Bad questionnaire and errors in poll questionaires

On this occasion we are going to make some considerations on how to identify a poorly constructed an opinion poll questionnaire.
Without prentender that this list is exhaustive, will point out some ways to identify errors in questions or parts of a questionnaire.

• The questions used language or sociological categories that produce that respondents answered that they believe is expected to respond or misinterpret questions.


• The respondent believes that must be identify - for example in a closed with options question - what is the correct answer. Not involved in the sense of expressing their views by an error in the way of asking and sometimes in the mode of lead pollster. He believes that it is like a game that has to guess the correct answer option.


• Questions closed with options options are not mutually exclusive, either not exhausted all possibilities for response. So the alternatives are mutually independent and do not leave any aspect sociologically relevant is convenient to pilot test these questions (or the questionnaire). Occurs when a survey or a question has many instances for people that are not decided by any of the suggested alternatives, opting not to respond, point out missing some option or make verbalizaciones as "it depends" or "the question is poorly worded", or the "don't know" which isn't really a does not know. Sometimes reviewers and pollsters are right on wrong questions.


• The answers are elusive and notoriously false. It happens on sensitive issues, to find the right way to ask and have questions in the questionnaire. Also by the misuse of certain words in the question that lead to the above-mentioned responses by respondents.


• There is an overwhelming majority of favourable response or adverse responses.


• Redundancy: wasted resources asking something they already know.

These are some ways to identify mistakes in the questions of the questionnaires of opinion polls from the responses obtained after the field work.

Two types of political surveys: pre-election and voting intentions

In the pre-election survey is usually evaluated trends, opinions and attitudes related to the assessment of both policies and actions of government and with certain people.
In the first case, the pre-election survey can evaluate public policies, or the possible impact on public reform or specific action.
In the second pre-election survey seeks to know where certain personalities are known and candidates.
In contrast, pre-election survey seeks eminenemente know if people would vote, not vote or do not yet know, a particular candidate.
It is characteristic of pre-election poll people to try to know as a candidate associated with certain characteristics, such as being honest, experienced, tough, and many others.
This will seek to strengthen their candidate maintainers public properties by adjusting their speech and behavior in the campaign to the wishes of the electorate.
Sometimes the voting intention poll is combined with a simulation of voting in a ballot box is delivered to the respondent or with different ballots to choose one and "vote".

The types of survey: individual survey

There are, strictly speaking, various types of opinion polls and attitudes registration.
But if we analyze the different types of surveys in processes for the collection of data we can distinguish three major types of survey: staff survey, the self-administered survey and telephone survey.
From now on, we must clarify, we are talking about surveys that apply to people or survey investigating the opinions and attitudes of individuals.
Discussed in this post the individual survey.

INDIVIDUAL SURVEY

The personal interview is the best known of the three types, and today almost no one living in urban centers has not been sought to answer some.
This is a typical face-to-face survey.
In this type of survey requires a team of trained interviewers who, after receiving an instruction concerning the nature of the survey, how to administer the questionnaire, some problems with certain questions, how to access the survey, should contact the persons elected to be interviewed.
Sometimes when it is a multistage sample survey, the last stage, which involves selecting people who have to answer, is undertaken by the interviewer.
At other times, however, already has the address and name of the person, as when performed on a standard sample, eg a professional society.
It is the task of the interviewer approached the respondent with a structured or semi-structured questionnaire, or with any questions closed or open and closed questions (discuss this later).
One of the methodological issues is often not sufficiently appreciated is that all questions must be made strictly in the order they appear in the questionnaire, in the same tone and, above all, without adding or omitting anything, even a comma in the text survey questionnaire.
This ensures the objectivity of the results from the application of the same stimulus to all respondents. Let's be clear, as always, that these considerations are made on the assumption that the questionnaire is objective and is built by professionals, that the questions measure what they purport to measure, and so on.
Some types of personal opinion polls are coincidental survey, the survey at random or random (or which includes, as recorded at a final stage of sampling a random selection process) and survey fees.
The coincidental survey is a type of non-probability sampling (later we will analyze it), or a sample in which no one knows the error of estimate (we'll explain later) or error resulting from the spread of the sample data population. In the survey, the interviewer takes coincidental random people in a busy city and survey.
It's that simple, as they make bad journalists and pollsters (and political operatives, why deny it), although some research may be used responsibly. In the survey at random or random pollster has a table of random numbers that tells you based on the number of questionnaires to be completed, for example, which household member should interview and may in some cases replace him in case of absence for an individual of the same sex and similar socioeconomic level and age.
Finally, the quota sampling is one in which the interviewer and out of the office of the institute or consultancy or agency with a guideline on how many men interviewed, a few women, what ages, what you already know what you want and crossing is going as the respondent.
As can be seen, the random survey individual may lead to the replacement of absent or rejecting entevistado a fee.

Technical data of a survey

The technical specifications or technical data from a survey is a description, brief but compendious, the most important factors relating to the way it was done the same. It is important to remember that opinion polls is a social research, or rather a part of a process of social research, and as such is the correct application of certain scientific methods and validated a theoretical knowledge.
In particular, the data sheet, usually seen in a recuadrito or a footnote in the report with the results of the survey provides information on the time of the survey data (when people were surveyed), the period if it was during the weekend or on weekdays (this, we shall see, can be very important) in what place, how the respondents were selected and what was the total population on which the survey.
This is because, for example, the results of a survey of adolescents can be very different if the survey is administered to adolescents in a city that would be obtained if you apply to the entire adult population of that city, that very probably have a different view on the issue, and even different from the results that may shed a survey of adolescents in the country.
The sheet reveals the methodology that was carried on the survey data and, if this was done with the appropriate technical rigor, these procedures should yield similar results if we repeat the data collection work under the same guidelines. Public and replicable This is typical of scientific knowledge.
That a work is not that a sheet is a good reason to have some caution about its reliability.

Opinion Polls and mathematics

Opinion surveys and mathematics.
Sample surveys are the application in a specific area of certain mathematical, in particular of some of the mathematical theory of probabilities procedures or statistical mathematical research.
This are some assumptions based on the assumption that certain operations can be performed with numbers can perform when mathematics no longer pure and becomes applied and represents aspects of social reality.
Made them, is supposed to be possible to measure a specific social aspect, the intensity of the positive image of such candidate, or measure the views in favour, against and indifferent about a specific problem.
Is that the applicability of the procedure of the survey is based on accepted an isomorphism between mathematical properties and properties of social phenomena. Once assumed this, you can use methods and techniques (sample, designs for example) appropriate to establish which is the best way to learn about a certain aspect under investigation.
These methods are standardized and validated, as they are all scientific procedures procedures. It is important to remember that a survey seriously is apply a background of theoretical and methodological knowledge to a social research.

Polietapic sample desing

What is a polietapic sample design?
A sample design polietápico is a type of design research project to collect data from a survey which is divided into various stages of planning and implementation.
These stages cover various criteria that are deployed to reach the final sample, or to individuals that will finally answered the survey.
Let us remember that a sample is a part of a specific population or universe (e.g. a country or a city citizens) is selected to obtain information that will be generalized to the whole population with some margin of error.
As a result, when according to rigorous methodological guidelines, the sample will be representative of this population.
To make this happen, the universe will be successively divided according to different criteria to reach the people you select.
For example may split the provinces or States of a country and select some rightly gaming, dodging, and then in selected provinces applied with a proportionality to the population parameters selection criterion.
If there are 10% of high socio-economic level in the population, determining the sample shall be about that value.