Surveys/Questionaires


	Surveys/Questionaires
	Advantages They are generally more cost effective to administer. They can usually overcome some of the problems associated with gaining access to respondants They generally provide data that is easily quantified (expressed in numbers) and they avoid some of the potential problems created by the interaction between an interviewer and interviewee. They meet the test of 'reliability' and the numerical data they produce can be used to make comparisons between variables and identify patterns and trends.	Disadvantages They usually place limitations on responses 'Yes' and 'No' answers or coded responses (such as options 1-5) restrict the quality of the data to a relatively superficial level of response. Pre-coded questions can often be biased, reflected the researchers than those of the respondant. The data produced is forced into a framework provided by the researcher rather than providing an accurate picture of social reality. They provide little or no opportunity for the researcher to check the truthfulness of responses, whereas interviewers can at least attempt to gauge whether a respondant is telling the truth and then pick up on any points that seem unlikely or inconsistent with previous answers. Low response rate can distort the results and make it impossible to draw any general conclusions from the data.
	Evaluation

They are generally more cost effective to administer.
They can usually overcome some of the problems associated with gaining access to respondants
They generally provide data that is easily quantified (expressed in numbers) and they avoid some of the potential problems created by the interaction between an interviewer and interviewee.
They meet the test of 'reliability' and the numerical data they produce can be used to make comparisons between variables and identify patterns and trends.

They usually place limitations on responses 'Yes' and 'No' answers or coded responses (such as options 1-5) restrict the quality of the data to a relatively superficial level of response.
Pre-coded questions can often be biased, reflected the researchers than those of the respondant. The data produced is forced into a framework provided by the researcher rather than providing an accurate picture of social reality.
They provide little or no opportunity for the researcher to check the truthfulness of responses, whereas interviewers can at least attempt to gauge whether a respondant is telling the truth and then pick up on any points that seem unlikely or inconsistent with previous answers.
Low response rate can distort the results and make it impossible to draw any general conclusions from the data.

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