descriptive non-intervention research

Definition
Frequently our understanding of educational phenomena is enhanced greatly by the process of careful description. For example, knowing how thinking changes among first-year teachers may help us design better teacher education programs. What expectations do teachers have regarding students with low socioeconomic status? What do principals know about the interpretation of standardized test scores? What is the level of “legal literacy” among assistant principals? Questions such as these are best answered with a widely used research method: the survey.

Descriptive research designs describe a population or phenomenon of interest. Descriptive designs often use the survey method ( e.g., questionnaire or interview ), including longitudinal surveys ( studying the same people over time ) and crosssectional surveys ( studying different age cohorts at the same time ). Both types of survey methodologies have serious limitations. What are these limitations?

Notes

survey design:
Surveys are typically used by researchers when they want to gather information from a group for the purpose of describing characteristics of that group. (Suter Ch11, pg. 23)

One especially useful survey design is the tailored design method as described by Dillman, Smyth, and Christian (2009). (pg. 23)

Sources of invalidity that must be considered in any survey method include biases linked to, for example, response rates, instructions, and types of scales and questions that elicit certain responses.