Title: Introduction: Survey design
Course: UGQuants (SSPS) > Section: Survey Design

This is the introduction to module 12.

1. What is a survey?

We probably all feel we are somewhat familiar with the social survey. Many of us will have been asked to take part in a survey at some point. But what actually is a survey? Consider the following definition:

 |  |  |  | ‘A systematic collection and analysis of data relating to the attitudes, living conditions, opinions, etc. of a population, usually taken from a representative sample of the latter’ (Oxford English Dictionary definition of ‘survey’)

This definition appears seemingly straightforward; if we undertake a systematic collection and analysis of data concerning a social matter with a representative sample of a larger population, then we are conducting a survey. However, could this definition not equally apply to other research strategies for example, case studies, ethnography and experimental approaches?

We might then consider that we could define a survey through the method of data collection. We are likely all familiar with surveys as written questionnaires. Can a survey therefore simply be defined as a written questionnaire? This, too, is problematic.

 |  |  |  | ‘A survey is not just a particular technique of collecting information: questionnaires are widely used but other techniques, such as structured and in-depth interviews, observation, content analysis and so forth, can also be used in survey research. The distinguishing features of surveys are the form of the data and the method of analysis.’ (De Vaus 2002:3)

So it would appear that we cannot define a survey by reference to the method of data collection. Whilst surveys are very often conducted using written questionnaires, they can also take other forms such as structured observations or content analysis. Let us then consider the form of the data which a survey collects.

 |  |  |  | ‘I want to define a survey as any inquiry which collects pieces of information, by whatever method, over a range of different cases, and arranges the information about those cases as variables; variables therefore must have the property of providing one unique code for every case. The common strategy for the survey researcher who has collected a case by variable matrix of data of this form is to consider the relationship of the variables, either over the whole of the matrix or in subgroups.’ (Marsh, in Bulmer (ed.) 1984: 84-85)

We can therefore describe a survey as a structured set of data in which information is collected for two or more cases about the same variables. The data can be presented in a variable by case data grid in which rows represent a case and columns represent variables as illustrated in table 1. This variable by case data grid is also known as a data matrix.

Table 1: A data matrix

Variables
Cases |  | Sex | Age | Smokes | Social Class
Person 1 | Male | 24 | Yes | Working
Person 2 | Male | 56 | Yes | Upper
Person 3 | Female | 42 | No | Middle
Person 4 | Male | 23 | Yes | Middle
Person 5 | Female | 77 | No | Working

(adapted from De Vaus 2002:4)

Having considered how we might define a survey, we will now examine the associated strengths and weaknesses of survey data.