Before this class I thought surveys were the easiest and quickest way to gather information for research, but I was wrong. If there is one thing I’ve learned so far, it’s that there is no easy research…at least not if it’s worthy of academic study.
For a survey to be successful, it must be well planned, organized and implemented. Surveys require thoughtful planning of questions, choosing participants, consideration of variables, and the ability for the researcher to accept advice from others which Bonnie demonstrated in her own survey process.
I think the element that makes surveys most difficult is that the questions are vague enough not to lead the answers but on target enough to gather useful information. I think of the composition of surveys now as a process that requires peer review, and multiple drafts.
I have also been thinking about our discussion on a culture of surveys, and I think that there definitely is a culture, but I don’t think it’s new. I think surveys have been popular for a long time, especially with younger age groups, and girls in particular. I know when I was in middle school especially; surveys were an important past time for my friends and me. Why, I’m not sure of, but we did as many as we could find in magazines, and wrote our own too.
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Truer words have never been spoken that your wise observation that there is no easy research. We need a t-shirt that says that :)
ReplyDeleteI also love the parallels you draw between modern survey taking and surveys of the past. It seems women's magazines especially have long used surveys as a staple in their writing. Is this something men's magazines do also? That might be a research project - the gendered evolution of surveys. Great observation!
Robin,
ReplyDeleteThe more I research, the more I realize how true your statement is about no research being easy. When I first entered the process of creating a survey, I thought I was brilliant and articulate. Four months later, I scoff at my naivety and how "leading" all of my questions truly were in my first draft. Sometimes, it is the drafting process, that teaches us the most about what we value and what we must be cognizant of during the rewriting of our questions. Being okay with being wrong was the most difficult step of that process for me.
I so remember taking all those ridiculous quizzes with friends. We loved those darn things. Do you remember those books called "Mad Lips" that allowed you to fill in the words to create a crazy story? I loved those things! :)
I do think that surveys still hold so much weight with many audiences. Our discussions make me think about some of Gerri's comments in class about people using survey instruments form 10, 20, and even 30 years ago, despite the fact that these surveys are likely out of date. I think they have been such a fall back approach because people do look at them as easy to conduct and gather information quickly, however, as Gerri and I have mentioned previously, I'm skeptical of them, particularly if they are the sole method used for data collection.
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