Sunday, October 4, 2009
Surveys
I know I have come a long way in my studies, when I can recognize that it is almost impossible not to hold biases and pretty much impossible not to allow those biases to influence your research. However, the simple fact of knowing that biases do and will influence data collection and analysis, is not an adequate cop out not to do research. Instead, it will help me to understand the control my biases can have on my research, and will force me to share my work with colleagues and mentors so that they can help me navigate through the potentially negative influences of these biases. I also believe that if one goes into a study with some general questions and maybe assumptions, rather than that one thing they WANT to prove, can help to broaden the scope of the research and the impacts of biases. I don't think any of these methods eliminate the biases completely, however, they are good places to start to open up the research to other possibilities. With all this being said, I am still fairly weary of surveys, definitely as the sole method of data collection. I do believe their value can increase with the use of other data collection methods to ensure a broader picture of your research topic is being captured.
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Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you said,"it will force me to share my work with colleagues and mentors so that they can help me navigate through the potentially negative influences of these biases". I think that is one of the biggest things I've learned so far...that we have to get input from peers and collegues in order to conduct the most unbiased and well rounded research as we possibly can.
Rachel, I think your eagerness to find your own bias and reveal it to others does indeed make you a good researcher. Nothing in this world is bias-free, even research, and so I think the best we can do is acknowledge that fact. I agree, also, with your apprehension regarding surveys as the main or only data collection tool. It seems to me that too much emphasis on self-reporting and participant analysis is a little tricky.
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI like your post, I really do--but I am afraid I believe that surveys are so flawed that they are a waste of time--especially when I believe other methods are so much more reliable...but maybe you will convince me. I guess that is why I chose to study rhetoric--I think that rhetorical criticism is more generalizable and reliable than surveys--but I realize that I have a hard climb to convince other researchers.
I guess my question would be--why triangulate surveys, when combining other methods (content analysis and ethnography--for instance) might net more valuable results?
Nevertheless, I admire your open attitude.
I would have to agree that using surveys as the only means of ascertaining the overall picture of something is by far flawed and definitely unwanted. I am so much for mixed methods and finding the greater picture through as many means as possible. Although I like surveys for preliminary quandaries, I would not want to rely on them solely to answer the ever mounting questions I have.
ReplyDeleteI admire how your years of education and research have opened you to really grappling with your own biases and the unending reality that separating ourselves from the questions we have and the values we own is almost impossible.