PSYC 865 Survey Research Methods

In this course, students are provided with the opportunity to develop a comprehensive understanding of the process of survey research methods, including research design and the construction, implementation, analysis, and validation of survey instruments. Focus is given to critical analysis of survey-based research in both academic and non-academic settings. Additional emphasis is placed on development of practical and technical skills involved in designing high-quality surveys and analyzing and interpreting survey data.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

The course is designed to provide an advanced exploration of the major issues associated with survey research methods and to prepare the student with the essential skills necessary to design and conduct survey research projects, including survey research design, survey construction and evaluation, scientific sampling, and communication within the scientific community. This course emphasizes the practical process of developing, administering, and evaluating an original survey instrument. Finally, this course will allow the student the opportunity to integrate scientific theory and practice with a Biblical perspective and a Christ-centered approach to the role of researcher in professional psychology.

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After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview. 

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. The discussions in this course are part of the peer review assignment in which students will provide feedback on each other’s surveys. Feedback replies must be at least 250 words. 

Throughout the course, the student will complete 7 cumulative assignments that are designed to guide him/her in developing and evaluating a survey instrument that measures a psychological variable/construct of his/her choosing. The 7 elements of the Survey Project must adhere to current APA formatting guidelines and are described below.

Survey Project: Part 1 – Variable Selection and Rationale Assignment

The student will write a current APA-formatted assignment that provides a general overview of the psychological variable/construct that he/she intends to measure with the survey instrument that he/she designs. The assignment will include an assessment of contexts in which the assessment of the construct is relevant, a brief synthesis of 2-4 peer-reviewed research articles investigating the topic, and a rationale and personal relevance section that discusses why the selected variable is important to study and why the student is interested in it. This assignment will be 3-5 pages in length.

Survey Project: Part 2 – Test Identification Assignment

The student will write a current APA formatted assignment in which he/she identifies two tests that are designed to measure the student’s chosen construct and summarizes of the psychometric properties of each. At least one must be obtainable and free for the student to use. The student must pull at least 2 scholarly references published in the Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY) database and/or other peer-reviewed articles as acceptable alternate sources to support his/her analysis. This assignment will be 2-4 pages in length.

Survey Project: Part 3 – Draft Survey and List of References Assignment

The student will write a draft of his/her survey questions using a Theoretical Strategy or a Logical-Content Strategy. The student will include a brief (no more than one page) write-up describing the process used to create the survey items and a bulleted list of each survey item with a brief rationale for how the item measures the chosen construct and why the student included it in the survey. The draft survey should include 15–20 items/questions that directly address the variable being measured. The survey format should be inviting and pleasing to the eye. The assignment will additionally include a current APA-formatted references page that cites 5-8 peer-reviewed, scholarly sources that directly relate to the hypothetical construct/variable that the student intends to measure with the survey.

Survey Project: Part 4 – Survey Administration and Data Entry Assignment

The student will administer his/her newly created survey and another already published survey identified in Part 2 that is designed to measure the same latent construct in a field test to a pilot sample of at least 20 participants. The student will need to administer the same sample for both surveys. The student will also write an APA-formatted Method section (no more than 6 pages) that summarizes the participants, apparatus/material, and the procedure used in the field test. This section will end with an appendix that displays the student’s new questionnaire in its final format. A SPSS Data (.sav) File that includes the demographic and survey data that you collected from your pilot sample of at least 20 participants.

Survey Project: Part 5 – Reliability and Validity Analysis Assignment

For this assignment, the student will be evaluating the reliability and validity of the survey that he/she designed using the data obtained from the pilot sample of participants. The student will complete the reliability and validity analysis using SPSS. The student will provide a 3-5 page write up of a results section that summarizes the findings. The student will determine results data for validity using Person’s Correlation Coefficient and reliability using the Spearman-Brown Prophecy Formula. The student must also submit a single SPSS Output (.spv) File that provides the descriptive, internal consistency, and validity analyses that he/she performed in SPSS for this assignment.

Survey Project: Part 6 – Empirical Report Assignment

The student will write an original Empirical Report that describes the variable/construct being measured, summarizes the sampling method, participants, and administration method of the data collection process, presents the survey data, and summarizes the psychometric properties of the survey. The student will bolster the paper content using the corrective feedback received on previous assignments. The paper will include all of the following sections: variable identification; test identification (this section draws support using information obtained from review article(s) from the MMY or other sources); methods; results; discussion. The paper must include a title page, references page for any sources used to support the rationale, figures and tables that display the results of the analyses, and appendix that displays the new questionnaire in its final format. All elements of the Empirical Report must adhere to current APA formatting guidelines.

Discussion: Survey Project: Part 7 – Virtual Conference Presentation

The student will read over the feedback provided to him/her by the two peers who selected his/her survey to review in the Peer-Review Discussion: Peer Critique. The student will write a brief (1-2 pages) paper outlining the student’s decision-making process. The student’s paper will include a summary of the feedback provided by peers – what they liked and what they suggested changing – and point-by-point explanation of whether the student made each suggested change (and why he/she did or did not). The paper must include an appendix containing the final version of the survey with any changes included. The student must be sure to follow current APA formatting for all components of the paper.