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Science solves its problems using certain methods. Method is the way of knowing the truth. There are a general method (methodology), general (inherent in a number of sciences) and private (specific to a given science) methods, as well as research techniques and means.

Methods are based on theory and methodology. Each specific science, using general methods, clarifies, specifies and transforms them in relation to the conditions and objectives of its research.

The main methods of collecting information are observation (the study of external manifestations of feelings, actions, deeds and behavior of people and groups in various conditions of their life and activities) and experiment (the active intervention of the researcher in the process being studied).

Observation and experiment are complemented by other methods: individual (conversations) and mass - surveys (questionnaires, tests, interviews), generalization of independent characteristics, etc.

In this paper we will consider the survey method.

A survey is a method used to study the opinions, attitudes or behavior of individuals.

A survey is a method of collecting primary information based on direct (conversation, interview) or indirect (questionnaire) socio-psychological interaction between the researcher and the respondent. The source of information in this case is a person’s verbal or written judgment.

The widespread use of this method is explained by its versatility, comparative ease of application and data processing. In a short time, the researcher can obtain information about the real activities and actions of the respondent, information about his moods, intentions, and assessments of the surrounding reality.

One of the difficulties faced by a researcher using survey methods is ensuring the validity and reliability of the data obtained. The information that the interviewer receives is subjective in nature, since it depends on the degree of sincerity of the respondent, his ability to adequately evaluate his actions and personal qualities, as well as other people, ongoing events, etc. Therefore, the data obtained as a result of the survey should be compared with data obtained by other methods (experiment, observation, analysis of documentation, etc.).

In the USA, special institutes, laboratories and departments have been created, tens of thousands of instructors have been trained to conduct a wide variety of surveys, starting with sounding public opinion and ending with a study of the personal tastes of various segments of consumers of American products.
Based on mass surveys of various social strata, attempts are made to give far-reaching forecasts both in the area domestic policy, and in the sphere of consumption, trade, fashion, etc. The literature on survey techniques and procedures in the United States alone today numbers at least three hundred titles.
When talking about a survey method, they usually mean the questionnaire method, the interview method and the sociometric method. All these methods are well developed and modern explorer does not experience much difficulty when drawing up questions for various types of questionnaires or conducting conversations with subjects.

Soviet researchers also widely use survey methods, but when using them, a certain amount of caution and restraint is observed, because all of them are good and effective not on their own, but only in flexible combination with other methods, both mentioned by us and not mentioned. For example, interesting data were obtained using the questionnaire method in combination with other methods (interviews, observations, natural experiment) when studying the attitude of young workers to work, the reasons for labor turnover, studying the time budget of workers (A. G. Zdravomyslov, V. A. Yadov).

The survey method was effectively used in studies of the life plans, interests and aspirations of Soviet youth, on the peculiarities of the formation of public opinion (B. A. Grushin, V. T. Lisovsky).

2. diversity of the survey method

A survey is the most common method of collecting primary information. In each case, the survey involves addressing a direct participant and is aimed at those aspects of the process that are little or not amenable to direct observation. That is why a survey is indispensable when it comes to studying those substantive characteristics of social, group and interpersonal relationships that are hidden from the external eye and make themselves felt only in certain conditions and situations.

Two main types of sociological survey: questioning and interviewing.

When surveying, the respondent fills out the questionnaire himself, in the presence of the surveyor or without him. Depending on the form, it can be individual or group. In the latter case, for a short time you can interview a significant number of people. It can also be full-time and part-time. The most common forms of correspondence are: postal survey; survey through a newspaper, magazine.

Interviewing involves personal communication with the interviewee, in which the researcher (or his authorized representative) asks questions and records the answers. In terms of the form it can be carried out, it can be direct or indirect, for example by telephone.

The purpose of the interview is to extract the necessary information from the interlocutor’s answers to previously prepared and specially posed questions. If during a survey the information carrier has the opportunity, after thinking and studying the questions, to give a written answer to them (and often does this in the absence of the experimenter), then the interview is an act of direct communication between individuals (the interviewer - the questioner and the respondent - the respondent), and the nature, completeness , the depth of the information obtained here largely depends not only on skillfully and clearly posed questions, but also on the characteristics of interpersonal relationships that are established during the conversation.

Having formulated the initial hypothesis, the researcher determines the factors that he intends to study and considers a system of questions, based not only on the tasks and goals of the study, but also on preliminary information about the respondent (level of education, age). Once the respondent begins to speak, the interviewer should not interrupt him, comment on his answer, or push him to certain conclusions. Only after the answer, the interviewer proceeds to discuss this issue with the interlocutor, clarify details, specify individual comments, statements, etc. The respondent should feel that he is understood and have goodwill towards the interlocutor. This largely depends on how the interviewer carries himself.
Depending on the goals of the study, there are in-depth interviews (clarification of one question while maintaining freedom in the way of conducting the conversation and freedom in the form of answers), free (questions are not specified or clarified in advance, but only indicate a certain topic, the direction of the conversation), indirect (the true meaning of the question differs from its external form. For example, a direct question: “Do you often watch TV shows?”, indirect: “Can you list the TV shows you liked over the past two to three months?”), extensive (multiple conversations with a large number of individuals, allowing the responses to be subjected to statistical processing).

Existing ideas about the ease of questionnaire technology and methods of processing questionnaires are often illusory. First of all, there are questionnaires with open and closed questions. The former allow a free form of answer, the latter - one of those proposed by the experimenter: “Yes”, “No”, “I don’t know”. For each form of questionnaire there is a corresponding processing procedure. If the purpose of the survey is to express an attitude towards something or evaluate something, it is advisable to develop questionnaires with open-ended questions that allow the subject to express his opinion in a relatively detailed form. For example, wanting to find out the reason for the low prestige of some professions in the eyes of schoolchildren, the experimenter should not put them within the strict framework of standard, unshaded answers. For example, to the question: “Do you like this profession?” - in a questionnaire with closed-ended questions the answers may be: “Yes”, “No”, “I haven’t thought about it”, and in a questionnaire with open-ended questions the same question may sound like this: “What do you see as the attractiveness (unattractiveness) of this profession? »
It is necessary to take into account the differences between the questionnaire and the questionnaire. If the questionnaire most often aims to find out the respondent’s attitude to a particular problem, then the questionnaire involves clarifying the system of the respondent’s attitudes to some phenomena or some problem.

A questionnaire is most often a tool for macrosocial research, a questionnaire for microsocial research. This difference is also reflected in the number of questions offered for answering. If the questionnaire includes from 3 to 15 questions, then the questionnaires offer subjects several dozen questions.
One of the types of surveys! is the method of polar profiles, which was successfully applied by G. Gibsch, M. Vorwerg (GDR) and P. Tofstetter (Germany) and is currently widely used in many studies. Unlike a regular questionnaire, which may require one of two answers (“Yes”, “No”) or, in extreme cases, several (“Yes”, “No”, “I don’t know”), in relation to very specific qualities or objects, The polar profile scale allows, for example, to reveal the subject’s opinion not only about the presence or absence of certain specific qualities or characteristics in him or other people, but also about the degree of their expression.

The polar profile method makes the questionnaire more informative and allows you to delve deeper into the essence of the phenomena being studied. Using this method, the experimenter usually already has a standardized set (taking into account the age of the subjects and the goals of the study) of personality traits, the severity of which can be assessed on a 4-point scale for each profile (0, 1, 2, 3). If the subject believes that this quality inherent in the group member he characterizes to the highest degree, he gives him a maximum score of 3 points. The antipode of this quality (“generous” - “stingy”) is assessed according to the expected degree of expression with a negative score. The resulting profile is subjected to the usual statistical processing procedure, and on this basis a conclusion is made about how much the qualities of the individual being assessed coincide with the standard ideas existing in the given environment.

The method of generalization of independent characteristics developed by K. K. Platonov has now become widespread, and in particular in pedagogy. Its essence comes down to collecting and analyzing the opinions of respondents about the personality of the person they encounter in various fields joint activities. For example, wanting to study more deeply the characteristics of a student’s personality, a teacher can use the opinions about him not only of subject teachers, but also of comrades, pioneer and Komsomol activists, parents, coach, counselor, etc. Having analyzed and summarized the collected characteristics, the teacher receives initial data for a monographic (in-depth, comprehensive) study of the student’s personality.
Despite the fact that each of the characteristics contains subjective assessments, in the end it is possible, with appropriate processing and analysis, to create an objective image of the personality. In a generalized characteristic, each trait taken into account can be assessed with a certain score on a selected scale, for example, as is done when assessing personality traits using the polar profile method. In fact, the method of generalizing independent characteristics is a variation of one of the methods of empirical sociology, called the “method of competent judges.” In foreign social psychology a variation of this method is also known as “rating”.

The sociometric method occupies a special place among various survey methods. Sociometric procedures for studying levels and characteristics interpersonal communication in small groups, developed and proposed by D. Moreno, have become firmly established in the practice of socio-psychological experiments. However, if just recently sociometry was considered one of the most promising areas in social psychology, today both strong and weak sides sociometric approach to the study of group development phenomena.

Proponents of sociometry consider its undoubted advantage to be the quantitative determination of preferences expressed in the relationships of people to each other. The sociometric method, as noted by one of its first interpreters E. S. Kuzmin, allows us to give a snapshot of the dynamics of internal relationships in a team, establish the closeness of relationships, groupings, the authority of members in groups, etc. Almost every socio-psychological study, carried out in a school group, usually begins with a sociometric procedure, since with its help one can see the system of interpersonal relationships in the team that is often hidden from direct observation.

Ya. L. Kolominsky was one of the first to use sociometric methods for studying school groups in the USSR. He also owns a number of works in which he evaluates this method and its capabilities.
Being very convenient as an “express method,” the sociometric method nevertheless turns out to be powerless to look behind the facade of “choices” and “preferences”; it is not able to answer the very important question of why or why A. chooses or gives preference to B. ; a sociometric technique will not help to distinguish an established team from a diffuse (random, uncohesive) group.

That is why only a creative approach to sociometry can avoid the limitations of this method. It has now been proven that the well-known limitations inherent in sociometric procedures can be successfully overcome if sociometry, aimed at identifying likes and dislikes in a group, is supplemented with other types of measurements of intragroup differentiation, aimed at identifying significant connections in the group.

Depending on the source (carrier) of primary sociological information, a distinction is made between mass and specialized surveys. In a mass survey, the main source of information is representatives of various social groups whose activities are not directly related to the subject of analysis. Participants in mass surveys are usually called respondents. In specialized surveys, the main source of information is competent individuals whose professional or theoretical knowledge and life experience allow them to draw authoritative conclusions. In fact, the participants in such surveys are experts who can give a balanced assessment on issues of interest to the researcher. Hence, another widely used name in sociology for such surveys is expert surveys and assessments.

One of the difficult problems of interviewing is not to push the interviewee towards information that is desirable for the sociologist as an individual; do not interpret loose and inaccurate answers as close to your own opinion; avoid being identified with the representation of power and other influential structures; refrain from making personal value assessments during the survey process and maintain “neutrality” as much as possible.

Conclusion

Survey methods - oral survey: interview, conversation, expert assessment. A survey is a method of obtaining information about the subjective world of people, their inclinations, motives for activity, opinions and relationships. A survey is a method of collecting primary information by asking questions to a specific group of people. Surveys can be: written (questionnaire, essay) and oral (interview, conversation, expert assessment); full-time and correspondence (postal, press, etc.); expert and mass; selective and continuous; primary and repeated. A survey is the most convenient way to obtain information. It is easy to process, interpret, and store. Two participants participate in the survey: a correspondent - a researcher; respondent - person being interviewed.

Bibliography

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3. Lukashevich V.K. Scientific method/Lukashevich V.K. M., 1991.
   
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Questioning is a procedure for conducting a survey in writing using pre-prepared forms. Questionnaires (from the French “list of questions”) are filled out independently by respondents.

This method has the following advantages:

High efficiency of obtaining information;

Possibility of organizing mass surveys;

Relatively low labor intensity of procedures for preparing and conducting research, processing their results;

The lack of influence of the personality and behavior of the interviewer on the work of respondents;

The researcher’s lack of expression of subjective bias towards any of the respondents,

However, questionnaires also have significant disadvantages:

The lack of personal contact does not allow, as, say, in a free interview, to change the order and wording of questions depending on the answers or behavior of the respondents;

The reliability of such “self-reports” is not always sufficient, the results of which are influenced by the respondents’ unconscious attitudes and motives or their desire to appear in a more favorable light, deliberately embellishing the real state of affairs.

Let's look at the main types of questions in the questionnaire.

1) about the personality of the respondent, regarding his gender, age, education, profession, marital status, etc. Their presence makes it possible to further process the survey material within a particular subgroup of people, if necessary, comparing similar information from different subgroups;

2) about facts of consciousness intended to identify the opinions, motives, expectations, plans, and value judgments of respondents;

3) about facts of behavior that reveal real actions, actions and results of people’s activities.

When processing data from large contingents of respondents, coding of answers to closed questions is used. To do this, all answers are accompanied by three-digit numbers, in which the first two digits indicate the serial number of the question, and the third indicates the serial number of the answer. In practice, coding is also common in which all numbers serve to indicate the serial numbers of the answers. The subject is asked to underline or circle the codes of the selected answers.

The use of closed questions in the questionnaire allows you to effectively compare the results of respondents. However, they lack the fullness of expression of individual opinions or assessments, which sometimes causes dissatisfaction among the subjects, and it is also known that such questions can provoke a series of not properly thought out, “mechanical” answers.

A semi-closed question is used if the compiler is not aware of all possible answer options or intends to more accurately and completely clarify the individual points of view of the persons being surveyed. In addition to the list of ready-made answers, such a question contains a column “other answers” ​​and a certain number of empty lines (usually five to seven);

An open question assumes that the answer to it will be formulated entirely by the respondent himself,

Of course, this will greatly hinder the comparability of responses. Therefore, such questions are used either in the early stages of compiling a questionnaire, or when there is a need for the most complete expression of all individual answer options available in the group. Such questions are also inappropriate in cases where the anonymity of respondents is of particular importance.

Depending on the way of formulation, questions can be direct or indirect.

A direct question is aimed at directly, openly obtaining information from the respondent. It is expected that it will be answered in an equally direct and honest manner.

However, where it is necessary to express a fairly critical attitude towards oneself and others, many tend to limit themselves to socially approved answers, sometimes to the detriment of sincerity. In fact, what will be the teacher’s answer to the question “What prevents you from conducting your classes well?” or the student’s response “Why do you often miss lectures?”

In such cases, an indirect question is made, which is usually associated with the use of some imaginary situation that masks the critical potential of the information being transmitted. For example: “It’s no secret that some students in your course rarely attend lectures.” Why do you think?” or “Sometimes you can hear the opinion that some teachers conduct their classes poorly. What explains this attitude towards work?

Based on their function, the questionnaire questions are divided into informational (basic), filters, and control (clarifying).

Moreover, most questions are aimed at obtaining information from each of the respondents. This is the so-called main questions.

Filter questions are used when information is needed not from the entire population of respondents, but only from a part of them. This is a kind of “questionnaire within a questionnaire”. The beginning and end of the filter are usually clearly marked graphically. For example:

“The next three questions are only for psychology students.

Are you studying at the Faculty of Psychology? ...

What is the quality of practical classes in the psychology of communication?…

To what extent can the knowledge gained from them help you in your work in your specialty?

Attention! Questions for everyone."

Limiting the range of respondents carried out by the filter allows one to avoid distortions of information introduced by the answers of insufficiently competent persons.

Control questions make it possible to clarify the correctness of the information provided by respondents, as well as exclude unreliable answers or even questionnaires from further consideration.

These usually include questions of two types. The first are repetitions of information questions formulated in different words. If the answers to the main and control questions are diametrically opposed, they are excluded from subsequent analysis. Other control questions serve to identify individuals who have an increased tendency to choose socially approved answers. They offer a variety of answers where in practice there may only be a single answer. Eg:

“Have you ever been naughty as a child?”

As can be seen from the nature of these questions, the likelihood of receiving an honest, but not actually common, answer to them is very small.

There are several ways to improve control efficiency:

In the questionnaire, the main and control questions should not be placed side by side, otherwise their relationship will be discovered;

Answers to direct questions are better controlled by indirect questions;

Only the most significant questions in the questionnaire need to be controlled;

The need for control, as a rule, is reduced if a significant part of the questions allows for evasion of the answer, expression of uncertainty of opinion (such as “I don’t know”, “I don’t know”, “when how”, etc.).

Stages of preparing the questionnaire.

I. Analysis of the survey topic, highlighting individual problems in it;

II. Development of a pilot questionnaire with a predominance of open questions;

III. Pilot survey. Analysis of its results;

IV. Clarification of the wording of instructions and the content of questions;

V. Questionnaire;

VI. Generalization and interpretation of results. Preparing of report.

Composition of the questionnaire. Such a standardized and correspondence conversation with the respondent has a fairly stable scenario. It usually begins with a brief introduction - an address to the respondent, which outlines the topic of the survey, its goals, the name of the organization or person conducting the survey, and the strict confidentiality of the information received.

Then, as a rule, instructions for filling out the form are given. If the nature of the questions or their form changes throughout the questionnaire, instructions may be not only at the beginning, but also in other parts of the form.

It is very rare that the process of filling out a questionnaire itself is of particular benefit to the persons being interviewed. Therefore, usually the first questions are made as easy and interesting as possible. It is important to make sure that the majority of respondents want to answer them. The functions of such contact questions are:

a) formation of an attitude towards cooperation;

b) stimulating the interest of subjects;

c) introducing respondents to the range of problems discussed in the questionnaire;

d) obtaining information.

They are followed by more difficult questions, constituting the main content of the questionnaire.

And finally, in the final part of the form, easier questions again follow, which is associated with the onset of exhaustion of attention, with increasing fatigue of respondents.

Requirements for the wording of questions for the questionnaire:

Does the question contain hints, either explicitly or implicitly? (After all, a question like “What do you like about...?” already has a certain external predetermination, since it presupposes that something is “liked”)

Does the question exceed the respondent's level of memory or thinking? (As an example, you could try to accurately answer a question such as “How many hours a month do you spend preparing for seminars?”)

Does it contain words that are incomprehensible to the respondents or have extremely vague content? (For example, such as “tolerance”, “altruism”, “rating”, “infantilism”, etc., or words like “often”, “rarely”, “on average”, ..., the content of which is very ambiguous for different people. Not like a schoolchild, not every student will answer the question “Do you often show conformity?” And how do you mean “often”? Once a day, a week, a year?)

Does the question hurt the respondent’s dignity and self-esteem? Will it cause an excessive negative emotional reaction?

Is the size question too long? Are the answers to it too detailed?

Are several different subjects being asked at the same time? Is there an error in the logic of presentation?

Will the question apply to everyone? Is a filter necessary?

Does the issue need control? Which one exactly?

What type of question (in terms of answer form and method of formulation) is most preferable in this particular case?

Are there options for avoidance in a closed question? Are they necessary?

Is there grammatical agreement between the question and its answers?

Were there any distortions when reprinting the questionnaire?

Examination card No. 15

1. Repeated exercise method (purpose, content, methodological features, options).

Repeat method characterized by repeated exercises at rest intervals, during which a fairly complete restoration of performance occurs. When using this method, the training effect on the body is provided not only during the period of performing the exercise, but also due to the summation of the body’s fatigue from each repetition of the task.

This method is used in both cyclic and acyclic sports.

In practice, the repeated method is used in several variants:

1) repeated work with uniform, non-limiting intensity;

2) repeated work with uniform maximum intensity;

The main goal of the repeated method is to perform movements, actions, tasks a certain number of times, trying to adhere to the required form and character and achieving improvement in them. Such methods are also called training methods, sometimes gymnastics. Such methods may differ in the nature and magnitude of the efforts exerted (maximum, moderate impact methods, etc.); by the nature of repetition (repeated, interval, etc. methods); by the nature of execution (tempo, uniform, variable, etc.); according to the composition of the exercise (holistic, dismembered, etc.); by direction (facilitating, complicating, etc.). Differences in methods are also determined by the external conditions in which educational and training tasks are performed, as well as the use of equipment, simulators, special equipment, etc.

The speed of movement is planned in advance, based on the personal record for this segment. Exercises are performed in series. The number of repetitions of exercises in each series is small and is limited by the ability of the trainees to maintain a given intensity (speed of movement, tempo of movements, amount of external resistance, etc.).

Rest intervals depend on the duration and intensity of the load. However, they are installed in such a way as to ensure restoration of performance before the next repetition of the exercise.

In cyclic exercises, repeated work over short periods is aimed at developing speed abilities. For medium and long speed endurance.

Moving with high intensity in skating, walking and other exercises over relatively long periods contributes to the development of a “sense of competitive pace” and improvement of movement technique. In this regard, the repeated method is sometimes called the repeated-tempo training method.

The nature of energy supply when working on short segments is mainly anaerobic, and on medium and long segments it is mixed, i.e. aerobic-anaerobic. In acyclic exercises (weightlifting, jumping, throwing), along with improving movement technique, this method is used mainly to develop strength and speed-strength abilities.

The following tasks are solved using the repeated method: development of strength, speed and speed-strength capabilities, speed endurance, development of the necessary competitive tempo and rhythm; stabilization of high-speed movement techniques, mental stability.

In practice, the repeated method is used in several variants. The most common are the following:

1) repeated work with uniform, non-limiting intensity (90-95% of the maximum) to develop the necessary competitive tempo and rhythm, to stabilize technique at high speed, etc.

2) repeated work with uniform maximum intensity.

When using short segments, mainly speed abilities are developed. Longer segments are included in classes relatively rarely and only in small series for maximum impact on volitional qualities.

The questionnaire method is used to survey a large group of people living over a large area to obtain empirical information regarding objective or subjective facts. The survey tool is a questionnaire, which contains instructions for filling out and a list of questions with possible answers, from which the person being questioned (respondent) must choose the most appropriate one. The person conducting the research is called a questionnaire surveyor.

What is the questionnaire

1. Relating to the personality of the respondent(gender, age, education, profession, Family status and etc). The data serves for further processing of survey materials regarding groups of people, which will make it possible to compare the information received from similar subgroups.
2. Definition of facts of consciousness, which help identify respondents’ opinions, plans, motives, expectations, and value judgments.
3. Determining Behavioral Facts, which guide the actions, actions and results of people’s activities.

What survey methods exist?

Questionnaires may contain open, closed and semi-closed questions. Thus, an open question should be followed by a complete answer, which the respondent must formulate independently. Closed questions allow you to compare the results of respondents' questionnaires, but they do not contain the fullness of the respondents' answers, opinions or assessments, which leads to thoughtlessness and mechanicalness of answers. A semi-closed question is used when the compiler does not know all possible answers or wants to more accurately find out the individual opinion of all the people being surveyed. To do this, next to the ready-made answers, the questionnaire contains a column “other answers” ​​and several empty lines.

The survey method is distinguished by the indirect nature of the interaction between the questionnaire and the respondent; their communication takes place using a questionnaire, while the respondent independently reads the questions and independently records the answers in the questionnaire. The survey can be in person and in absentia, anonymous and personalized, and questions, depending on the way they are formulated, can be direct or indirect. The first ones assume to receive the same direct and honest answer from the subject.

If it is necessary to obtain a frank answer to questions regarding a personal assessment of events or personalities, or to express a critical attitude towards them, an indirect question is introduced that masks the critical component of the information. For this purpose, some imaginary situation is used, to which the respondent must give his own answer. Basic questions are aimed at obtaining detailed information from each respondent. If it is necessary to obtain information from some respondents, filter questions are used. They are a “questionnaire within a questionnaire”.

Stages of conducting a survey

The survey method involves going through certain stages, including:

1. Determining the topic of the survey, setting the problems and tasks to be solved.
2. Development of a questionnaire with a majority of open questions.
3. Pilot survey and its analysis.
4. Clarification of texts of instructions and questions.
5. Conducting a survey.
6. Summarizing survey results and preparing a report.

What are the pros and cons of surveys?

The survey cannot cover all members of the community being studied, therefore it has selective nature. And obtaining reliable and reliable information depends on the representativeness of the sample. When developing the text of the questionnaire, you need to use various types and forms of questions, because they all have their advantages and disadvantages. Subsequent processing of personal data must also be taken into account. It is more difficult to process open questions, at the same time, closed questions in the form of a “menu”, scales, tables are more convenient for processing, but do not guarantee the completeness of respondents’ assessments.

The advantages of the method include:

• Questioning allows you to attract a significant number of respondents to the study.
• Possibility of obtaining information from large quantity people in a short period of time.
• Possibility of computer processing of information.
• With an anonymous survey you can get large quantity truthful and open statements.

The disadvantages of the method include:

• Dependence on the representativeness of the selection, the veracity of the answers, the dispersion of elements in the overall sample and the sampling plan.
• The influence of subjective factors, such as reluctance to give truthful answers, haste and thoughtlessness of answers.

conclusions

While there are many negative opinions regarding the questioning method, today it is one of the main ones for studying individuals when hiring them for work, studying, and with its help they study any aspects of social relations.

Questionnaires as a research method are increasingly used in modern world. It helps to collect the necessary information.

This article will tell you what goals this type of research pursues, how questionnaires and questionnaires are created, what should be avoided when compiling them and how to analyze the results.

Questioning in sociology - general concept, goals and objectives

Social surveying is a useful tool for obtaining information from people. That is, the main goal is to collect data.

How does a questionnaire differ from testing? Testing is testing people for a certain level of knowledge, skills or general intellectual development.

So, testing has a different purpose compared to questionnaires. Testing is most often used in pedagogy.

The surveyor is the person who conducts the survey; respondent (or informant) is the one who fills out the questionnaire.

There are several different tasks that a survey faces:

1. Learn new theoretical information.
2. Find out more about the target audience. Questionnaires that determine what consumers want, need, and like are useful in segmenting lists based on these factors. The more narrow and specific the lists are, the higher the chances of a successful conversion rate.
3. Get feedback on a recent event, product or service: If the audience expresses their opinion, it will help achieve great success in future endeavors.
4. Test your knowledge. Interviewing can be used (but more rarely) to determine the level of knowledge. Testing is often used for this purpose.
5. Clarify your point of view. Questionnaires used for explanatory purposes have great importance to reduce misunderstandings and therefore more effective communication in the future.
6. Establish positive relationships: When lines of communication are opened, it shows respondents that their opinions are valued.

Types of surveys

Depending on the number of respondents, the survey can be:

• individual— carried out with one participant;
• group— questionnaires are distributed to a small number of people who are in the same room and go through the questionnaire items.

Depending on the method of distribution, questionnaires are divided into the following categories:

1. Computer questionnaire— participants are asked to fill out a questionnaire, which is sent by mail. The advantages of this type include they are inexpensive, time-saving, and the respondent does not feel pressured so can answer when they have time, giving more accurate answers. However, main drawback is that sometimes informants do not bother to answer and may simply ignore the survey.
2. Telephone questionnaire— the researcher may call potential participants to ask them to answer questions. The advantage of a telephone questionnaire is that it can be completed in a short period of time. The main disadvantage is that most people do not feel comfortable giving information over the phone.
3. Internal survey- this type involves the researcher visiting informants in their homes or places of work. The advantage of an internal survey is that people can pay more attention to all sections of the questionnaire. However, in-house surveys also have a number of disadvantages, which include time-consuming and expensive, and respondents may be reluctant to invite a surveyor into their home or workplace for various reasons.
4. Postal form- Questionnaires of this type require that the researcher sends the respondent psychological questionnaire by mail, often accompanied by a pre-paid envelope. Postal surveys have the advantage of providing a more accurate response because participants can respond free time. The disadvantages are that this method is expensive, time consuming and sometimes emails end up in the trash.

A two-round survey is distinguished separately. In the first round, a regular survey of several participants is carried out. And in the second round, participants exchange questionnaires and analyze each other’s results.

Questionnaire and its structure

A questionnaire is a structured form consisting of a formalized set of questions designed to collect information on specific topics from one or more respondents.

In other words, it is a data collection technique in which informants are asked to give some information. Regardless of the form (written or printed), the survey has a certain structure.

Introductory part

In this part, it is important to guarantee the anonymity and security of the data, and you also need to thank the respondent in advance. The introduction template is shown below.

Passportichka

This is a block in which the participant talks about himself: age, gender, social class, profession, occupation and other demographic data. The passport can be placed either at the beginning or at the end of the questionnaire. An example is given below.

Main part

This is the largest part of the survey, which consists of blocks of questions different shapes and complexity. A sample of the main part is shown below.

Types of questions for the survey

Questionnaires may include the following types:

How to compose a questionnaire for a sociological survey

It is advisable to avoid certain types of questions, such as:

1. Hypothetical. Formulations that mislead with assumptions and fantasies should be avoided. Options:
   • incorrect: “How should our support service work?”;
   • correct: “What do you not like about the work of our support service?”;
2. Embarrassing. There is no need to make respondents feel uncomfortable by asking for details about personal problems, which in turn can lead to a loss of trust. If you need to include such a clause, then it is important to show the participant that he will not be judged for answering. Examples:
   • incorrect: “Do you help poor people?”;
   • correct: “Some people believe that it is not necessary to provide financial assistance to the able-bodied poor. What do you think?”;
3. Extremely positive/negative. Wording must be carefully considered to avoid strong positive or negative connotations. Examples:
   • incorrect: “Aren’t you satisfied with your job?”;
   • Correct: “Are you satisfied with your job?”

Rules for compiling a questionnaire

Questionnaire development is a multi-step process that requires attention to detail at every stage.

The following rules will help simplify this process:

1. Decide what needs to be covered in the questionnaire. Clearly defining the topic is of utmost importance as it is the main step in development.
2. Don't change the words. It is important that the words or phrases that are used are stated as simply as possible. If items are unclear, informants may simply select any options, resulting in inaccurate data.
3. Ask only one question at a time. Options when two questions are asked at once in one question will not give an accurate result, because different answers may be obtained.
4. Correctly formulate questionnaire items multiple-choice: when designing, the questionnaire should be flexible in terms of “choice of options.” Sometimes respondents don't necessarily want to choose one of the answer options provided by the survey creator, in which case it is useful to have an "other" option.
5. Open or closed question- this is a difficult choice: the questionnaire may find itself in a situation where it is necessary to make a clear choice between an open or closed view. But the decision in this case must be made carefully.
6. It's important to know your audience: Generally, the researcher must know his target audience. For example, if target audience is Russian, then sending the questionnaire to foreign language will not give the desired results.
7. Sensitive questions in the middle of a survey may result in participants not completing the survey. The best thing Place blocks of personal and demographic data at the end.

How to submit survey results

Presentation of survey results involves data visualization. To do this, different types of diagrams are used depending on the types of questionnaires.

If questions offer two options (for example, “yes” and “no”), a pie chart is the simplest option for presenting the data.

If you want to compare the response rates of several groups, it is better to choose a histogram. A bunch of aligned bars are much easier to compare than multiple pie charts. It is important to label each column with a percentage for clarity.

In questions with a rating scale, participants are presented with a range of possible answers. A 100% breakdown bar chart is the simplest option for visualizing the collected data.

In addition to other survey results, you can use demographic survey results as part of your analysis. Including factors such as age, gender, income level, and even geographic location can create interesting infographics.

Visualizing survey data on a map is a fun way to include a demographic component in an infographic.

Histograms, on the other hand, can be used to show the age distribution of a particular population.

Processing the results of open-ended questions is a bit of a challenge. To visualize the results, you need to group the responses in some way, using common keywords or other factors.

Word clouds, although frowned upon by some visualization experts, can help provide summary data.

Otherwise, you will need to do more intensive manual analysis: review open responses and create categories. You can then plot the results in a bar graph like this one, which shows the percentage of comments that fall into each category.

Pros and cons of surveys

Advantages:

1. Questionnaires are one of the most cost-effective and available ways collecting quantitative data. Especially online and mobile surveys have very low cost and generous reach.
2. They practical. In addition to being inexpensive and flexible, questionnaires are also a practical way of collecting data. They can be targeted to groups of specific choice and managed in a variety of ways.
3. Scalability. Questionnaires allow you to collect information from a large audience.
4. Scientific analysis and forecasts. The more data that can be collected, the clearer the picture will become. All this information gives marketers the ability to create new strategies and monitor audience trends. Report analysis can be used to make forecasts and even create benchmarks for subsequent questionnaires.
5. Anonymity. In sociological surveys, you do not need to indicate your identity. But to ensure a sense of precise confidentiality, it is better to use computer-based questionnaires. Anonymous computer-assisted interviewing provides the most accurate results.
6. Easy standardization. The researcher can be confident that all participants in the sample are answering the same items.

Conducting a survey has the following disadvantages:

1. Using a mail questionnaire, the researcher can never be sure that the person to whom the psychological questionnaire was sent will actually complete it.
2. The researcher cannot be completely sure that the questions asked mean the same to all informants as they do to the researcher.
3. Dishonesty. People may not be completely truthful in their answers. This can happen by various reasons, including due to social desirability bias and attempts to protect privacy.
4. Some data is difficult to analyze. Questionnaires provide a lot of data. Open questions allow for individual responses that cannot be quantified and must be considered by the individual.
5. Missing items. When using questionnaires, there is a possibility that some items will be ignored.