Engaged Research
At Keio University, Professor Isamu Yamamoto, in the Faculty of Business and Commerce, is conducting research with the aim of designing appropriate systems for the labor market. To do this, Professor Yamamoto analyzes how human resources should be allocated to take into account diverse values among businesses and workers, and the relationship between work-life balance and workers' mental health and business performance.
Quantitative Surveys.
Surveys are a powerful tool to gather quantitative data, enabling the quantification of large amounts of information. Whether you want to know more about a specific population, generalize attitudes and opinions, or understand the effectiveness of an intervention, surveys support diverse types of inquiry. The information and resources below are available to assist you in the process.
The following outlines the standard survey design and respective resources to facilitate the development for each section:
A survey design provides a quantitative or numeric description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. From sample results, the researcher generalizes or makes claims about the population.
Identify the purpose of survey research. This purpose is to generalize from a sample to a population so that inferences can be made about some characteristic, attitude, or behavior of the population. It is importnat to provide a reference to this purpose from one of th survey method texts.
Indicate why a survey is the preferred type of data collection procedure for the study. In this rationale, consider the advantages of survey designs, such as the economy of the design and the rapid turnaround in data collection. Discuss the advantage of identifying attributes of a large population from a small group of individuals.
Indicate whether the survey will be cross-sectional or longitudinal. Will the data be collected at one point in time or over time?
Specify the form of data collection. Fink (2002) identifies four types: self-administered, questionnaires, interviews, structured record reviews, and structured observations. The data collection may also involve creating a Web-based or Internet survey and administering it online. Regardless of the form of data collection, provide a rationale for the procedure, using arguments based on its strengths and weaknesses, costs, data availability, and convenience.
Specify the characteristics of the population and the sampling procedure. Here are essential aspects of the population and sample to describe in a research plan:
Identify the population in the study. Identify the size of this population and the means of identifying individuals in the population.
Identify the slection process for individuals. Does each individual in the population have equal probability of being slected (a systematic or probalilistic sample) or are respondents chosen based on their convenience and availability (convenience sample)?
Discuss the procedures for selecting the sample and the specific characteristics of the population. Identify whether the sample cointains individuals with the characteristics in the same proportion as the characteristics that appear in the entire population.
Free Survey Software
Now that you have developed your survey design and objective, it's time to implement your survey. Below are informational videos that can help you further strengthen your survey design as well as showcase various (free) survey software.
Not sure if you want to download survey software? Google docs also supports survey data collection, you can access instructions here.
Additional Resources
Download the survey design checklist to guide your survey method
Download the complete cheat sheet to outline all aspects of the survey design process.
Synthesizing Survey Design:
Watch this short clip to better understand the three main types of survey design and survey best practices.
Watch the survey best practices webinar by Survey Monkey-- free survey software you can download here.
Kiwik Surveys allows you to upload an unlimited number of survey questions. Access the (free) Kiwik software here. Kiwik surveys allow you to upload videos, images and mp3 files, watch the video to learn more.
LimeSurvey is an open source survey software developed by a community of researchers. You can download the software here. This video will overview the LimeSurvey basics.
Survey Data Analysis
Survey software programs usually have the tools and resources to conduct quantitative data analysis respective to the program you are using. However, oftentimes survey data is only via an excel file. If you choose to export your data to an excel file or have survey data on excel that you would like to analyze, understanding the excel data analysis functions will expedite the process. Each video has a corresponding data set to help you learn the following skills.
Download the excel data analysis and visualization cheat sheet
See how to summarize survey results with a Pivot Table (PivotTable) or a Formula. See how to create a Pivot Table in Excel 2003 or 2007. See how to create an Array formula that will count with two criteria (conditions). Download the file here:
See how to summarize survey results with:
1) Array Formula with SUM, COUNTA and IF functions.
2) VLOOKUP and Data Validation Drop Down List.
Download the file here:
See how to extract word that occurs most frequently from a column of survey results that contain customer preferences for a product using the INDEX, MATCH, MAX and COUNTIF functions. This is a way to get the MODE for data that is made up of words (not numbers). This is an array formula and requires Ctrl + Shift + Enter. Statistical survey results for new product data.