Sunday, November 29, 2009

Introductory pages of a research dissertation

Cover page

Role of Communication to Prevent HIV-AIDS—A Study in Delhi-National Capital Region

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Degree of Bachelor of Journalism and Mass Communication

By

Rohit Sharma
Enrolment No-XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Under the Supervision of
Dr. Kirpal Singh (MJ, Ph.D.)

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Lingaya’s Lalita Devi Institute of Management & Sciences
Mandi Road, Mandi, New Delhi-110047




Second page
DECLARATION

This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree / diploma.
Signed: ……………………..
Date: ………………………..

Statement 1
This project is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for BJ (MC) from GGSIP University.

Signed: ……………………..
Date: ………………………..

Statement 2
This project is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended.


Signed: ……………………..
Date: ………………………




Third page
CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Dissertation title ‘Role of Communication to Prevent HIV-AIDS—A Study in Delhi-National Capital Region’ is bonafide & original research work done by Rohit Sharma, student of LLDIMS, GGSIP University, New Delhi, under my supervision and guidance.

This subject on which this dissertation has been written, is a original contribution towards the discipline of Mass communication and Journalism and it has not previously formed the basis for the award of the Degree, Diploma, Associatedship & fellowship or other similar title to any candidate.

This Dissertation represents entirely an independent research work of the candidate under my guidance.
Date -
Place -
(Dr. Kirpal Sing )
Signature of guide
Fourth Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project work has been a great experience in assessing the role of communication in help preventing hemophilia. This work would not have been possible without the help, cooperation, constructive suggestion and well wishes of many people. I would like to thank all of them, as I mention a few here.

I owe my profound respect to Dr. Kirpa Singh, my project guide, and Dr. Tirpal Singh of NIHFW, New Delhi, and express my deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness for their inspirations, valuable and scholarly guidance, imperative suggestions and personal attention at each stage of the Work. Their gamut of knowledge, dedication towards research, exemplary devotion and trust towards me has been unique and is the prime key behind the success of this project.

The personality of Dr. Singh has been instrumental in blending an exciting spirit and atmosphere for research. It has been a great opportunity and experience to work with him, as I will forever cherish the deep interaction I had with him.
Finally, I am most grateful to my parents and friends for their moral support and blessings and for being an immense source of inspiration for me all through my life.
Rohit Sharma

Saturday, November 28, 2009

In-text citation and creating Reference List (Bibliography)

Friends, there are two parts to a reference citation. First, there is the way we cite the item in the text when we are discussing it. Second, there is the way we list the complete reference in the reference section in the end of the report.
For citing references in the text, four referencing systems are in use namely:

1. The short-title system
2. The author-date system (APA system)
3. The author-number system
4. The reference by number system

For writing references in the end or writing a bibliography, serveral well established systems are in use. In social science, some of the commonly used ones are:

1. The Harvard system
2. The American Psychological Association (APA) system
3. The American Medical Association (AMA) system
4. The McGraw-Hill system
5. The Modern Language Association (MLA) system
6. The footnote system

The link to APA system has been given beow for study:
http://library.curtin.edu.au/research_and_information_skills/referencing/apa.pdf

Monday, November 23, 2009

Processing of data--editing, coding, classification and tabulation

After collecting data, the method of converting raw data into meaningful statement; includes data processing, data analysis, and data interpretation and presentation.

Data reduction or processing mainly involves various manipulations necessary for preparing the data for analysis. The process (of manipulation) could be manual or electronic. It involves editing, categorizing the open-ended questions, coding, computerization and preparation of tables and diagrams.

Editing data:

Information gathered during data collection may lack uniformity. Example: Data collected through questionnaire and schedules may have answers which may not be ticked at proper places, or some questions may be left unanswered. Sometimes information may be given in a form which needs reconstruction in a category designed for analysis, e.g., converting daily/monthly income in annual income and so on. The researcher has to take a decision as to how to edit it.

Editing also needs that data are relevant and appropriate and errors are modified. Occasionally, the investigator makes a mistake and records and impossible answer. “How much red chilies do you use in a month” The answer is written as “4 kilos”. Can a family of three members use four kilo chilies in a month? The correct answer could be “0.4 kilo”.

Care should be taken in editing (re-arranging) answers to open-ended questions. Example: Sometimes “don’t know” answer is edited as “no response”. This is wrong. “Don’t know” means that the respondent is not sure and is in a double mind about his reaction or considers the questions personal and does not want to answer it. “No response” means that the respondent is not familiar with the situation/object/event/individual about which he is asked.

Coding of data:

Coding is translating answers into numerical values or assigning numbers to the various categories of a variable to be used in data analysis. Coding is done by using a code book, code sheet, and a computer card. Coding is done on the basis of the instructions given in the codebook. The code book gives a numerical code for each variable.

Now-a-days, codes are assigned before going to the field while constructing the questionnaire/schedule. Pose data collection; pre-coded items are fed to the computer for processing and analysis. For open-ended questions, however, post-coding is necessary. In such cases, all answers to open-ended questions are placed in categories and each category is assigned a code.

Manual processing is employed when qualitative methods are used or when in quantitative studies, a small sample is used, or when the questionnaire/schedule has a large number of open-ended questions, or when accessibility to computers is difficult or inappropriate. However, coding is done in manual processing also.

Data classification/distribution:

Sarantakos (1998: 343) defines distribution of data as a form of classification of scores obtained for the various categories or a particular variable. There are four types of distributions:

1. Frequency distribution
2. Percentage distribution
3. Cumulative distribution
4. Statistical distributions

Frequency distribution:

In social science research, frequency distribution is very common. It presents the frequency of occurrences of certain categories. This distribution appears in two forms:

Ungrouped: Here, the scores are not collapsed into categories, e.g., distribution of ages of the students of a BJ (MC) class, each age value (e.g., 18, 19, 20, and so on) will be presented separately in the distribution.
Grouped: Here, the scores are collapsed into categories, so that 2 or 3 scores are presented together as a group. For example, in the above age distribution groups like 18-20, 21-22 etc., can be formed)

Percentage distribution:

It is also possible to give frequencies not in absolute numbers but in percentages. For instance instead of saying 200 respondents of total 2000 had a monthly income of less than Rs. 500, we can say 10% of the respondents have a monthly income of less than Rs. 500.

Cumulative distribution:

It tells how often the value of the random variable is less than or equal to a particular reference value.

Statistical data distribution:

In this type of data distribution, some measure of average is found out of a sample of respondents. Several kind of averages are available (mean, median, mode) and the researcher must decide which is most suitable to his purpose. Once the average has been calculated, the question arises: how representative a figure it is, i.e., how closely the answers are bunched around it. Are most of them very close to it or is there a wide range of variation?

Tabulation of data:

After editing, which ensures that the information on the schedule is accurate and categorized in a suitable form, the data are put together in some kinds of tables and may also undergo some other forms of statistical analysis.

Table can be prepared manually and/or by computers. For a small study of 100 to 200 persons, there may be little point in tabulating by computer since this necessitates putting the data on punched cards. But for a survey analysis involving a large number of respondents and requiring cross tabulation involving more than two variables, hand tabulation will be inappropriate and time consuming.

Usefulness of tables:

Tables are useful to the researchers and the readers in three ways:

1. The present an overall view of findings in a simpler way.
2. They identify trends.
3. They display relationships in a comparable way between parts of the findings.
By convention, the dependent variable is presented in the rows and the independent variable in the columns.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Observation method of primary data collection

Definition:

It is watching other persons’ behaviour as it actually happens without controlling it.

Example: Watching the life of street-children provides a detailed description of their social life.

Lindzey Gardner (1975) has defined it as “selection, provocation, recording and encoding of that set of behaviour and settings concerning organisms ‘in situ’ (naturalistic settings or familiar surroundings) which are consistent with empirical aims”.

The keywords of the above definition are:


Selection: There is a focus in observation and also editing before, during and after the observations are made.

Provocation: Though observers do not destroy natural settings but they can make subtle changes in natural settings which increases clarity.

Recording: The observed incidents/events are recorded for subsequent analysis.

Encoding: Simplification of records.

What is observed in observation method?

According to Zikmund (1988), six kinds of contents/dimensions can be observed in observation method. These are:

Physical actions: Pattern of working, watching TV etc.
Verbal behaviour: Conversations between students, workers etc.
Expressive behaviour: Tone of voice, facial expressions etc.
Spatial relations: Physical distance between workers in a factory, two students in conversation etc.
Temporal patterns: Amount of time spent in performing rituals, shopping, conversation etc.
Verbal records: Content of slogan shouted, scolding etc.

Characteristics of observation:

Lofland has said that this method is more appropriate for studying lifestyles or sub-cultures, practices, episodes, encounters, relationships, groups, organizations, settlements, and roles.

The following are the characteristics of observation among others:

1. Behaviour is observed in natural surroundings.
2. It enables understanding significant events affecting social relations of the participants.
3. It determines reality from the viewpoint of the observed person/Researcher.
4. It avoids manipulations in the independent variables.
5. Recording of data is not selective.

Purpose of observation:

The major purposes of observation as described by Black and Champion are as under:

1. To capture human conduct as it actually happens. In other methods, we get a static comprehension of people’s activity. In actual situation, they sometimes modify their views, sometimes contradict themselves, and sometimes are so swayed away by the situation that they react differently altogether. Ex: Tone of voice, facial expressions and content of slogans by the demonstrators.

2. To provide more graphic description of social life than can be acquired in other ways. Example: The graphic details of behaviour of women when they are physically assaulted by their husbands can only be got by observation method.

3. To explore important events and situations. By being present on the scene, issues that might otherwise be overlooked are examined more carefully. Example: Visiting office soon after the office hours and finding that the married men and single women are working overtime whereas single men and married women had gone home.

4. It can be used as a tool of collecting information in situations where methods other than observation cannot prove to be useful. Example: Workers’ behaviour during a strike.

Process of observation:

Since observation involves sensitive human interactions, it cannot be reduced to a simple set of techniques. Yet some scholars have tried to point out the path that the observer in the fieldwork has to follow:
Williamson, et al (1977) have pointed out the following four stages through which an observer has to pass:

1. Choosing a research site
2. Gaining access in setting and taking role
3. Jotting down notes
4. Formulating analysis

Choosing a research site:

After deciding the problem or the phenomenon of interest, the researcher can pinpoint a manageable area for observation and data collection.

Gaining access in setting and taking role:

Once the site for the study is chosen, the observer faces the problem of obtaining entry in the setting. This is possible by spelling out the motives of the study and seeking permission from the administrator or by concealing the motive and seeking the help of a known person in the situation. In some settings, however, the entry is not restricted. It is free and open to anyone who might choose to be there.

Raymond Gold (1969) has pointed out four basic roles which a fieldworker (observer) can assume:

Complete observer: Here, the observer remains disguised and detached from the situation studied.

Observer as participant: The observer is completely open about his research objectives and he approaches people on that basis.

Participant as observer: Here, the observer gets involved effectively or conceals his role as researcher.

Complete participant: The observer becomes fully involved both behaviourally and emotionally.

After gaining access and taking up role, the success or failure of getting information by the observer would depend upon the trust or the mistrust he is able to get from the people who are to be observed.

Jotting down notes: Taking accurate and detailed notes objectivity is very crucial. Since the researchers initially may not know which data would be ultimately useful and important, he should take down all details to be sorted out later on. The notes should record the description of the setting under investigation, description of subjects, and description of conversations with persons and among persons, and any fact or relevance or of unusual importance. This should be followed by tentative explanations of things observed.

Formulating analysis: It is possible that two researchers studying/observing same situation may give two different types of analyses, particularly if the analysis is qualitative. One might focus on one type of social dimensions and other on different types altogether. One analysis may challenge the existing theoretical view of social life while other may support it. Classifying the initial data one the basis of accepted concepts and categories (like status, role, soicialisation, mobility, structure and so on.) may provide a core basis but later on new conceptual categories may be developed.

Sarantakos (1998) has pointed out the following six steps in the observation:

Selection of the topic: This refers to the issue to be studied though observation. It may be marital conflict, domestic violence, riot, caste panchayat meeting in a village, child labourers in a glass factory among others.

Formulation of the topic: This involves fixing of categories to be observed and pointing out the situations in which cases are to be observed. Example: The life of child labourers in glass factories: A study in X factory of Kanpur.

Research design: This determines identification of subjects to be observed, preparing observation schedule, if any, and arranging entry in situations to be observed.

Collection of data: This involves familiarization with the setting, observation and recording.

Analysis of data: In this stage, the researcher analyses the data, prepares tables, and interprets the facts.

Report writing: This involves writing of the report for submission to the sponsoring agency or for publication.

Advantages of observation:

Bailey (1998: 249-50) has pointed out four advantages of observation:

Superior in data collection on non-verbal behaviour: When a person’s opinion on a particular issue is to be assessed, survey method is definitely more useful, but when the non-verbal behaviour is to be discovered or when memory failure of the respondent is possible, observation will be more functional.

Intimate and informal relationship: Since the observer often lives with the subjects for an extended period of time, the relationship between them is often more intimate and more informal than in a survey in which the interviewer meets the respondents for 30-40 minutes on a very formal basis.

Natural environment: The behaviour being observed in a natural environment will not cause any bias. Observation will neither be artificial nor restrictive.

Longitudinal analysis: In observation, the researcher is able to conduct his study over a much longer period than in the survey.

Sarantakos has mentioned the following advantages of observation among others:

1. It is less complicated and less time-consuming.
2. It offers data when respondents are unable or unwilling to cooperate for giving information.
3. It allows collection of wide range of information.

Limitations of observation:

According to Bailey (1982:250-52), the disadvantages in observation technique are:

Lack of control: In natural setting, control over variables is not possible that affect the data.

Difficulties of quantification: The data collected through observation cannot be quantified. In communal riots, looting, arson, killing may be observed but it cannot be quantified what type of people indulged in what? It is difficult to categorise in-depth emotional and humanistic data.

Small sample size: Observational studies use a smaller sample than survey studies.

Gaining entry: Many times the observer has difficulties in receiving approval for the study. It is not always easy to observe the functioning of an organization or institution without obtaining permission from the administrator. In such cases, he may not record observations then and there but may write notes at night.

Lack of anonymity/studying sensitive issues: In observational studies it is difficult to maintain the respondent’s anonymity.

Limited study: All aspects of the problems cannot be studied simultaneously. The observation technique studies only limited issues. Similarly, internal attitudes and opinions cannot be studied.

(This has been compiled by inputs from various books written by C.R. Kothari, Wimmer & Dominique, Kerlinger, Ram Ahuja, Trochim, Ranjit Kumar among others.)

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Questionnaire of Ms. Ankita Dasgupta, a 5th semester student of LLDIMS, Mandi; for the research project, " Preference of Moviegoers in South Delhi."

The objectives of the research project are:
1. To find out the factors those influence the moviegoers the most.
2. To discover what media or sources do they rely on to make their choice (critic’s review, trailers among others.)
3. To investigate how effective are the current methods of publicity in influencing their choice.

The questionnaire is given below:

Questionnaire

This questionnaire is a method to collect primary data for the research project, Preference of Moviegoers in South Delhi. The research is being conducted for partial fulfillment of the requirements for Bachelor degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from G.G.S.I.P.University, New Delhi.

Name:
Age:
Address:
Educational qualification:
Occupation:

Please choose one response (give a tick mark) from the following options for each question unless instructed otherwise.

Q1) Do you like watching movies?

. Yes
. No

Q2) How often do you go to the theater to watch movies?


. I watch every new release
. 2-3 times a month
. Every weekend
. Rarely

Q3) What kind of movies do you prefer?

. Action
. Drama
. Romance/Comedy
. Horror
. Other (please write)____________________________________ ____________________________________________________
Q4) What are the factors that draw you to the theater?

. Star cast
. Director
. Story/Reviews
. Other (please write)________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q5) What do you have to say about people watching a movie in theater more than once because of their favorite stars despite the movie getting bad reviews.
(please write below)
___________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

Q6) Does a director's previous work affect your choice?

. Yes
. No
. May be

Q7) On what basis do you decide a movie to watch?

. Trailers
. Critics Review
. Word of Mouth review from people you know
. Other (please write)_________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Q8) Does the appearance of celebrities, of new movie releases, on various television shows for promotion have an impact on your choice?

. Yes
. No
. Sometimes

Q9) Do chat shows, interviews and special shows on a particular movie increase your curiosity about the movie (e.g. chat shows on MTV and Channel V on various movies)?
. Yes
. No
. Maybe

Q10) Are your choices affected by the banners and posters outside?
. Yes
. No
. Sometimes

Q 11) Will you go to the theaters to watch a movie if a celebrity (star cast) personally appears at the opening of the movie?
. Yes
. No
. Only if it’s my favorite movie star


I, do hereby declare that all my responses are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.


Date:

Place:


(Signature of respondent)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

TYPES OF SAMPLING

There are basically two types of sampling:

· Probability
· Non-probability

Probability sampling: Is one in which every unit of the population has an equal probability of being selected for the sample. This remains the primary method for selecting large, representative samples for social science and business researches.

Advantages:

· High degree of representativeness
Disadvantages:

· The method is expensive and time consuming.
· Relatively complicated since it requires a large sample size and units selected are usually largely scattered.

Probability sampling is divided into the following different types:

Simple random
Stratified random
Systematic (interval)
Cluster
Multi-stage

1. Simple random: In this sampling the sampling units are selected randomly by one of the number of methods given below:

Lottery
Picking blind folded
Tippet’s table method or random numbers method
By first letter

Advantages:
Simplest and easiest to conduct
Sampling error is less
The researcher does not need to know about the exact composition of the population.

Disadvantages:

Researcher’s knowledge on population is not used.
Not possible if the researcher wants to break it in different sub-groups.
Produces greater errors in results than other methods.




2. Stratified random: When the population is divided into different strata or sub-groups and sample units are taken in a simple random method from each group. The final sample contains sample units from all these strata.

Stratified random sampling is of two types:

Proportionate
Disproportionate

Proportionate: When the sample units are chosen proportionate to the size of the strata.

Disproportionate: When it is not proportionate to the size of th strata.

Advantages of stratified sampling:

1.All groups of the population can be proportionately represented.
2. Comparison can be made among different sub-categories.
3. More precise than simple random sampling.

Disadvantages of stratified sampling:

. More efforts required than simple random sampling.
. The population has to be appreciably large to get statistically meaningful results.

3. Systematic (interval): The sampling is obtained by collecting of elements by drawing every nth person from a pre-determined list of persons. It is randomly selecting the first respondent and then every nth person after that. The number ‘n’ is called the sampling interval.

Advantages:

. It is easy, simple to use and a rapid method.
. Mistakes in drawing elements are relatively unimportant.

Disadvantages:

. It ignores all persons between two nth numbers paving the way of over/under representation of several groups.
. As each element has no chance of being selected, it is often not considered probability sampling by some.

4. Cluster: This sampling implies dividing population into clusters and drawing random sample either from all clusters or selected clusters.
Initial clusters are called primary sampling units; clusters within the secondary clusters are called multi-stage clusters. For example, dividing one city into various wards, each ward into areas, each area into neighborhood and each neighborhood into lanes and so on.

Advantages:

. Much easier when large population or large geographical area is studied.
. Less costly
. Respondents can be easily replaced.
. Characteristics of clusters can be estimated.
. Administratively simple to handle.
. Handy when it is inconvenient or unethical to randomly select individuals.

Disadvantages:

. Each cluster may not be of equal size, so comparison would no be on equal basis.
. Greater sampling error.
. Lacks representation

5. Multi-stage: In this method, sampling is selected in various stages but only the last sample of subjects is studied.

For example: For studying the panchayat system in villages, India is divided into zones = North, South, East and West. One state is selected from each zone say Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Gujrat. One district will be selected from each state. One block is selected from each district, and three villages are selected from each block. Ultimately we will have 12 villages from all over India from which we can take respondents for the final sample.

Advantages:

. More representative
. Saves cost
. Complete listing of population is not necessary.

Non-Probability sampling: Mass media researchers frequently use non-probability sampling.
This is the kind of sampling where all sampling units don’t have the equal chance of selection.

Types: The various types of non-probability sampling are given below:

Convenience sampling
Purposive sampling
Quota sampling
Snowball sampling
Volunteer sampling

Convenience/Available sampling: This is known as accidental or haphazard sampling. This is a collection of readily accessible subjects for study.

Example: During election times, media personnel often present man-on-the-street interviews that are presumed to reflect public opinion.

Convenience sampling is best suited for exploratory research which becomes the base for further investigations.

Advantages:

. Quick and economical

Disadvantages:

It may be biased as:
. The respondents may have a vested interests to serve in co-operating with the interviewer.
. Respondents may be those who are vocal or want to brag.

Purposive sampling: It is also known as judgmental sampling. It includes subjects or elements selected for specific characteristics or qualities and eliminates those who fail to meet those criteria.

Example: Often used in advertising studies where researchers select the subjects who use a particular type of product and ask them to compare it with a new product.

Disadvantages:

. Not representative in nature.

Quota sampling: Subjects are selected to a predetermined or known percentage/quota.

Example: A researcher interested to find out how DTH service takers are different from non-DTH service takers in their use of TV may know that 10% of a particular population avail DTH services. The sample the researcher selects, therefore, would be composed of 10% of DTH service takers and 90% of non-DTH service takers.

Advantages:

. Less costly than other techniques.
. Does not require sampling frame.
. Relatively effective and can be completed in a very short time.

Disadvantages:
. It might not be representative.
. It might have interviewer’s bias in selection.
. Strict control of fieldwork is difficult (instead of 25 only 20 respondents may be available.)

Snowball sampling: In this technique, the researcher begins the research with a few respondents who are known and available to him. Subsequently, the respondents give other names who meet the criteria of research, who in turn give more names. This process is continued until adequate numbers of persons are interviewed or until no more respondents are discovered.

Example: A research on the sexual behaviour of homosexuals in a conservative society.

This method is employed when the target population is unknown or when it is difficult to approach the respondents in any other way.

Advantages:

. Reduced sample size
. Reduced cost

Disadvantages:

A person known to someone has a higher probability of being similar to the first person.

Volunteer sampling: This is a technique in which the respondents themselves finally volunteer to give information they hold.

Collection of data through questionnaire

For construction of a questionnaire it is important to understand five basic rules of questionnaire design:

1. Understand the goals of project so that only relevant questions are included.
2. Questions should be clear and unambiguous.
3. Questions must accurately communicate what is required from the respondents.
4. Don’t assume respondents understand the questions they are asked.

Types of questions: survey can consist of two basic types of questions:

1. Open-ended
2. Closed-ended

Open-ended question: It requires respondents to generate their own answers. It gives the respondents freedom in answering questions and an opportunity to provide in-depth responses.

Example:
Why do you watch Colors channel?
What type of TV program do you prefer to watch?
What would your favourite radio station change so that you would listen more often?

Advantages:

1. The researcher gets insight in respondent’s understanding.
2. Good to construct for complex issues when the total answer categories are very large (say, 20 or more)
3. Sometimes, the information and responses are so unexpected that the researcher’s ideas are completely changed.

Disadvantages:

1. Sometimes responses are irrelevant.
2. It is difficult to classify and code all responses.
3. As the data are not standardized, statistical analysis and computation of percentages become difficult.
4. Sometimes, responses are very lengthy and analysis of them is time consuming.
5. Semi-literate respondents find it difficult to answer open questions.
6. Open-ended questions may encounter a high refusal rate.

Closed-ended questions: Are the fixed choice-questions. They require the respondents to choose a response from a set of responses provided by the researcher.

Example:

Which of the following is most persuasive medium to disseminate information on Health Communication?

Interpersonal communication 
Newspaper/magazine/pamphlets
TV 
Radio 
Internet 
Books 
Other__________________

Advantages:
1. They provide a greater uniformity of responses.
2. The responses can be easily quantified.
3. Response rate is high particularly in sensitive questions like income, age and so on. If the answer in closed-ended question is a category, the respondent may easily identify himself with the range in which his income/age falls.

Some other types of questions:

Direct
Indirect
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
Contingency
Filter

Direct: Direct questions are personal questions which elicit information about the respondent himself/herself.

Example: Do you believe in media censorship?

Indirect: Indirect questions seek information about other people.

Example: Do you think people of your status and age believe in media censorship?

Nominal: When its response falls in two or more categories.

Example: Rich/Poor, Married/Muslim, rural/urban, Shia/Suni and so on.

Ordinal: Questions in which responses are placed in rank and order of categories.

Example:

Smoking: regularly/occasionally/never
Relations with class mates: Excellent/satisfactory/dissatisfactory/can’t say

Interval: Questions which contain a range or interval.

Example:

Income per annum: Below 18,000/ 18,000-36,000/36,000-54,000/54,000-72,000/Above 72, 000.

Contingency: A contingency question is one whose relevance to the respondent is determined by his response to an earlier screening question.

Example:

Q1. Are you in favour of using some method in controlling birth?
Q2. Do you prefer vasectomy/condom/pill/safe period?

The second question is a contingency question.

The need for the contingency question arises because every question need not be relevant to all respondents. The use of contingency question can be reduced by drawing a homogeneous sample. The preferable format for contingency question would be as follows:

Q: Do you go to cinema houses for watching movies?

(a) Yes
(b) No

If yes, how often do you go? (a) once in a month; (b) once in a few months; (c) once or twice in a year.

Filter: These questions aim at eliciting information related to a general aspect of the research topics and are usually followed by more specific question.

Example:

Do you smoke?-Filter question.
Do you (being a girl) smoke?-Contingency question.

Dos and Don’ts of writing questions:

1. Questions should be clear: Sometimes which is perfectly clear to the researcher is not clear to the respondent.

Example: After finding out which radio station a respondent has been listening to more lately, the researcher might ask:

Why have you been listening to Radio Mirchi more lately?

And many be expecting to receive the response such as “I like the music a lot more.”

But the respondent might say: It’s the only station my radio can pick up.

The question would be much clearer to a respondent if asked in this form: Which radio station you enjoy listening to more lately as compared to a few months ago?

Making questions clear also requires:

• Avoiding difficult or specialized words, acronyms and so on.
• Avoiding double or hidden meanings in words.

Avoiding difficult or specialized words, acronyms and so on: Questions should be phrased in everyday speech and, and social science jargons and technical words should be eliminated. Example:

Do you believe demassification of audience is essential in the era of cut-throat competition?

The term ‘demassification’ may not be understood by the lay man. It has to be spelt out.

Avoiding double or hidden meanings in words: Questions should be written so they are fair to all types of respondents.

Example:

How many TV shows do you think are a little too violent---Most/some/few/none.

Some respondents who feel that all TV shows are extremely violent will answer ‘none’

The appropriate question might be:

How many TV shows, if any, do you think are too violent---Most/some/few/none.

2. Questions should be kept short: Respondents who are in a hurry are unlikely to take the time to fill a questionnaire with long questions.

3. Remember the purpose of research: It is important to include in a questionnaire only items that relate directly to what is being studied. For example:

If the occupational level of the respondent is not relevant to the purpose of the survey, the questionnaire should not ask about it.

4. Do not ask double-barreled questions: A double-barrel question is that question which asks two or more questions in the same sentence. Whenever the word ‘and’ appears in the question, the sentence should be re-examined to check if more than one question is being asked.

Example: India TV has programs which are funny and misleading. Do you agree or not?

A program may be funny buy may not be misleading. The question may be split into two parts.

5. Avoid biased words or terms:

Example: Where did you hear the news on President’s new economic policy?

The question is mildly biased against newspapers as the word ’hear’ suggests ‘radio’, ‘TV’ or ‘other people’ is a more appropriate answer.


6. Avoid leading questions: A leading question is one that suggests a certain response or contains a hidden meaning.

Example: Like most Indians, do you believe in God?

The question suggtests that the respondent should answer in affirmative or run the risk of being unlike most Indians.

7. Do not use questions that ask for highly detailed information:

Example: In the past 30 days, how many hours of TV have you viewed with your family?
This is unrealistic. Few respondents could answer it. A more realistic approach is to ask:

How many hours did you spend watching TV with your family yesterday?

8. Avoid potentially embarrassing questions unless they are absolutely necessary: An overly personal question may cause embarrassment and inhibit respondents from answering honestly—asking people’s income for example.

Example: What is your annual income?
The question can be put as: Which of the categories includes your household’s total annual income?

Rs. 25,000-Rs.40, 000; Rs. 40,000-Rs. 55,000; Rs. 55,000-Rs. 70, 000; Rs. 70,000-Rs. 85,000.

Format of the questionnaire/schedule:

Questionnaire/schedule format refers to the general model which provides guidelines on how the questions should be placed in a sequence and in a logical order of relationship to each other, what type of questions should be considered, how long the questionnaire/schedule should be, and how the questionnaire/schedule should be presented so that it is clear and easy to understand. The important aspects of questionnaire are given below:

1. Instruction
2. Questionnaire length:
3. Question order
4. Layout

Instruction: All instructions necessary to complete the questionnaire should be clearly stated for respondents or interviewers.

1. Mail questionnaire require the most specific instructions because respondents are not able to ask questions about the survey.
2. Respondents must understand whether the correct response consists of circling or ticking an item or placing items in a specific order.
3. Procedural instructions for respondents are often highlighted with a different typeface, capital letters, or some graphic device, perhaps arrows or lines. Example:

Do you have a favorite radio station that you listen to most of the time?
_________ Yes ________No

If yes, please briefly explain why on the lines below:


_________________________
_________________________
_________________________

4. Some questionnaires require respondents to rank a list of items. In this case, the instructions must clearly describe which response represents the highest value.

Example: Please rate the following magazines is order or importance to you. Place a 1 next to the magazine you prefer most, a 2 next to the magazine in the second place, and so on up to 5.
__________ India Today
__________ The Outlook
__________ The Week
__________ The frontline
__________ The mainstream

5. Filter or screener questions are used to eliminate unwanted respondent or to include only respondents who have specific characteristics or who answer questions in a specific manner. Example:

In a typical week, do you listen to radio station on the AM dial?
_____Yes (Respond Q. 16)
_____No (Skip to Q. 17)

Questionnaire length: Long questionnaires cause fatigue and low completion rates. The length of a questionnaire depends on a variety of factors:
· What the researcher wants to know and how many items are necessary so that the data will be credible
· Type of study (Mailed questionnaires are shorter than face-to-face interviews)
· Type of problems or questions to be investigated
· Budget of the research
· Age of respondent (young people will be available for less time than middle-aged or old-people )

Question order:

· Researchers often include one or two preliminary or ‘warm up’ questions about the topic under investigation so respondents become accustomed to answering questions and begin thinking about the survey and.
· Preliminary questions should create interest in respondents.
· Personal questions, sensitive information, demographic data should be placed at the end of the questionnaire
· Some respondents may still refuse to answer personal items; at least the main body of data is already collected.
· Age and gender information are usually included in the first part of a questionnaire, so at least some respondent identification is possible.
· The questionnaire should be organized in a logical sequence, proceedings from general to the specific. Questions from similar topics should be grouped together, and the transitions between question sections should be clear and logical. Poor question order may bias a respondent’s answer. Example:

After several questions about the presence of violence in society, the respondent is asked to rank the major problems facing the community today from the following:
________ Naxalism
________ Corrupt Govt.
________ High prices
________Violence on TV
________War

The ‘Violence on TV’ might receive a higher rank than it would.

There is no easy solution to the problem of question ‘contaminatin’. Obviously some questions have to be asked before others. Perhaps the best approach of researchers is:

To be sensitive to the problem and check for it in the pretest
If they think question order A,B,C may have biasing effects, they should test another version using the order C,B,A.
Complete neutral ordering is not possible. In case of suspect of bias, the order of questions may be rotated.
Questionnaires with different question orders may be printed but make sure that the data are input and analyzed correctly.

Layout:

The physical design of the questionnaire is another important factor in survey research. A few points are worth noting:

1. A badly typed, poorly reproduced questionnaire is not likely to attract many responses in mail survey.
2. One should avoid cramped questionnaire say 40 questions to a page does not create a positive attitude towards it.
3. Response categories should be adequately spaced and presented in a non-confusing manner. For example:

There are too many commercials on TV.
Do you strongly agree______ Agree_____ Have no opinion_____ Disagree_____ Strongly disagree_____

The above format might lead to problems.

A more effective and less confusing method is to provide a vertical ordering of the response choices. Example:

There are too many commercials on TV.
__________ Strongly agree
__________Agree
__________ No opinion
__________ Disagree
__________ Strongly disagree

Sometimes respondents make large check marks or Xs that cover more than one blank, making interpretation difficult. If blanks are perceived as problems alternative methods (boxes, circling) should be employed. However, the response form should be consistent throughout.
Questions, specially the open-ended ones should have enough space for answers; else it is very discouraging to the respondents and will hamper the effectiveness of the survey.
Example
Why do you go to movies? __________________________________________.

The space given above is insufficient.

If the research budget limits the amount of the paper for questionnaires, respondents can be asked to add further comments on the back of the survey.