Statistics Project: Attitudes toward Crime

Page 1 of 1 Advanced Research Methods and Analysis I

© 2016 South University

Administering Surveys

There are three methods of administering survey questions to a sample of respondents.

1. Self-administered Questionnaires

A self-administered questionnaire is one where respondents answer questions without the assistance or presence of the administrator. Self-administered surveys have been found to have high reliability, which means when respondents were asked to answer the questions a second time, their answers were similar to their first answers. The validity, however, depends on whether people tell the truth when they answer. Sometimes, self-administered surveys can be checked against other sources of information for accuracy.

In criminal justice, you might check self-administered surveys against official police records, school records, or other available sources. You may also interview people familiar with the respondent to see if they are telling the truth. You might also use lie scales or questions in the survey aimed directly at determining the honesty of the individual answering the questions. A common instrument used in the criminal justice field that uses these lie scales is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).

The most difficult problem in self-administered surveys is to overcome inaccurate self-reporting. Many people do not want to admit to things they have done, even anonymously. Sometimes people see themselves differently than others and might be biased in their answers toward themselves, which might not give an accurate reflection.

2. Surveys by Face-to-Face Interviews

There are generally two types of interviews. The structured, or closed, interviews and the unstructured, or open, interviews. Both of these can be used in collecting data. One of the advantages of the interview is that it allows for personal contact between the researcher and the subject. Because of the face-to-face relationship, interviews will generally elicit a higher response rate than mail surveys. Interviews also allow for the interviewer to clarify questions the respondent does not understand and provide visual effects that might help prompt the respondent to give appropriate answers. A disadvantage is that face-to-face interviews can be very time consuming and costly. Interviewer bias may also distort the results.

3. Telephonic Interviews

Telephonic surveys are less time consuming and less costly than face-to-face interviews. They generally have a high response rate and provide for easy follow-up. Telephone interviewers, however, may have difficulty obtaining in-depth responses or considered answers. There is also the possibility of a high refusal rate as some people may view surveyors as telemarketers and not want to talk to them.