Data from sociological surveys. By method of interaction with the audience

Nadezhda Domanova Bulletin of the Moscow ISAR, No. 8, 1999

There is an opinion about the simplicity and convenience of sociological surveys. Indeed, if the authorities want to cut down a grove in a microdistrict, put garages on the site of a children's playground, build a new enterprise or a landfill for waste disposal - they can conduct a survey of local residents and get weapons to confront the authorities who do not take into account the opinion of the population. The results of the survey can help in planning educational activities, and in work to attract personnel, and in other types of activities. In short, sociological surveys could be a useful tool in the work of NGOs. However, the idea that surveys are easy to prepare and conduct is erroneous.

How to conduct a sociological survey correctly so that its results have weight, how to avoid common mistakes in this matter?

Many people take up sociological surveys with great ease, considering it a simple matter.

And often they either receive data that cannot be properly processed, or they arrange everything in such a way that a person knowledgeable in this matter can easily prove the incompetence of those conducting the survey.

Common sense often disappears when composing questions. For example, surveys are widely used among students of various training seminars, where a direct question is asked about the degree of professionalism of the teacher or consultant at the seminar. The question is completely meaningless: if the respondent needs consultation and training, then it is difficult for him to assess the degree of professionalism of the teacher.

It is better not to undertake complex multifaceted research without specialists. But a simple survey with a small number of questions requiring simple, unambiguously interpreted answers like “yes-no”, “for-against” can easily be carried out by NGOs.

When undertaking a sociological survey, it is necessary to ensure its proper conduct and design. To avoid being accused of incompetence, manipulation or slander, the survey must be conducted according to the methodology accepted in the scientific community. You should always remember that you are conducting research, which is subject to the general requirements for scientific work: the problem, the research methodology, the results and the method of processing them must be clear to those who will get acquainted with your data. Only then can we talk about qualified work.

For example, writing that 90 percent of surveyed residents are against cutting down trees in their yard is not enough. It is not known who you interviewed. Maybe 10 pensioners from three shops. Then these data do not reflect the range of opinions of all residents of the house. Your position will be very vulnerable precisely because the survey methodology is not justified and described.

How should a survey be conducted so that its results are reliable and have weight for others?

It is not enough to conduct a sociological survey well; it must be properly designed in order to protect against accusations of unfoundedness and incompetence. The final document should consist of a description of the survey hypothesis, the text of the questionnaire, a description of the results obtained, and conclusions. Let us dwell in more detail on the hypothesis, since it is it that determines all subsequent stages and results of the work.

A hypothesis is a detailed justification and description of the research methodology. The hypothesis formulates the problem to be solved by the survey, the purpose of the survey, its topic and form, and the method of processing the data that will be obtained. It also justifies the choice of audience and indicates the expected results. When writing a hypothesis, you think through in advance all the stages of future research. This will help avoid unpleasant surprises at the data processing stage.

For example, let’s take some problem that “lies on the surface” and is familiar to many. We walk down the street and see piles of dogs here and there. Some citizens are outraged about this. The officials responsible for the city economy are unhappy with this. They cannot find a solution to the problem, so they are tightening measures against animal owners, citing public opinion: indignant citizens are demanding that order be restored.

Your public organization is trying to ensure that the problem is solved not by sharply reducing the number of dogs in the city and tightening measures against their owners. You have reason to believe that the “general indignation of citizens” about the heaps is an invention of officials justifying their actions. You decide to find out public opinion: conduct a sociological survey and find out the actual degree of indignation of the population.

When preparing any survey, we must remember that there are no absolutely objective results here, because the logic of the questions will always reflect the ideas and position of the authors of the questionnaire and be determined by their goals. At the same time, respondents cannot impose their logic. If you ask a person whether there is a problem with dog piles, he may well answer in the negative. But if you start to immediately find out his attitude to the problem, then it will automatically be recognized as existing. The person will not have the opportunity to think about whether there is a problem, but will most likely obediently reflect on how he relates to it and how to solve it,

So, you start by writing a survey hypothesis, in which, after formulating the problem, the purpose of the study, the survey methodology and processing the collected data, you justify the choice of the audience whose opinion interests you.

Justifying the choice of audience is a very important point in the work. In your hypothesis, you must indicate the opinions of which segments of the population and for what reason you will find out. Does it make sense, for example, to interview businessmen who drive cars, do not walk children and dogs, and generally do not set foot on lawns? Do you consider it necessary to interview specialists such as janitors, representatives of the administration and city services? On the one hand, in order to develop laws and regulations regarding dog walking, it is necessary to know their opinion, on the other hand, you may consider this opinion biased.

The survey can be continuous, then you write in the hypothesis that in order to get the most objective result, you should go around all the apartments of all the houses in your area. True, the question immediately arises of how many people and funds will be required for this. A full survey is very expensive and is only possible when you have no more than one or two questions, and they can be answered from behind a closed door or over the phone.

You can not interview everyone, but select representatives of different segments of the population and work with them. But it is necessary to justify the representativeness of this sample. Suppose you understand that in the survey you are interested in the opinion of families with children of preschool and primary school age. You may not interview all families, but, say, 50% of them. In the hypothesis, you need to provide data on the number of such families in the survey area, you need to find out the addresses of these families and visit every second apartment from this list. Or interview parents in kindergartens and clinics. You should also indicate whether you will interview every family member, or just one person, only parents (without grandparents), those who walk with children, or whoever turns up...

It is clear that the greater the number of respondents and the better the various nuances of the survey are taken into account, the more statistically reliable its results are. But in life, everything is determined by the real capabilities of a given research group: human, time and material resources.

It’s not enough to theoretically choose an audience; you need to avoid making mistakes and interview them specifically. And take into account that, depending on the time and place of the survey, the respondents will be very specific social groups, and not “average citizens.”

Therefore, to justify the reachability of the survey audience, the hypothesis must specify the time and location of the survey. If this happens in the morning, you will encounter pensioners and housewives. If you go door to door in the evening, you will be able to interview working family members, but you will miss the majority of young people who do not sit at home in the evenings. Children can be interviewed at school, and questionnaires can also be distributed at home so that parents can answer the questions. If you stand on the street and interview passersby, depending on the time of day, very different segments of the population will pass by, so you will get a completely different picture of opinions in the morning than in the evening. In the yard the range of basic responses will be different than on the street. If you interview pensioners with dogs, you will get one situation; without dogs, you will get a completely different one. All this is taken into account in the hypothesis, which explains in detail: who, when and where you are interviewing and why exactly them.

Compiling questionnaires is a very important stage of research. The hypothesis should clearly justify why these questions are being asked.

When compiling a questionnaire, you should always imagine how it will be processed. Questionnaires can be open or closed. In closed questions, a range of ready-made answers is given to the question posed, from which the respondent must select and mark one. This form is the most convenient to process. When you can mark multiple responses at once, processing becomes much more complex because you have to look for correlations between responses. The easiest way to process is a closed questionnaire with a small number of questions, with permission to mark only one answer for each. For example, you ask: “How do you feel about dogs?” Possible answers: “1. I love them; 2. I am indifferent to them; 3. I don’t love them.” After processing thousands of questionnaires, you will be able to clearly say how many people out of a thousand respondents love dogs, how many are indifferent, and how many do not like them. If we add two more answers: “I love them madly” and “I can’t stand them,” then we can already construct a scale of respondents’ attitudes toward dogs. But not only that: since the two extremes of attitude towards dogs are the most conflicting, it is possible to indirectly determine the potential aggressiveness of the audience in the event of taking radical measures to resolve the problem.

In our case, it is very important to find out whether the respondent has a dog, since a person who has a dog will most likely be calmer and more loyal to the piles of both his own and someone else’s dog. This is how the hypothesis should be written: we assume that people who own dogs are calmer towards heaps, and that housewives with children and no dogs are the most aggressive, because they are more afraid of pathogens and spend more time outside and see these heaps. And also pensioners who do not have dogs and react sharply to any disturbance of their peace. This assumption is called “expected results”.

Summing up, it will be possible to clearly say that, for example, out of forty dog owners, 97.5% are loyal to the problem of dog piles, and out of forty people who do not have dogs, 20% of housewives and 5% of pensioners are loyal, and, therefore, the hypothesis was confirmed . If it is not confirmed, this is also noted.

We can also limit ourselves to clarifying the relationship to the heaps themselves. You can still find out which solution to the problem will satisfy the respondent. And also what he can do to ensure that the problem is solved, and what he is ready to do if it is not solved. These are all separate questions, and each of them is justified in a hypothesis. You should think through the range of questions you should ask about this issue, as well as possible answers. To do this, it is necessary to study the problem itself well.

In open-ended questionnaires, the respondent is given the opportunity to compose his own answer. If you ask about attitudes towards dogs in such a questionnaire, you may well get answers like: “I have three dogs, there are so many problems with them, and I don’t know what to feed, everything has become so expensive.” Such questionnaires are very difficult to process. You won't be able to categorize the answers, and most of them will be wasted. Often, based on the material collected in this way, they write their own interpretation of public opinion, which has nothing in common with normal data processing. An open-ended questionnaire can only be used when you are absolutely sure that each respondent will either answer “yes” or “no” or list several well-known terms (surnames, titles, etc.).

Semi-open questionnaires are also used. Along with a range of possible answers, they contain a line for those who want to give their own formulation: some people may be annoyed by the programmed nature of their answers. These questionnaires are optimal for pilot surveys on a given problem or surveys of specialists to find out possible answers not taken into account by the authors. They are more difficult to process than closed ones, but they can provide interesting, original additions to your options. There are also mixed questionnaires containing both open and closed questions.

A lot depends on the nature of the question. There are direct questions that imply only three answer options: “yes”, “no”, “difficult to answer”. Let's say the question is: Do you like dog poop? It is clear that to a question posed in this way you will receive 99 and 9 percent of the answers “no”. This way of questioning is very convenient for the sanitary and epidemiological station, which wants to ban keeping dogs in apartments. Or questions like “have you ever been bitten by dogs”, “do you consider dogs to be a source of rabies”. Such questions head-on are completely wild in the opinion of a specialist who wants to understand the problem. But collecting public opinion this way is a pleasure, since the answer is calculated unambiguously and the questionnaires are processed very simply. The deeper you try to understand the patterns of public opinion using a survey, the more difficult it will be to process opinions and study correlations.

Questionnaires can be anonymous or personalized. Often surveys are made anonymous because people want their name and address not to appear anywhere. However, this does not mean that a person’s gender, age, and occupation should not be noted. It is an occupation, profession or social status, and not a place of work. What exactly will be found out about the respondent and why should also be justified in the hypothesis.

If you need to get a yes-no answer, or to get someone to point their finger at their favorite candidate, a telephone survey is quite effective. Mail surveys allow you to reach a huge number of people. However, even with a self-addressed envelope, at best, 10-15% of questionnaires are returned. If you put the questionnaires (already in an envelope with a return address) in mailboxes, the return rate is already more than 30%. But you need to remember that active pensioners and children usually answer here, for whom the survey is a kind of game. And also those who are greatly affected by this problem, especially if they are negative. The rest of the mass of people who work, raise children and grandchildren, run around shopping, in short, are busy from morning to night, do not react or respond to such things.

Expert survey- survey of experts in the field of interest to you. It is carried out either to solve a problem or before a public opinion poll to test a hypothesis. It allows you to study the problem in more depth and competently approach the methodology for conducting a broad survey; formulate questions correctly. To do this, it is often enough to interview 10-15 specialists.

Sociological survey (opinion poll)- method of sociological research, which consists in collecting and obtaining primary empirical information about certain opinions, knowledge and those constituting the subject of research, through oral or written interaction between the researcher (interviewer) and a given population of respondents (interviewees, respondents).

“The survey method is the most widespread of the sociological methods, determining the “image” of sociology in the eyes of the uninitiated and, moreover, having the richest and longest history. The assertion that it is almost impossible to give a strict and comprehensive definition of what a survey is appears at first glance to be absurd. However, in reality, ideas about what a good sociological survey should be have changed so often that any attempt to reduce the definition of a survey to a specific data collection technique, research design, type of data analysis, or the nature of the use of the information obtained is likely to encounter difficulties. F. Devyatko, Methods of sociological research, 1998.

Sociological survey- one of the most common ways to collect the necessary information in modern sociology and marketing.

History of opinion polls[ | ]

The first opinion polls in Europe[ | ]

Although attempts to study public opinion were made back in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome during the population census, Europeans should be considered the pioneers of social surveys. The first empirical studies, the purpose of which was to clarify and solve social problems through data collection, were carried out at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. At the end of the 17th century. Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli first proposed using probability theory to study social phenomena. Based on statistics from 1791-1825 obtained from the Scottish clergy, he compiled a “Statistical Description of Scotland” based on a special questionnaire of 116 items.

Widely known are sociological studies on the working conditions of workers in the Manchester textile industry in 1832, and Charles Booth, author of the work “Life and Labor of People in London” in 17 volumes, published in 1889-1903.

Beginning of sociological surveys in the USA[ | ]

The first attempt to conduct a sociological survey was carried out by an American newspaper in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1824. On the eve of the next presidential election in the United States, journalists from this publication tried to find out whose side the sympathies of the majority of citizens were on. According to the poll, most respondents were inclined to vote for Andrew Jackson, although John Quincy Adams ultimately won. The next large-scale social survey at the national level was conducted in. Literary Digest magazine. He was also involved in politics. The respondents placed marks on specially prepared postcards opposite the name of the presidential candidate whose victory they predicted. This time the poll result coincided with the election result. Woodrow Wilson became President of the United States of America, and American confidence in social polling increased.

Classification of sociological surveys[ | ]

Modern science classifies opinion polls according to several basic principles.

According to the methodology[ | ]

oral
written

By method of interaction with the audience[ | ]

individual
group

There is a classification of social surveys by location (at home, on the street, at work, in a hospital, in prison, etc.). According to the degree of formalization, they distinguish free(non-directive, informal), focused(semi-formalized) and completely formalized- strictly aimed at obtaining specific empirical data.

Direct and indirect[ | ]

Depending on how exactly the necessary information is obtained from the interviewed persons, a social survey can be direct or indirect. A direct survey (interview) takes place during a personal conversation with the respondent face to face. It is often conducted by representatives of the press. (correspondence) social survey can be carried out by telephone, via the Internet, mail, etc. To conduct it, as a rule, a special questionnaire is drawn up with questions, which respondents fill out. The results of this survey are interpreted to obtain the data the sociologist needs.

Continuous and selective[ | ]

A sociological survey can be conducted using a random sample or a sample pre-selected according to the criteria required by the researcher. Continuous research involves a spontaneous survey of respondents of different gender, age, social status and level of education. It covers the entire population of respondents (for example, members of an organization). Sample social survey involves selecting an audience in accordance with the subject of research - a reduced copy of the general population. For example, to find out what kind of milk formula is most often purchased for children in a certain region, a sociologist can interview young mothers or nurses at perinatal centers.

Inductive and deductive approach[ | ]

When conducting a sociological survey (composing a questionnaire), the researcher can use the principles of induction and deduction. When choosing an inductive method, the questions of a sociological questionnaire are thought through in a logical sequence from the particular to the general. A sociological questionnaire compiled using the deductive method reveals specific empirical data by asking the respondent general questions. This mainly concerns program-thematic (resultative, substantive) issues that reveal the motives of behavior, attitudes, knowledge or beliefs of the public.

Stages of conducting a survey[ | ]

The main stages of conducting a sociological survey (as well as other research in the field of sociology), according to Yu. G. Volkov and V. I. Dobrenkov, are: Processing and analysis of the results of a sociological study (survey) includes editing, coding, statistical analysis and further interpretation of the information received.

Criticism [ | ]

The famous French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu criticized public opinion polls. First, the researcher questioned the assumption that everyone has an opinion. Secondly, Bourdieu criticizes the assertion that every opinion is equally valid, and therefore they can be summarized and averaged. Thirdly, the sociologist considers it unlawful to ask everyone the same question. In his opinion, this hiddenly indicates the presence of consensus on a certain problem, which is not always true

Introduction to sociological research

2.Methodology of sociological research:

2.1. Sociological research program

2.2.Goals and objectives of sociological research

2.3.Object and subject of sociological research

2.4. System analysis of the research object

2.5. Proposing and testing hypotheses

2.6.Sampling methods

2.7 Data interpretation

3. Methods of sociological research:

3.1.Analysis of existing data. Content analysis

3.2.Observation

3.3.Mass survey. Questionnaire and interview

3.4.Experiment

4.An example of a sociological study

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

In our time, humanity has turned into a fairly highly developed community with a developed structure of power and various social institutions. But, as before, he faces various difficult and important problems. This could be, for example, an assessment of public opinion on a particular problem, etc. The question arises: how and in what way can they be resolved? But to rationally solve the problems, you need to have an idea of the problem and its cause. This is where sociological research comes to the fore.

Sociological research, like any other research in any discipline or science, is very important. It allows the researcher to move forward in his research, confirming or refuting his conjectures and guesses, to collect and evaluate information about the phenomenon being studied.

Sociological research serves as a link between theoretical knowledge and reality. It helps to establish new patterns of development of society as a whole or any of its structural elements in particular.

With its help, you can solve a very wide range of issues and problems, analyzing the data obtained and giving specific recommendations to resolve the problem.

Sociological research is one of the ways to develop and accumulate sociological knowledge, which consists in the conscious concentration of the efforts of an individual researcher on limited, more or less predetermined tasks.

At the moment, as an example of the use of sociological research, we can cite a public opinion poll on the distribution of citizens’ preferences for candidates for the city council. In principle, the voting process itself is a large state sociological study.

Thus, the role of sociological research in the process of studying society can hardly be overestimated, which is why it will be discussed in this essay.

1. The concept of sociological research.

Sociological research- a system of logical consistent methodological, organizational and technological procedures interconnected by a single goal: to obtain reliable objective data about the phenomenon being studied.

Sociological research includes the following stages:

1. Preparatory: At this stage, the research program is developed.

2. Basic: includes conducting the research itself.

3. Final: data processing, analysis, and drawing conclusions are underway.

Types of research:

1. Intelligence research: a small, simple study with a small number of respondents and a condensed instrument.

2. Descriptive research: A deeper type of research with a larger community of people. Machine processing is used.

3. Analytical research: the most complex and in-depth study. It is not only descriptive, it covers a large number of respondents. Usually considers the dynamics of a phenomenon.

2. Methodology of sociological research.

2.1. Sociological research program.

The place and role of the program in sociological research. Sociological research begins with the development of its program. The results of the study largely depend on the scientific validity of this document. The program represents a theoretical and methodological basis for research procedures carried out by a sociologist (collection, processing and analysis of information) and includes:

Definition of the problem, object and subject of research;

Preliminary system analysis of the research object;

Characteristics of the purpose and objectives of the study;

Interpretation and operationalization of basic concepts;

Formulation of working hypotheses;

Defining a strategic research plan;

Drawing up a sampling plan;

Description of data collection methods;

Description of the data analysis scheme.

Sometimes the program has theoretical (methodological) and methodological (procedural) sections. The first includes program components that begin with the formulation of the problem and end with the preparation of a sampling plan, the second includes a description of methods for collecting, processing and analyzing data.

The program must answer two main questions:

Firstly, how to move from the initial theoretical principles of sociology to research, how to “translate” them into research tools, methods of collecting, processing and analyzing material;

Secondly, how to rise again from the obtained facts, from the accumulated empirical material to theoretical generalizations, so that the research not only gives practical recommendations, but also serves as the basis for the further development of the theory itself.

2.2.Goals and objectives of sociological research

The goal is the general direction of sociological research, determining its nature and orientation (theoretical or applied). The research program should clearly answer the question: what problem and what result is this research aimed at solving?

If the goals are not clear enough to scientists and representatives of organizations that approached them with a social order, then disagreements may arise based on the results of the study. In this regard, it is important that sociological research is comprehensive, for which the program develops a system of main and non-core tasks.

Objectives are a set of specific targets aimed at analyzing and solving a problem.

The main objectives correspond to the purpose of the study. In theoretically oriented research, priority is given to scientific tasks, in practically oriented research, applied ones.

Minor tasks are set to prepare future research, solve methodological issues, and test side hypotheses not directly related to this problem.

With a theoretical or applied orientation of sociological research, it is advisable to solve non-main problems on the basis of the material obtained to find an answer to the central question, to analyze the same data, but from a different angle. It is possible that minor problems will not receive a complete solution, but they can help in formulating a scientific problem when preparing a new study for a new program.

2.3.Object and subject of sociological research

The object of sociological research is a community of people, their activities organized through social institutions, and the conditions in which this activity is carried out, or another phenomenon or process.

The object must be characterized by:

1. Clearly defined phenomena according to such parameters as:

a) industry affiliation;

b) professional affiliation;

c) age;

d) nationality.

2. Spatial limitations.

3. Functional orientation:

a) political orientation;

b) ethnic orientation;

c) production orientation.

4. Time limitation.

5. The possibilities of its quantitative measurement.

If the object of sociological research is independent of the research and opposes it, then the subject of study, on the contrary, is formed by the research itself.

The subject of sociological research is the central issue of the problem.

This is a construction created by thinking, existing only insofar as there is knowledge about the object, determined, on the one hand, by the object of study, on the other, by the conditions of research: tasks, knowledge and means of sociology.

The subject of research is considered to be that side of the object that is directly subject to study, that is, the most significant side of the object from the point of view of sociological theory and social practice. One and the same social object may correspond to several different objects of research, each of which is determined in content by which aspect of the object it reflects, for what purpose, to solve what problem it was chosen.

For example, when studying migration processes, the object of study is the population of various territorial units: republic, region, district, settlement. The subject is migration - the movement of people from one place of residence to another. The purpose of the study is to optimize migration processes in a certain area. The task is to find the best ways of this optimization (for applied research) and to establish patterns of population migration (for theoretical research)

The same object can be described in different ways depending on the problem and purpose of sociological research. The choice of means of fixing them (methodology for collecting and analyzing data) depends, in turn, on what elements and connections will be identified in the object under study.

2.4. System analysis of the research object.

One of the tasks of the initial stage of sociological research is to give a hypothetical detailed description of a social object as a system, that is, to describe it from the position of system analysis. In this way, certain elements and connections characteristic of the object being studied are recorded.

A social object is considered from two sides: as a part of the whole and as a whole consisting of parts. In the first case, it is characterized by external connections, in the second - by internal ones.

The specificity of scientific research lies in the construction of a hypothetical model of an object as a set of its constituent elements and connections. This model becomes a “substitute” for the object under study.

The result of a preliminary systemic analysis of the social object being studied is the subject of research, which has the form of some hypothetical model, which can be presented in the form of a diagram describing the elements and connections of the object being studied.

A systemic analysis of an object allows you to clarify the subject of research, highlight basic concepts and give their interpretation, as well as put forward working hypotheses.

2.5. Proposing and testing hypotheses.

A hypothesis in sociological research is a scientifically based assumption about the structure of social objects, about the nature of the elements and connections that form these objects, about the mechanism of their functioning and development.

A scientific hypothesis can only be formulated as a result of a preliminary analysis of the object being studied.

Hypothesis requirements. A scientifically substantiated hypothesis in sociology must meet a number of requirements.

1. It must correspond to the original principles of the theory of scientific knowledge. This requirement plays the role of a criterion for selecting scientific hypotheses and eliminating unscientific ones, and excludes from science untenable hypotheses built on the basis of false theories.

2. A hypothesis that explains social facts in a certain area, as a rule, should not contradict theories whose truth has already been proven for this area. But a new hypothesis can sometimes contradict old theories and at the same time be completely acceptable.

3. It is necessary that the hypothesis does not contradict known and verified facts. If among the known facts there is at least one with which the hypothesis does not agree, then it must be discarded or reformulated so as to cover the entire set of facts for which it is proposed to explain. But a contradiction with known facts should not always be regarded as a sign of the inconsistency of the hypothesis.

4. the hypothesis must be testable in the process of sociological research. It is checked using a specially developed technique at the disposal of the researcher.

5. The hypothesis must be subjected to logical analysis to establish its consistency. This is done not only through logical rules, but also through operational definitions. The latter allow one to avoid arbitrary interpretation of the empirical terms of the hypothesis.

In order to increase the confirmability of a hypothesis, one should strive to put forward a larger number of interrelated hypotheses and indicate for each hypothesis the largest possible number of empirical indicators of the variables included in it.

The first are assumptions about the structural and functional connections of the object being studied. They may also relate to the classification characteristics of a social object.

The second are assumptions about cause-and-effect relationships in the object under study, requiring empirical experimental verification.

In the process of such testing, a distinction should be made between the main hypotheses and their consequences (inferential hypotheses).

2.6. Sampling methods.

Population- the totality of all possible social objects that are subject to study within the framework of a sociological research program.

Sample or sample population- part of the objects of the general population, selected using special techniques to obtain information about the entire population as a whole.

1. Quota sample population.

This method requires at least four characteristics by which respondents are identified.

Typically used for large populations.

2. Main Array Method.

It assumes a survey of 60-70% of the general population.

3. Cluster sampling method.

The respondent is not an individual, but a group.

This method will be representative if the composition of the groups is similar.

4. Serial sampling method.

With this method, the general population is divided into homogeneous parts, from which a unit of analysis is proportionally selected (elements of a sample or survey population: there can be both individuals and groups).

5. Mechanical sampling method.

The required number of respondents is selected from the general list of the general population at regular intervals.

6. Solid method.

Used with a small population.

2.7.Interpretation of data.

After the research results, observational and measurement data are obtained, a theoretical interpretation of the empirical data is carried out. The “language of observation” is, as it were, translated into the “language of theory” - an action opposite to that which was carried out before the study.

This interpretation is carried out in the process of theoretical generalization of empirical data and assessment of the truth of the hypotheses put forward.

3.Methods of sociological research.

3.1.Analysis of existing documents. Content analysis

A significant part of the information necessary for the researcher in his work is contained in documentary sources. In sociology, their study as a stage of sociological research is called analysis of existing data, or secondary data analysis.

A complete understanding of the content of documentary sources in many cases allows one to obtain information sufficient to solve the problem that has arisen or to deepen the analysis of the problem. Thus, when formulating the problem and hypotheses of the study, the sociologist turns to the analysis of such written documents as scientific publications, reports on previous research, various statistical and departmental publications.

In sociology, a document is a specially created human object for transmitting and storing information.

There are different classifications of documents:

1. From the point of view of intended purpose, there are:

a) target documents: chosen by the sociologist himself;

b) cash documents: available.

2. According to the degree of personification:

a) personal: statements, letters, testimonials, etc.;

b) impersonal: for example, statistical data.

3. Depending on the source status:

a) official;

b) unofficial.

4. According to the source of information:

a) primary: compiled on the basis of direct observation or survey;

b) secondary: processing, generalization, description made on the basis of primary sources.

It is the analysis of documents that provides initial information and allows the accurate and targeted use of other research methods.

Of particular interest to sociologists are the summary data of the results of specialized continuous and sample surveys conducted by central statistical organizations and departmental research organizations.

Recently, statistical reference books have begun to appear in Russia and abroad, which include indicators of satisfaction with various spheres of human activity, environmental conditions and other subjective indicators.

In sociology, there are two groups of methods for analyzing document information:

1. Traditional.

2. Formalized.

The first is understood as mental operations aimed at analyzing primary data in documents from the point of view of research of interest. It has the disadvantage of subjectivity.

The essence of the second is that the researcher translates quantitative indicators of text information.

Traditional Document Analysis Methods.

Documentary sources provide unique and diverse information about social phenomena and processes. It is important to find methods that would allow the required information to be retrieved with sufficient reliability. These methods include a whole variety of mental operations aimed at interpreting the content of documents in accordance with the purpose of the study.

Traditional analysis is an adaptation of the content of a document to a research problem, based on intuitive understanding, generalization of the content and logical justification of the conclusions drawn.

It is necessary to make an assessment of the quality of documents, which includes:

1. Clarification of the conditions, purposes and reasons for creating the document.

In other words, the reliability factors of a documentary source are clarified in relation to the purposes of the study. Establishing the completeness and reliability of the source regarding the objectives of the study are the main parameters of its assessment before the start of the study.

Quantitative analysis (content analysis).

The most significant limitation associated with the use of traditional methods of analyzing documents such as newspapers and similar sources is the possibility of subjective influences on the results of the analysis, that is, the influence of the researcher’s attitudes, his interests, and existing stereotypical ideas about the subject of analysis. This drawback is overcome by methods of formalized analysis, which are based on statistical accounting of various objective characteristics of the text. For example, the frequency of publications in a newspaper of materials on a certain topic, the number of lines allocated by the editors to individual topics, headings, authors, the frequency of mentions of problems, terms, names, geographical names, etc.

Content analysis is a method of studying messages created in various areas of social communication and recorded in the form of written text on paper or recordings on any other physical media.

The analysis is based on uniform standardized rules for searching, recording and calculating quantitative indicators of the studied characteristics of the text.

Its essence is to find and use for calculation such features of a document that would reflect certain essential aspects of its content.

It is advisable to use content analysis in the presence of large text arrays with a clear structure determined by the communicative intentions of the authors of the text.

3.2.Observation.

Observation in sociology is a method of collecting information by directly studying a social phenomenon in its natural conditions.

There are a number of features of this method:

1. Communication between the observer and the object of observation.

2. The observer is not devoid of a human trait - emotionality of perception.

3. Difficulty in repeated observation.

Depending on the degree of standardization of observation techniques, two main types of this method can be distinguished.

A standardized observation technique presupposes the presence of a previously detailed list of events and signs to be observed; determination of observation conditions and situations; instructions for observers; uniform codifiers for recording observed phenomena.

Non-standardized (unstructured) observation. In this case, the researcher determines only the general directions of observation, according to which the results are recorded in free form directly during the observation process or later from memory.

Forms and methods of recording the results of the observer - forms and observation diaries, photo, film, video and radio equipment.

Depending on the role of the observer in the situation under study, 4 types of observation are distinguished:

1. Full participation of the observer in the situation: involves the inclusion of the observer in the group being studied as a full member. The role of the observer is unknown to the group members.

2. Participant in the situation as an observer: characterized by the observer’s inclusion in the group, but it is understood that his role as a researcher is clear to all participants.

3. Observer as a participant: means that the observer is primarily a researcher and, interacting with participants in the social process, does not pretend to be an actual participant.

4. Completely observer: the researcher performs only the function of an observer, without interacting with the participants in the situation, remaining out of their field of vision.

Observation procedure. The process of studying a social phenomenon using the observation method can be roughly represented as the following sequence of steps:

Formulation of the problem, description of the object of observation, definition of tasks;

Determination of units of observation and indicators of the studied aspects of behavior;

Development of a language and system of concepts in terms of which the results of observation will be described; defining sampling procedures for situations where it is possible to select from many observations;

Preparation of technical documents to record the observed phenomenon (cards, protocol forms, coding forms, etc.);

Recording the results of observations;

Data analysis and interpretation;

Preparation of a report and conclusions based on the results of the study.

Advantages and disadvantages of the observation method. The main advantage is that it makes it possible to capture the details of a given phenomenon, its versatility.

The flexibility of the method is another quality that is of no small importance when studying social phenomena.

And finally, cheapness is a common attribute inherent in this method.

Among the shortcomings, first of all, it should be noted the qualitative nature of the conclusions that can be obtained as a result of observation. The method can rarely be applied to the observation of large populations. However, the biggest drawback is associated with the possibility of introducing a certain amount of subjectivity into the essence of the method and less opportunities than in other cases for a broad generalization of research results.

3.3.Mass survey. Questionnaire and interview

The researcher turns to this method when, in order to solve a given problem, he needs to obtain information about the sphere of people’s consciousness: about their opinions, motives of behavior, assessments of the surrounding reality, life plans, goals, orientations, awareness, etc.

In all such cases, it is people, participants in the social processes being studied, who act as a unique source of information that cannot be replaced by any other. However, the survey method can also obtain information about people’s behavior and various factual information.

The essence of the survey method comes down to communication between the researcher, directly or indirectly through his representative, with a population of people (respondents) in the form of a question-and-answer dialogue. The peculiarity of this communication is that, on the one hand, it must meet the strict requirements of the scientific procedure, and on the other, it must proceed from the fact that the source of information is ordinary participants in the processes being studied, who are aware of these processes within the framework of everyday everyday experience.

Thus, the survey implements the cognitive interaction of two different levels of social consciousness: the scientific, the bearer of which is the researcher, and the everyday, practical, the bearer of which is the interviewee, the respondent.

Methodological principles for constructing a questionnaire. The content of the questions, their wording, sequence and relationship in the structure of the questionnaire must meet two requirements.

1. Questions must be necessary and sufficient to provide empirical testing of research hypotheses and to solve its cognitive problems. This requirement is met at the stage of empirical interpretation of concepts through the development of a set of indicators and a corresponding list of units of required information.

In other words, for each question in the questionnaire, its cognitive task, its required information, must be determined.

2. It is necessary to take into account the socio-psychological characteristics of the respondents who are the source of information. This means that the author of the questionnaire must take into account the respondents’ awareness of the subject of the survey, the specifics of their language, communication traditions, ideas about prestige and self-esteem, etc.

In practical work, when designing a questionnaire, both requirements are often suppressed and must be taken into account comprehensively and in conjunction.

When starting to develop a questionnaire, the sociologist solves a problem at a different level - how to formulate a question in order to obtain the required information?

Types of questions. Depending on the purposes for which questions are asked, they are divided into substantive and functional.

Functional questions solve various problems of managing the course of the survey, its psychological atmosphere, and logical rigor. The main types of such questions are: filter questions, control questions, contact questions.

The need for filter questions arises when the required information can be obtained not from the entire population of respondents, but only from some of it.

The purpose of control questions is to find out the stability or consistency of the respondent’s answers that he gives on the same topic or problem.

Contact questions serve to establish contact with the respondent and create positive motivation for the survey. They may not be directly related to the topic of the survey, but allow the respondent to speak on the topic that is most relevant and close to him.

Depending on what is being asked, there are:

1. Questions about facts. Their goal is to obtain information about social phenomena or characteristics that can be unambiguously determined. (This could be age, gender, etc.).

2. Questions about knowledge. The purpose of these questions is to obtain information indicating that the respondent is informed. The answers help to more accurately identify the structure of attitudes and interests and indicate the degree of inclusion of the individual in the team.

3. Questions about opinion. The answers to these questions most often contain estimates. Opinions are less stable than knowledge. They are more strongly conditioned by the situation and often depend on personal experiences and moods. The formulation of opinions is determined by the way an individual is included in the process of social development, by his political activity.

4. Questions about motives. The study of motives for social behavior places high demands on survey techniques and the construction of indicators. It is easier for respondents to talk about facts, behavior, situations than to judge the motives of behavior. This is due to the fact that assessing (or justifying) actions in the past is difficult.

According to the filling technique, they are distinguished:

1. Open questions. They give the respondent the opportunity to independently formulate an answer that reflects the uniqueness of individual consciousness, language, style, stock of information, and circle of associations.

2. Closed questions. It is assumed that there are ready-made answer options that the sociologist develops before the start of the survey, based on his initial ideas about the content of the question and on the data of the pilot study.

Questioning.

Questionnaire- a type of survey in which the respondent fills out the questionnaire independently.

Questionnaire- a questionnaire filled out independently by the respondent according to the rules.

Based on the number of respondents, there are:

1. Group survey.

2. Individual survey.

According to the venue, the following are distinguished:

1. Questionnaire at home.

2. Questionnaire at work.

3. Questioning of target audiences.

By method of distributing questionnaires:

1. Distribution questionnaire: distributed to respondents by the questionnaire itself.

2. Postal questionnaire: sent by mail.

3. Press questionnaire: published in the press.

The main advantage of group questioning is related to the organizational accessibility and efficiency of the survey. The questionnaires are filled out in the presence of the surveyor and returned to him immediately after completion. This survey form has a nearly 100% return rate and short data collection time.

When using an individual survey using a handout questionnaire, the surveyor either hands the questionnaire to the respondent, agreeing on the return date at the next meeting, or, having explained the rules for filling out and the purpose of the survey, waits for the questionnaire to be filled out.

A postal survey is a fairly popular method of surveying large populations of people.

Its weaknesses are the low return rate without the use of special techniques (about 30%), the uncontrollable situation of filling out questionnaires and the difficulties associated with these features in justifying the representativeness of the sample of the target population.

The publication of questionnaires in newspapers or magazines is actively used in journalistic practice, however, the cognitive capabilities of this type of survey are limited due to the problem of returning completed questionnaires.

Interview. As a method of collecting information, interviews are largely devoid of the disadvantages listed above, but the price for this is a relatively high cost.

Interview- a conversation conducted according to a specific plan, which involves direct contact between the interviewer and the respondent, and the answers are recorded either by the interviewer or on some storage medium (for example, a voice recorder).

There are several types of interviews, depending on how standardized the conversation situation is.

Standardized interview with closed questions used to survey a large population of people (several hundreds or thousands) when the substantive structure of the problem is determined.

Standardized An interview with open-ended questions gives the respondent more independence in formulating answers and requires the interviewer to record them as detailed and accurately as possible.

Directed (focused) interview. The plan for such an interview provides only a list of questions that must be considered during the conversation. But the sequence and wording of questions may vary depending on the specific situation.

A free interview involves the preliminary development of approximate main directions of conversation with the respondent. The wording of questions and their sequence are formed during the interview and are determined by the individual characteristics of the interviewee.

3.4.Experiment.

Sociological experiment- a method of obtaining information about quantitative and qualitative changes in the activity and behavior of a social object as a result of the influence of certain manageable and controllable factors on it.

In sociology, an economic experiment means the direct influence of specific economic conditions on people’s consciousness.

Classical experimental model. It can be boiled down to studying the impact of an independent variable (for example, the performance of a presidential candidate) on a dependent variable (a person’s vote in an election). The purpose of the experiment is to test the hypothesis about the presence or absence of influence of the independent variable on the dependent one.

Of fundamental importance in such a model is the question of selecting experimental and control groups. The main task of the researcher is to achieve maximum similarity (since complete identity cannot be achieved) of these two groups before the experiment. The term “similarity” is understood here in a statistical sense, i.e., the units of the general population from which the groups are selected must have equal chances of falling into both the first group and the second. This selection process is often called randomization. Randomization aims to eliminate systematic biases and errors that may arise during experimental exposure to non-equivalent groups.

Internal and external validity. The problem of internal validity means that there is a possibility that the conclusions a researcher draws from experimental results may not reflect what happened during the experiment itself.

The sources of this problem may be:

The influence of past events on the results of the experiment;

Changes in the experiment participants themselves during the experiment;

The impact of the testing and retesting process on people's behavior;

The influence of the instrument used during the experiment, including the experimenter himself;

Incomparability of experimental and control groups.

External validity refers to the ability to generalize, extend the conclusions of an experiment to real objects. Even if the results are internally valid, is it possible to transfer the conclusions obtained from experimental groups to real social objects and processes?

There are many examples when the results of experiments turn out to be unacceptable at all or not fully acceptable for the phenomenon being studied.

Laboratory experiment involves the researcher creating an artificial environment (for example, a laboratory) in which to conduct it, which allows him to more closely control the environment in which the groups being studied are placed. The artificiality of the environment lies in the fact that the object of observation is transferred from its usual environment to an environment that helps to achieve a high degree of accuracy in observing its behavior. In sociology, one of the most difficult problems associated with a laboratory experiment concerns the external validity of the experimental results.

Field experiment. It is characterized by the most natural situation possible - this could be a classroom, a work environment.

Natural experiment. It is understood as an experiment in which the researcher does not select and prepare an independent variable in advance and does not influence the experimental group with it. The researcher assigns himself the role of observer and recorder of processes independently occurring in the area of life being studied.

The results of the social experiment are reflected in the report, which contains the following three sections:

4. An example of a sociological study.

In order to give an example of a sociological study, a hypothetical problem was taken: what determines the productivity of workers, i.e., what motivates them to work with interest.

The object of the study was a group of students (since studying is also a kind of work, and after it the majority will obviously go to work) of 20 people.

The subject of study was the learning process (labor productivity) of these people.

The goal of this study was to find ways to increase motivation and increase productivity (improving educational results).

The task was to find ways to achieve a specific goal, as well as to identify the dependence of motivation and labor productivity on various factors.

Questioning was chosen as a method of sociological research. Respondents were given questionnaires that looked like this:

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Good chances of promotion

2. Good earnings

3. Pay related to performance

4. Recognition and appreciation for a job well done

5. Work that allows you to realize your abilities

6. Complex and difficult work

7. Work that allows you to think and act independently

8. High degree of responsibility

9. Interesting job

10. Work that requires creativity

11. Work without much strain and stress

12. Convenient work location

13. Sufficient information about what is generally happening at the company

14. Significant additional benefits

15. Fair distribution of work volumes

What factors would you like to add to the proposed list?

Once completed, the questionnaires were collected to process the results, which are presented in the form of an average score for each factor in the following table (Table 1), with the factors arranged in descending order of average score.

Table 1

Average scores of factors contributing to increased productivity

1. Work without much strain and stress

2. Good earnings

3. Interesting work

4. Good chances of promotion

5. Recognition and appreciation for a job well done

6. Convenient work location

7. Sufficient information about what is generally happening at the company

8. Significant additional benefits

9. Pay related to performance

10. Fair distribution of work volumes

11. Work that requires creativity

12. Work that allows you to realize your abilities

13. High degree of responsibility

14. Work that allows you to think and act independently

15. Complex and difficult work

As a result of the survey, it is clear that the strongest motivator for highly productive work is work without great strain and stress, which is explained by the fact that all respondents have actually not yet worked and do not want to start their working career with work replete with stress and tension (a striking example is their attitude towards learning - all students want a test or exam automatically with a minimum of effort).

Second place in our hit parade was taken by a factor called good earnings, which is not surprising - what kind of person (especially a student) would refuse extra money.

In third place is such a factor as interesting work. Of course, who would like boring and monotonous work and what can we talk about here about increasing labor productivity?

Due to the obvious absence of workaholics in the group, the factor “complicated and difficult work” took only last place.

Among the added factors, we can highlight such as the possibility of parallel or additional work in another organization, the provision of official transport and the provision of a personal secretary (secretary).

This work does not pretend to be a full-fledged sociological study, as it has a number of significant shortcomings. Firstly, the survey was not carried out in a specific situation where a problem related to labor productivity arose (among students, such a problem does not arise at all from their point of view), i.e. there was no specific problem situation, and therefore it was It was decided not to draw specific conclusions for applying them in practice.

Ideally, such a study would be advisable to conduct at an enterprise where there is a problem with labor productivity.

Conclusion

So, the basic principles in preparing and conducting sociological research have been described above. Its main goals and objectives are outlined, the concepts of the object and subject of sociological research are given, and methods for sampling respondents from the general population are given.

Depending on the tasks and conditions of conducting sociological research, various methods were identified, where their positive and negative aspects, difficulties in implementing recommendations for conducting, etc. were also mentioned.

Sociological research is considered as an important and integral part of sociology, as one of the main ways of developing sociological knowledge, knowledge about society, its structural units and the processes occurring in it.

Sociological research also plays an important role in the study and resolution of problems arising in social, industrial and other spheres of human activity.

I think that the material presented above, despite its small volume, made it possible to learn what sociological research is, why it is necessary, and to become familiar with its fundamentals.

Bibliography

1. Baskov A., Benker G. Modern sociological theory. - M. - 1996

Nadezhda Domanova Bulletin of the Moscow ISAR, No. 8, 1999

There is an opinion about the simplicity and convenience of sociological surveys. Indeed, if the authorities want to cut down a grove in a microdistrict, put garages on the site of a children's playground, build a new enterprise or a waste disposal site - they can conduct a survey of local residents and get weapons to confront the authorities who do not take into account the opinion of the population. The results of the survey can help in planning educational activities, and in work to attract personnel, and in other types of activities. In short, sociological surveys could be a useful tool in the work of NGOs. However, the idea that surveys are easy to prepare and conduct is erroneous.

How to conduct a sociological survey correctly so that its results have weight, how to avoid common mistakes in this matter?

Many people take up sociological surveys with great ease, considering it a simple matter.

How should a survey be conducted so that its results are reliable and have weight for others?

Compiling questionnaires is a very important stage of research. The hypothesis should clearly justify why these questions are being asked.

In open-ended questionnaires, the respondent is given the opportunity to compose his own answer. If you ask about attitudes towards dogs in such a questionnaire, you may well get answers like: “I have three dogs, there are so many problems with them, and I don’t know what to feed, everything has become so expensive.” Such questionnaires are very difficult to process. You won't be able to categorize the answers, and most of them will be wasted. Often, based on the material collected in this way, they write their own interpretation of public opinion, which has nothing in common with normal data processing. An open questionnaire can only be used if you are absolutely sure that each respondent will either answer “yes” or “no” or list several well-known terms (surnames, titles, etc.).

A lot depends on the nature of the question. There are direct questions that imply only three answer options: “yes”, “no”, “difficult to answer”. Let's say the question is: Do you like dog poop? It is clear that to a question posed in this way you will receive 99 and 9 percent of the answers “no”. This way of questioning is very convenient for the sanitary and epidemiological station, which wants to ban keeping dogs in apartments. Or questions like “have you ever been bitten by dogs” or “do you consider dogs to be a source of rabies.” Such questions head-on are completely wild in the opinion of a specialist who wants to understand the problem. But collecting public opinion this way is a pleasure, since the answer is calculated unambiguously and the questionnaires are processed very simply. The deeper you try to understand the patterns of public opinion using a survey, the more difficult it will be to process opinions and study correlations.

The most common method of obtaining primary information is a survey, which is widely used to justify decisions. Survey as a method of obtaining primary information characterized by efficiency, simplicity and cost-effectiveness, which makes it popular among entrepreneurs and managers, public and political organizations.

However, to ensure the representativeness of the survey data, it is important to correctly formulate the population of respondents.

The survey can be conducted in the form:

Sociological survey

Among the population, there is a widespread idea of a sociologist as a person who every now and then conducts surveys of the population on various topical issues. Indeed, as an analysis of domestic and foreign publications based on the results of sociological research shows, most of them contain data obtained precisely by the survey method.

At the same time, survey is successfully used by a number of other sciences to solve research problems. Thus, statisticians have long and successfully used surveys to collect data on the structure of the population, labor resources, consumption budgets, family structure and many other areas of society. Journalists traditionally turn to the interview method to obtain information of interest to them on issues that are relevant to readers and television viewers. Many leading Russian television companies use this method in a journalistic manner (but, according to sociologists, unprofessionally). The problem is that television journalists deal not only with respondents selected on some basis, but also with a huge television audience, which significantly affects the quality of the survey and distorts its results. Teachers use student surveys as a means of monitoring the assimilation of knowledge given in previous lessons. Doctors interview patients, especially “primary patients”, using a standard set of questions to find out anamnesis - information about a person’s ailments that preceded his visit to a doctor.

In any case, the questions asked must meet the requirements of logic, take into account the psychological characteristics of the respondents, and the situation that develops during the interview. On this general basis, specific varieties of the survey method were formed, sometimes so different that the transfer of methodological, organizational and technical rules and survey techniques from one area to another is unacceptable.

A sociologist, conducting a survey, solves a slightly different range of cognitive problems than specialists in other branches of knowledge. The required information is obtained only in communication situations, and communication options can be different: personal or indirect (telephone, mail, etc.), oral or written, individual or group. This information is necessarily recorded in the form of answers to questions formulated by the survey organizer either in advance (formalized or standardized survey) or directly during the conversation in accordance with the general purpose of the survey.

There are two main types of sociological surveys: questionnaires (written surveys) and interviews (oral surveys).

Logical scheme of survey types, based on the typology of Gorshkov and Sherega, with the only difference that we added an online survey as a new survey method, which is just being institutionalized in the system of methods of applied sociology, is shown in Fig. 1.2.

Questionnaire

When surveying, the following methods of communication with respondents are possible:

questioning by publishing a questionnaire in a newspaper, magazine, book (press);
by distributing questionnaires to a group of respondents.

Depending on the purpose, the survey can be conducted at the respondents’ place of residence and place of work.

For example, to assess the effectiveness of municipal authorities in organizing the service sector, it is advisable to conduct a survey at the place of residence.

Questionnaire is a structurally organized set of questions, each of which reflects the programmatic and procedural objectives of the study.

Each questionnaire has an introductory part containing an address to the respondent explaining the purpose and necessity of the questionnaire, a brief description of the expected results and their usefulness. The degree of anonymity of the survey is indicated.

The questionnaire should express gratitude to the respondent for answering the questions posed.

Requirements for the application form:

it is necessary to provide instructions on how to fill out the form;
on the title page of the questionnaire there should be a title reflecting the topic or problem of the survey, the name of the organization conducting the survey, the place and year of publication;
Questions and answer options should be highlighted with font, color, frames, and arrows. The text of the questionnaire should be easy to read.

Included in the questionnaire questions are classified for various reasons. Depending on the attitude to the purpose of the study, a distinction is made between program-thematic (substantive, effective) and procedural (functional) surveys.

According to the subject content, questions are divided into: about facts; knowledge; opinions, attitudes, motives of behavior.

According to the degree of standardization, questions are divided into closed, semi-closed and open.

Closed questions can be: dichotomous (“yes-no”); alternative and “menu questions”.

Open-ended questions do not have a set of possible answers, which makes processing the received material somewhat difficult. However, with open-ended questions, the respondent’s opinion on the issue at hand is taken into account to a greater extent.

Interview

Interview is a specific type of survey. More often it is used in pilot testing to organize samples at objects of a complex structure (enterprise, organization).

The interviewer fills out the questionnaire in direct contact with the respondent based on the latter’s answers.

Personal interview It can be individual or group. This method is expensive, but it can optimize the interview by establishing positive relationships. Therefore, interviewers must undergo psychological (communication) training.

Telephone survey implies a brevity of conversation that does not allow personal and sensitive questions. Thus, such a survey allows you to obtain information within a limited thematic framework.

Survey via email is cheap, but requires clear definition of issues. In addition, recipients may not answer the questions posed.

Socio-statistical diagnostics allows you to get an opinion on various socio-economic transformations, the work of state and municipal authorities, the influence of television on young people and other groups of the population.