (2001) Introducing qualitative research in psychology: adventures in theory and
method (AL)
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30. Researching people: Using
questionnaires and interviews
Jenna Condie
University of Salford
@jennacondie