Conduct

Survey,
Experiment,&
Observation
OBJECTIVES • To define Surveys, Experiments, and
Observation briefly.

• To give ways on how to conduct

Surveys, Experiments, and
Observation .
ACTIVITY 1
Think and Guess!
VASERTIONOB

OBSERVATION
PEMENRITXE

EXPERIMENT
REYSUV
SURVEY
A BIT OF CONTEXT…
Research Question(s)

Research Design
You Are Here…
(Human Subjects Review)

DATA COLLECTION

Data Analysis

Writing and Publication

 SURVEYS
DATA COLLECTION METHODS
Asking participants about their opinions and behaviours through a
short questionnaire.

EXPERIMENTS

In business research, experiments can be conducted for studying

cause-and- effect relationships.

OBSERVATIONS

Observing and measuring the world around you, including

observations of people and other measurable events.
Survey is a research technique, which is used to gather information
from a sample of respondents by employing a questionnaire.

Surveys are normally carried out to obtain primary data.

Primary data are the data that are gathered first hand to answer
the research question being investigated.
SURVEYS ARE CONDUCTED BY:

-Meeting the respondents in person

-Contacting the respondents through the telephone

-Conducting surveys through email

-Conducting the online surveys through the internet

HOW TO ORGANIZE SURVEYS
c

1. Plan ahead

2. Identify goals

3. Provide instructions

4. Length of survey
 TYPES OF QUESTIONS c

o OPEN FORMAT
The respondents can formulate their own answers.
Use it if you are looking for respondents to provide specific comments or
feedback.

o CLOSED FORMAT
Respondents are forced to choose between several given options.
e.g. Multiple choice, yes/no and ranking.
 HOW TO ASK THE RESPONDENTS
c

 Use short and simple sentences.

 Ask for only one piece of information at a time.

 Avoid negatives as possible.

 HOW TO ARRANGE THE QUESTIONS
Some original rules are:
 Go from general to specific.
 Go from easy to difficult.
 Start with closed format questions.
 Start with questions relevant to the main subject.
 Do not start with demographic and personal question.

*Questionnaires must first be piloted and evaluated before the actual survey.
 To begin a survey, it is good to have a
personalized cover letter
that explains the purpose of the survey, the
importance of the respondent’s participation, the
person who is responsible for the survey.

At the end, always thank the respondents for

participating in your questionnaire.
SURVEYS: EXAMPLE

D’Elia et al (2002)
Objective: to collect descriptive information on the consumer market for public library
services and Internet services

Telephone survey of 3,097 English – and Spanish – speaking adults in the continental U.S.

Survey instrument informed by prior focus groups conducted by same researchers, as well
as other similar surveys conducted by others: 3 pilot tests run to refine the instrument

Findings: use of library and use of the internet are complementary, not necessarily
competing; however: the data also showed shifting consumer preferences between the two
SURVEYS: EXAMPLE
(internet)
 Working to understand the social dynamics of a particular
setting by observing and recording what goes on there over an
extended period of time.

It can be conducted on nearly any subject matter, and the

kinds of observations you will do depend on your research
question.

OBS N
 OBSERVATION: EXAMPLE
1. Observing traffic or parking patterns on campus to get a
sense of what improvements could be made.

2. In observing people, you will have several additional

considerations including the manner in which you will
observe them and gain their consent.
 OBSERVATION IN PEOPLE: 2 COMMON WAYS
a. Participant Observation – researcher may interact with
participants.

b. Unobtrusive Observation – you do not interact with

participants but rather simply
record their behaviour like in malls.
 ELIMINATE BIAS
The ethical concern of being unbiased is important in
recording your observations. Be aware of the difference of
observation and interpretation.

e.g. The student sits in the dining hall. As he eats, his piece of
pizza, which drips oil, he says to a friend, “This pizza is good.”
 OBSERVATION
The student sits in the dining hall. As he
eats his piece of pizza, which drips oil, he
says to a friend, “This pizza is good.”
I observed cash register #1 for 15
minutes. During that time, 22 students
paid for meals. Of those 22 students, 15
grabbed candy bar. 3 of 22 had a piece
of fruit in their plate.
THOUGHT
It seems like the student really
enjoys the high – calorie pizza.
Fruit is less accessible than candy
bars (it is further back in the dining
court). Is this why more students
are reaching for candy bars?
EXPERIMENT
In business research, experiments can be conducted for
studying cause – and – effect relationships. This method
uses controls for all of the crucial factors that could
potentially affect the phenomena of interest. Using the
experimental method, researchers randomly assign
participants in an experiment to either the control or
treatment groups.
For example, the experimenter may
give one drug to group 1 and a
different drug or a placebo to
group 2, to determine the
effectiveness of the drug.
EXPERIMENT:EXAMPLE
ACTIVITY 2
Direction: Identify the word/s associated to the given question.

1. Asking participants about their opinions and behaviours through a short

questionnaire.
2. It can be conducted for studying cause-and- effect relationships.
3. Working to understand the social dynamics of a particular setting by
observing and recording.
4-5. 2 types of questions in a survey
6-7. What are the 2 common ways in conducting observation to
people
8-10. What is the difference between experiment, observation, and survey?
Answer

1. Survey
2. Experiment
3. Observation
4. Open Format
5. Closed Format
6. Unobtrusive observation
7. Participant observation
8-10. (review the slides)