Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
New conceptualizations arise, and different forms are necessary for collection
and analysis of the relevant data. Thus, the researcher must continually mod-
ify old lists and forms and develop new ones throughout the study.
QUESTIONNAIRES
Structured interviews are close approximations of questionnaires. Questionnaires
represent perhaps the most formal and rigid form of exchange in the inter-
viewing spectrum—the logical extension of an increasingly structured inter-
view. However, questionnaires are qualitatively different from interviews
because of the distance between the researcher and the respondent. Interviews
have an interactive nature that questionnaires lack. In filling out a question-
naire, the respondent completes the researcher's form without any verbal
exchange or clarification. Knowing whether the researcher and the respondent
are on the same wavelength, sharing common assumptions and understandings
about the questions, is difficult—perhaps impossible.
Misinterpretations and misrepresentations are common with question-
naires. Many people present an idealized image of themselves on question-
naires, answering as they think they should to conform to a certain image. The
researcher has no control over this type of response and no interpersonal cues
to guide the interpretation of responses. Other problems include bias in the
questions and poor return rates. Population samples derived from telephone
databases exclude the large number of people with unlisted numbers, without
landline telephones, or in the process of moving. Random-digit dialing repre-
sents an improvement, but it still misses the latter two groups. It also does not
address people who are not listed because they use cell phones exclusively.
Similarly, using car registrations to devise a sample will miss people who do
not own or register cars. Ignoring these often-discrete populations will sys-
tematically affect the data and the interpretation of the responses.
Despite these caveats, questionnaires are an excellent way for fieldworkers to
tackle questions dealing with representativeness. They are the only realistic way
of taking the pulse of hundreds or thousands of people. Anthropologists usually
develop questionnaires to explore specific concerns after they have a good grasp
of how the larger pieces of the puzzle fit together. The questionnaire is a product
of the ethnographer's knowledge about the system, and the researcher can adapt
it to a specific topic or set of concerns. Ethnographers also use existing ques-
tionnaires to test hypotheses about specific conceptions and behaviors. However,
the ethnographer must establish the relevance of a particular questionnaire to the
target culture or subculture before administering it. In developing a brief
