I enjoyed the seminar we had with Olle Bälter due to the seminar layup. We were at the seminar divided into several groups that competed against each other answering questions like what are the disadvantages using paper vs. web-surveys? Because of this setup, everyone was more engaged at the seminar. During the seminar I learned how a questionnaire should not be, and that people often makes the same mistakes while constructing it. For example, it is not good to have an even numbers of alternatives to a question because then the person answering the questionnaire can not have a neutral perspective to the question. Further, you shouldn't ask two questions in one question, because what are the respondents actually answering to? If it is a web-questionnaire you should test it with a pilot-test first, so no errors occur. During the seminar, we also discussed the advantages of qualitative and quantitative studies. With qualitative it is easier to examine a problem more thoroughly and also if there is a relatively new subject you are examining. With qualitative it is easier to examine concrete problems, easier to gather data and draw conclusions statistically. I think these were similar to what I wrote in the pre-seminar text. Further, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages with paper vs. web-surveys.
Web-surveys:
+Easier and faster distribution
+Cheaper
+You can be anonymouse
-Though survys can consist a high number of questions, it can be exhausting to sit at the computer answering them.
-Everyone do not have access to the Internet
-May be harder to reach people above a certain age
Paper:
+Easier to reach elderly
+More pleasant for the eye
-They are not sustainable
-You can not change a question when printed on paper. Easier to correct mistakes in a web-survey.
-They are more expensive
The seminar was mostly focused on surveys and the advantages and disadvantages with them. I learned that, while constructing a survey/method, you should think about the respondent selection, so the distribution of surveys adapts to the right target. Another, professional approach to handle surveys or other research methods is to send out an invitation by email or letter to the participants that also explains the study (but not too much), and also send out a reminder if the participants do not answer. I was sceptical to the text I had chosen Internet addiction in students: Prevalence and risk factors though I thought a web-survey with 120 questions could not totally conclude an internet addiction among students in England. First of all, I though 120 questions was a lot, but according to Olle, a survey can consists hundreds (sounds a lot but maybe around 200-300 questions). So maybe there is a possibility, that they could messure addiction with a survey, but still I think it would've been more reliable if they complemented the quantitative with a qualitative method.
Though I have some knowledge in the field from previous courses, I think it is important to be reminded of the different methods, and know what the advantages and disadvantages are. I thought Olles workshop was educative and I can apply both what Olle said and what the students said later on, to my master-thesis.
Good comments, but not much about possible disadvantages of using surveys or other quantative methods. Did you talk about this in the workshop? Reflections?
SvaraRaderaLeif
I also think Olles seminar was very educational. Actually I had never myself either heard of surveys containing hundreds of question, so I also found that information very interesting.
SvaraRaderaI was wondering what you meant when you wrote under paper questionnaires that you cannot change any questions? Can you ever change questions when participants have started to send in filled in surveys? Isn’t it the point that every participants should have filled in exactly the same questionnaire?
Hey Sofie! What I meant when writing it was that when you have printed a question on paper, there is no turning back so to say. But it is easier when it is a websurvey because then you can correct your problems before distributing your survey. I am aware of that it was a bit unclear when I wrote it, and I am also aware of that you should not change a question when distributing a web-survey ofc. But if you consider some kind of problem with questions, it is easier and more accessible to change mistakes on the web :)
RaderaHi,
SvaraRaderaIt is great to read your reflection, I can get a stuff that I miss on the workshop. For example, in the last part when conducting survey to the responder. I agree with you that making a questionnaire must be clear and focus to the problem. It is not good if the question has an ambivalence or dual meaning, so I think the good question is made for clearness and simplicity. Furthermore, I think it is easier to create a questionnaire for quantitative method, because you direct them to choose the answer. For example, in qualitative question we can give open question like “What do you think about your teacher?” This is confusing to answer, what do you expect of this type of question? Is it how he teach? Is it his appearance? Is it his personality? It is not clear. But in quantitative you can give several options to “help” the respondent, such as: a. the lecture is great and easy to understand, b. the lecture either easy or hard to understand, etc. So, I think it is crucial to formulate a good question to conduct a survey.
Hi Hannah,
SvaraRaderaI agree with you that this week´s seminar was really good, actually I think it was the best seminar so far in this course. You could see that Olle was well prepared and the setup of the seminar was well organized, something I have missed during the earlier seminars. The fact that the seminar was based on a game and a contest made everyone much more engaged in the discussions which I believe made everyone learn much more of the topic. Thank you for a good reflection!
Hi Hannah! I think that it is interesting with the amount of questions in questionnaires and also the importance to conduct them in a correct way. Because as Olle said, if the amount of questions is too large people will just answer something to get it over with, and if the question is two statements in one, which statement is the person answering. So that makes me a bit scared if some facts or "science" that we have in the real world might be due errors because of bad formed questions. Do you think that may be true in some cases?
SvaraRadera