There are many misperceptions about what research is, what research does, and the various research approaches that can be used to answer a research question.
Descriptive-survey research is by no means excluded from these misperceptions.
Many people believe that descriptive-survey research is not valid or rigorous in its approach; in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Overexposure to sur-vey research may be what drives these common misperceptions.
Survey research is everywhere. Take, for example, the last time you sat down to enjoy a meal with your family or friends after a long week of graduate school, and the phone rang right as the meal was set on the table. You answered it to find a telemarketer on the other end explaining that she was conducting a brief sur-vey and would like to ask you some questions about the radio station you listen to on your way to work each morning. And as you are about to hang up, she adds,
“. . . and it will only take a second of your time.” Famous last words, right?
Whether someone comes up to you in the shopping mall with a clipboard full of questions, calls you on the phone, or sends you a paper survey in the mail (or by e-mail), all of these are examples of descriptive-survey research, and they share the following common characteristics:
• A preestablished instrument has most likely been developed by the researcher.
• Most responses to the questions on the survey are quantitative (e.g., ratings) or will be summarized in a quantitative way.
• The sample is selected from a larger population or group to allow the study’s findings to be generalized back to the larger group.
The various approaches to survey research have the same purpose: gathering opinions, beliefs, or perceptions about a current issue from a large group of peo-ple. In educational research, these issues can be wide ranging and may include, but are certainly not limited to, high-stakes testing, parental involvement, school improvement, classroom instructional practices, behavior management techniques, and after-school or summer enrichment programming.
Writing a Research Question
Although descriptive-survey research is a type of quantitative research, it begins with a research question and a set of subquestions as in qualitative research.
Presented below are some examples of research questions:
1. What do elementary and middle-level teachers believe are the main benefits, barriers, or both, of integrating technology into their instruction?
2. What do high school administrators perceive to be the issues surrounding school safety?
3. What do parents of elementary school students believe are ways to become more involved in school and school-related activities?
Notice how these research questions illustrate the characteristics of descrip-tive-survey research. First, in each example, who is being surveyed (the sample) is clearly specified: elementary and middle-level teachers, high school administrators, and parents of elementary school students. Second, all questions include verbs or
“action” words that inquire about people’s perceptions or beliefs of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Third, the current issue being investigated is clearly defined:
technology integration, school safety, and parental involvement in school activities.
As you examine the vignette, what do you think Alysia’s research question was for her study? It is likely that her question was something like the following:
“What are student perceptions of the new uniform policy?”
Writing Subquestions
After generating a research question (like the ones above), students are often per-plexed by how they can “fill up” an entire survey with the one research question they have created. The answer is, they cannot. The research question should be thought of as a broad research question, and although it is certainly important
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and every survey study needs to begin with one, the researcher must also work to develop more specific subquestions. Consider as an example the above research question, “What do elementary and middle-level teachers believe are the main benefits and barriers to integrating technology into their instruction?” To follow are some examples of subquestions that would support this research question:
1. Do elementary and middle-level teachers believe that they have made changes to their pedagogy in integrating technology, and if so, what were they?
2. In what types of professional development activities have these teachers par-ticipated? What other professional development do they believe is necessary to assist them further?
3. Do elementary and middle-level teachers believe that using such technology has had an impact on student learning and achievement, and if so, what are some examples and evidence?
Although these subquestions are specific, they are still aligned with the research question. Each subquestion is chipping away at some aspect of technology inte-gration, trying to get at an understanding of it from a different perspective. In a descriptive-survey research proposal, like the one you will likely write for this course, these subquestions would be listed at the end of the review of literature on the topic of technology and teacher instructional practices and will serve as a guide for writing specific survey questions. In other words, subquestions make up the main sections or categories of the survey. Note that the subquestions are not quantitative in nature. It is in the detailed survey questions (which we will discuss later in this chapter) that the researcher provides the structure that allows partic-ipants to provide quantitative responses. Generally, subquestions emerge as the researcher is conducting the extensive review of the literature on the topic. Cre-ating subquestions is an ongoing process; the more you read and learn, the more you will want to go back and refine your subquestions. In fact, researchers com-monly go back and make revisions to these subquestions while developing their actual surveys.
Like any other descriptive-survey researcher, Alysia would have to write sub-questions for her initial question. Following a literature review into school uni-forms, the subquestions for her student survey might include the following:
1. How do you believe that school uniforms will affect the sense of community at the school?
2. How do you believe that school uniforms will affect academic performance?
3. What effect, if any, do you believe that school uniforms will have on the safety of your school?