Survey's

Survey's are widely used by sociologists because they are able to obtain large amounts of data in the form of statistics from a large number of people over a wide area in a relatively short space of time. A survey is sometimes used on its own as the complete research design but also can be used alongside other methods.

The steps required to carry out a survery are as follows:
Formulate the research question of hypothesis
Identify the population
Draft the questionnaire
Pilot the questionnaire
Finalise the questionnaire
Select the sample
Collect the data
Analyse the data
Write the report

When you have the questions prepared you need to know what part of the population you want to target to find out the answers you need. Survey's are usually carried out in samples which basically means a small proportion of the population. Researchers have to select a sample which they feel will be representative of the population.
There are various types of samples, the first being random sampling. This sampling means every member of the population has an equal chance of being included. The ways in which you can create a random sample can be by choosing names out of a hat, or using a computer to generate random names or numbers and also quasi-random can be used.
Stratified random sampling is another method which is used when the researcher has a sampling frame that shows the main characteristics of the population so you are certain that your sample will contain the right proportions of each category.
Quota sampling is where rather than identifying individuals in a sample and then contacting them, the researcher establishes how many participants are needed in each category and goes looking for them and asks if they are willing to participate in the survey.
Snowball sampling is where the researcher interviews an individual and then asks them to suggest who else might be interviewed.
Convenience sampling is a sample that is easy for the researcher to contact.