METHODS OF DATA

COLLECTION VIA
ONLINE WAYS
Dr. Özlem Ersan
Psy 104
Spring 2023
Survey design

◦ In survey work there are three major areas

of decision-making necessary before
initiating contact with respondents:
1. the sample
2. mode of questioning
3. the questions themselves
2. The interview medium (mülakat aracı)
◦ face-to-face
◦ telephone
◦ post
◦ e-mail Which one is the most
◦ internet effective for your
◦ texting
studies?
 Responding to a survey item is itself a complex cognitive process that
involves interpreting the question, retrieving information, making a
tentative judgment, putting that judgment into the required response
format, and editing the response.

Survey questionnaire responses are subject to numerous context effects

due to question wording, item order, response options, and other

Key takeaways factors. Researchers should be sensitive to such effects when

constructing surveys and interpreting survey results.

(önemli Survey questionnaire items are either open-ended or closed-ended.

noktalar) Open-ended items simply ask a question and allow respondents to

answer in whatever way they want. Closed-ended items ask a question
and provide several response options that respondents must choose
from.

Use verbal labels instead of numerical labels although the responses can
be converted to numerical data in the analyses.
DATA COLLECTION
PROCESS
Face-to-face
Surveys

◦ Gaining information from respondents via face-

to-face mediums is much more effective than
the other mediums because respondents usually
tend to trust the surveyors and provide honest
and clear feedback about the subject in-hand.
◦ For example, a job evaluation survey is
conducted in person between an HR or a
manager with the employee. This method works
best face-to-face as the data collection can
collect as accurate information as possible.
 ◦ Telephone surveys require much lesser investment than face-to-face
surveys. Depending on the required reach, telephone surveys cost as much
or a little more than online surveys. Contacting respondents via the
telephonic medium requires less effort and manpower than the face-to-
face survey medium.
◦ For example, if a retail giant would like to understand purchasing
decisions, they can conduct a telephonic, motivation, and buying

Telephone experience survey to collect data about the entire purchasing experience.

Surveys
 ◦ The other commonly used survey method is paper
surveys. These surveys can be used where laptops,
computers, and tablets cannot go, and hence they use
the age-old method of data collection; pen and paper.
◦ This method helps collect survey data in field research
and helps strengthen the number of responses
collected and the validity of these responses.
◦ A popular example or use case of a paper survey is a
fast food restaurant survey where the fast-food chain
would like to collect feedback on the dining experience
of its patrons.

Paper Surveys
Online Surveys

◦ Online surveys are the most cost-effective and

can reach the maximum number of people in
comparison to the other mediums.
◦ The performance of these surveys is much more
widespread than the other data collection
methods.
◦ In situations where there is more than one
question to be asked to the target sample,
certain researchers prefer conducting online
surveys over the traditional face-to-face or
telephone surveys.
Online surveys
◦ Online surveys are effective and therefore
require computational logic and branching
technologies for exponentially more accurate
survey data collection vs any other traditional
means of surveying.
◦ They are straightforward in their
implementation and take a minimum time of
the respondents.
◦ The investment required for survey data
collection using online surveys is also
negligible in comparison to the other methods.
◦ The results are collected in real-time for
researchers to analyze and decide corrective
measures.
Online surveys

◦ A very good example of an online survey is a hotel chain

using an online survey to collect guest satisfaction metrics
after a stay or an event at the property.
◦ Online surveys are safe and secure to conduct. As there is
no in-person interaction or any direct form of
communication, they are quite useful in times of global
crisis.
◦ For instance, many organizations moved to contactless
surveys during the pandemic. It helped them ensure that
the employees are not experiencing any COVID-19
symptoms before they come to the office.
Qualtrics
◦ https://metupsych.au1.qualtrics.com/survey-builder/SV_emxTuG7iZJpshFz/edit
How do we use Qualtrics for our studies?
2. Create a project 3. Survey 4. Name of the project
 Conducting a research on Qualtrics according to our
study
◦ Informed Consent Form ◦ Demographic Information Form

Add skip logic !!

Choose your own way with Qualtrics !
What would like to want to add your research?
Distribute the survey, collect the data, and export via
SPSS
You can create a link to distribute your survey

After data collection process,

you can export your data as many ways
PREPARING YOUR DATA
FOR ANALYSIS
Data Quality Assurance and Analysis

◦ One of the fundamental goals of survey data processing is to make quality data
available to organizations for the purpose of analysis.
◦ Survey form data is always prone to errors, omissions and other inconsistencies.
◦ This data inconsistency and incompleteness, if not edited and corrected on time, can
complicate the analysis and may even result in wrong analysis.
◦ Hence, to avoid this problem, survey data entry service providers must have an effective
quality assurance framework in place.
Quality of data can be assured by following a
proven methodology, such as:

• Survey forms are first categorized based on certain defined criteria. Forms are
scrutinized for their code structure, and those with open ended responses are
standardized and recoded at this stage.
• Check all questionnaires after data entry to make sure that all the data fields have been
accurately filled in.
• Use double keying process to avoid any discrepancies in data.
• Check data for inconsistencies and resolve issues relating to missing, duplicate,
incomplete data, etc.
 ◦ Whether your raw data are on paper or in a
computer file (or both), there are a few
things you should do before you begin
Preparing the analyzing them. First, be sure they do not
include any information that might identify
data individual participants and be sure that you
have a secure location where you can store
the data and a separate secure location
where you can store any consent forms.
 ◦ Unless the data are highly sensitive, a locked
room or password-protected computer is
usually good enough. It is also a good idea
to make photocopies or backup files of your
data and store them in yet another secure
Preparing the location—at least until the project is
complete.
data ◦ Professional researchers usually keep a copy
of their raw data and consent forms for
several years in case questions about the
procedure, the data, or participant consent
arise after the project is completed.
Check your raw data
◦ Next, you should check your raw data to make sure
that they are complete and appear to have been
accurately recorded (whether it was participants,
yourself, or a computer program that did the
recording).
◦ At this point, you might find that there are illegible
or missing responses, or obvious
misunderstandings (e.g., a response of “12” on a 1-
to-10 rating scale).
◦ You will have to decide whether such problems are
severe enough to make a participant’s data
unusable.
 ◦ If information about the main independent or
dependent variable is missing, or if several responses
are missing or suspicious, you may have to exclude
that participant’s data from the analyses.
Check your ◦ If you do decide to exclude any data, do not throw

raw data them away or delete them because you or another

researcher might want to see them later.
◦ Instead, set them aside and keep notes about why you
decided to exclude them because you will need to
report this information.
 ◦ You can use a general spreadsheet program like
Microsoft Excel or a statistical analysis program like
SPSS to create your data file. (Data files created in one
program can usually be converted to work with other
Data file programs.)
◦ The most common format is for each row to represent
a participant and for each column to represent a
variable (with the variable name at the top of each
column).
◦ A sample data file is shown in Table,
◦ The first column contains participant
identification numbers.
◦ This is followed by columns containing
demographic information (sex and age),
independent variables (mood, four self-esteem
items, and the total of the four self-esteem
items), and finally dependent variables
(intentions and attitudes).
◦ Categorical variables can usually be entered as
category labels (e.g., “M” and “F” for male and
female) or as numbers (e.g., “0” for negative
mood and “1” for positive mood).
◦ Although category labels are often clearer,
some analyses might require numbers. SPSS
allows you to enter numbers but also attach a
category label to each number.
 The single most appealing advantage of the electronic
method of data collection is the elimination of the tedious
data entry process.
With the electronic method the data are entered into a
database at the same time as the respondent completes the
survey.
Online Data If a researcher plans on collecting large amounts of data or
Preparation having a large sample size, electronic data collection can be
invaluable.
Issues
It is a solution when facing mountains of data and weeks
worth of data entry. An additional advantage is that typing
errors by the researcher are avoided.
The data file is an exact replica of the responses received.
However, electronic data files can easily lead to other types
of error.
 ◦ Electronic data files almost always need to be
transformed, merged, and/or reformatted before
use.
◦ Most available electronic formats separate the
survey into sections and the data are provided in
separate files for each section.

Online Data ◦ These must be merged so that analyses can be

performed. Additionally, some programs that
Preparation help facilitate creating e-surveys use their own
coding schemes, which are not what the
Issues researcher might use.
◦ For example, 1-7 Likert scales may be recorded as
0-6 scales by the computer. Also, many
established subscales have specific scoring
criteria. Because of this, simple transformations
are usually performed on the data.
 Raw data must be prepared for analysis by examining them for possible errors,
organizing them, and entering them into a spreadsheet program.

Key Preliminary analyses on any data set include checking the reliability of
measures, evaluating the effectiveness of any manipulations, examining the
Takeaways distributions of individual variables, and identifying outliers.

Outliers that appear to be the result of an error, a misunderstanding, or a lack

of effort can be excluded from the analyses. The criteria for excluded responses
or participants should be applied in the same way to all the data and described
when you present your results. Excluded data should be set aside rather than
destroyed or deleted in case they are needed later.
Useful links:
◦ https://support.google.com/surveys/answer/2446120?hl=en&ref_topic=7171129
◦ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1YIZMxkySS7IRyQ4uN3KImEIEeB6QNfNwhnL8tFPyk9g/edit
◦ https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/how-to-create-surveys/