Methods

Methods

Our methods of collecting data would have to be in an appropriate and confidential way as in our opinion, the respondents to our results would most likely not like to have their personal information leaked out to the public. as our topic is an illicit topic.

Selected Method

Surveys

Survey Methodology. In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survey_methodology

A survey is basically made of statistics and social sciences. Polls about public opinion, public health surveys, market research surveys, government surveys and Censuses are all examples of surveys that are used in the 21st Century today that use contemporary survey methodology to answers questions about a population. Surveys include questionnaires, interviewers, and nonresponse follow-up techniques. Surveys provide important information for all kinds of public information and research fields, e.g., marketing research, psychology, health professionals and sociology.

Modes of Data Collection could be through

• Telephone
• Mail (post)
• Online surveys
• Personal in-home surveys
• Personal mall or street intercept survey

Advantages of Surveys

• They are relatively easy and inexpensive to administer for the simplest of designs.
• Simply administering a survey does not require a lot of technical expertise, if quality of the data is not a major concern.
• Useful in describing the characteristics of a large population assuming the sampling is valid.
• Can be administered remotely via the Web, mobile devices, mail, e-mail, telephone, etc.
• Efficient at collecting information from a large number of respondents for a fixed cost compared to other methods.
• Many questions can be asked about a given topic.
• A wide range of information can be collected (e.g., attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavior).

Disadvantages of Surveys

• The validity and reliability of survey data may depend on the following: Respondents' motivation, honesty, memory, and ability to respond.
• Respondents may not be fully aware of their reasons for any given action, making surveys weak methods for things that respondents cannot report consciously and accurately.
• Structured surveys, particularly those with closed ended questions, may have low validity when researching affective variables.
• Self-selection bias. Although the individuals chosen to participate in surveys are usually randomly sampled, errors due to nonresponse may exist.

Nonresponse Reduction

• Advance letter. A short letter is sent in advance to inform the sampled respondents about the upcoming survey. The style of the letter should be personalized but not overdone.
• Short introduction. The interviewer should always start with a short instruction about him or herself. She/he should give her name, the institute she is working for, the length of the interview and goal of the interview. Also it can be useful to make clear that you are not selling anything: this has been shown to lead led to a slightly higher responding rate.
• Respondent-friendly survey questionnaire. The questions asked must be clear, non-offensive and easy to respond to for the subjects under study.

Other methods to increase response rates

• Financial Incentives

• Paid In Advance

• Paid At Completion

• Non-Monetary Incentives

• Commodity Giveaways (pens, notepads)

• Entry Into A Lottery, Draw or Contest

• Discount Coupons

• Follow-Up Requests – Multiple Requests

• Emotional Appeals

• Bids For Sympathy

• Convince Respondent That They Can Make A Difference

• Guarantee Anonymity

Our Selected Method of Survey

Questionnaire at Google Drive using Google Docs 

Using Google Docs (Forms) we will create our own survey form for our respondents. We will send out the survey through platforms such as Facebook, e-Mail, Public Shout outs, etc.

Using this survey we will see how our response ends up and our target response is to reach at least 50 responses. If we were to receive a low number of responses we will resort to face-face interviews or re-send the survey again through Social Media Platforms. Also we may use other methods to increase response rates as stated above.

We will closely monitor the analyze the result of our survey and then agree on a final decision for our conclusion.

Our survey is currently available here: Survey