Survey Pointers
SURVEY POINTERS
Julhusin B. Jalisan
"The rightful concern of statisticians is the use of science to provide relevant information on large populations, to be made available to decision agents within a short period of time and of acceptable quality."
Vicente T. Paterno
I n this fast changing world, problems in almost all fields of human endeavor have to be solved and resolved on scientific bases. The influence of decisions based on quantitative information has never been more evident than in the present decade especially with the use of modern technology. Indeed, the growing complexities of the activities and functions of the various fields of endeavor have made the use of statistics imperative.
However, one major problem among statisticians, under a given circumstance and budgetary constraints, is the production of reliable data due to built-in biases of the collectors and/or respondents.
In many cases, the main cause of failure in any research undertaking is the wrong choice of method in the collection of data. This is especially true in the case of survey. While the confidence level can be established as basis for accepting the representativeness of the samples, and variability can be computed for estimating probable sampling errors, it is virtually impossible to do the same due to errors introduced through bias either positively or negatively.
Perhaps the most important point to remember is that, despite the formidable arrays of formulae, statements of confidence, and tests of significance, the quality of data collected is the most important aspect of any survey. The information generated by statistical manipulation can only be as good as the data upon which it was based. The adage "Garbage In, Garbage Out" (Smith, 1981), therefore, should be borne in mind when designing surveys and gathering data, so that the processing of the data will bear useful results.
SURVEY DESIGN
Surveys are usually undertaken to provide
Julhusin B. Jalisan
"The rightful concern of statisticians is the use of science to provide relevant information on large populations, to be made available to decision agents within a short period of time and of acceptable quality."
Vicente T. Paterno
I n this fast changing world, problems in almost all fields of human endeavor have to be solved and resolved on scientific bases. The influence of decisions based on quantitative information has never been more evident than in the present decade especially with the use of modern technology. Indeed, the growing complexities of the activities and functions of the various fields of endeavor have made the use of statistics imperative.
However, one major problem among statisticians, under a given circumstance and budgetary constraints, is the production of reliable data due to built-in biases of the collectors and/or respondents.
In many cases, the main cause of failure in any research undertaking is the wrong choice of method in the collection of data. This is especially true in the case of survey. While the confidence level can be established as basis for accepting the representativeness of the samples, and variability can be computed for estimating probable sampling errors, it is virtually impossible to do the same due to errors introduced through bias either positively or negatively.
Perhaps the most important point to remember is that, despite the formidable arrays of formulae, statements of confidence, and tests of significance, the quality of data collected is the most important aspect of any survey. The information generated by statistical manipulation can only be as good as the data upon which it was based. The adage "Garbage In, Garbage Out" (Smith, 1981), therefore, should be borne in mind when designing surveys and gathering data, so that the processing of the data will bear useful results.
SURVEY DESIGN
Surveys are usually undertaken to provide
Cited: Anderson, R. L. and T. A. Bancroft. Statistical Theory in Research. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1952. Shao, Stephen P., Statistics for Business and Economics, Ohio, USA: Charles E. Merril Publishing Co., 1967. Smith, Kenneth F., Applied Survey Methods for Development Projects, The US Agency for International Development Training Center, 1981. -oOo-