Lesson Six Research Methods 3

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 Sampling Most research
cannot test everyone.
Instead a sample of
the whole population
is selected and
Population
the group of people we wish to tested. If this is done
understand. Populations are often well, the results can
segmented by demographic or be applied to the
psychographic features (age, gender, whole population.
interests, lifestyles).
This selection and
testing of a sample is
Sample called sampling.
a subset of the
population that
Respondents If a sample is poorly
represents the
people who chosen, all the data
whole group
answer may be useless.

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 Sampling
Two Methods

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 Sampling
Margin of Error

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 Sampling
Margin of Error

√
Margin of Error = 1/ n x 100
n = number of respondents

48,804 people in TNS sample

√48,804 = 220.916
1/221 = 0.0045
x 100 = 0.45%

60.55% to 61.45% say they primarily

use digital media

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 41 respondents

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 Planning a survey

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 Planning a survey

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 Planning a survey

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 Planning a survey

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 Planning a survey

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 Planning a survey

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 The Questions

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 The Questions
Asking questions

1. Avoid jargon, slang, abbreviations

Example:
How often do you use Polyethylene carriers?

Ask instead:
How often do you use plastic bags?

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 The Questions
Asking questions

2. Avoid ambiguity, confusion and vagueness

Example:
Do you eat out often?

Ask instead:
In a typical week, about how many meals do
you eat away from home, at a restaurant,
cafeteria, or other eating establishment?

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 The Questions
Asking questions

3. Avoid Double-barreled questions

Example:
Do you support the use of lead in
lipsticks and paint?

Ask instead:
Do you support the use of lead in lipsticks?
Do you support the use of lead in paint?

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 The Questions
Asking questions

4. Avoid Leading

Example:
Do you help the environment by using
canvas shopping bags?

Ask instead:
Do you use canvas shopping bags?

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 The Questions
Asking questions

5. Beliefs as real

Example:
Do you think more educated people wear
fur clothing?

Ask instead:
What is your education level?
Do you wear fur clothing?

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 The Questions
Organising questions
Question types:
Closed –
• Likert scales →
• Semantic scales →
• Ranking scales
.
• Structured questions
(age, income, education level, etc)

Open –
• Opinion
• Overall / final comments

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 Informed Consent (intro of survey)
1
[Fashion and the Environment] 2
We are a team of [Fashion Marketing] students from Raffles College of Higher
Education.
3
We are conducting this survey as part of our research project for our
Academic Research and Communication Skills module under our lecturer
and research supervisor Ms. Queenie Chan.
4
The questionnaire should take about 5 minutes to complete.
Our research project examines [the attitudes of the students of Raffles College of
5
Higher Education towards the reuse, reduction and recycling of clothing.]
We hope that your response will help us understand our subject in greater
depth.
The information we gather is confidential and anonymous, in other words, we
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will not name you or identify you in connection with the information you
provide.
If you have any questions about the survey or our research project, please feel
free to contact me, [Josephine Lim, at josephinelim@gmail.com] or our 7

supervisor [Queenie Chan] at [queenie@rdi.com]. 8

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