Since the 1960s, the usage of surveys has rapidly increased across the globe. While social scientists conduct surveys using proper survey techniques, the evaluation and interpretation phases of any survey design strictly require the application of statistical methods. If a social scientist carries out a survey on the rise of atheism in the U.S. and Europe, his/her entire work will go to vain if he/she does not have a good knowledge of statistical methodology. Having a proper knowledge of statistics will enable survey researchers to evaluate and interpret the outcome correctly.
It has to be noted that social scientists have been relentless in their pursuit of developing new survey methods whose outcome can be statistically accurate. The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance concluded, "The methods for conducting surveys of public opinion are undergoing a period of rapid and potentially fundamental change." The Center mentions that automated-surveys and internet-based surveys have gained prominence over telephone surveys. Also, social scientists have developed new survey technique theories, one of which might include selecting the right subject while conducting a survey.
However, despite all of the improvements made in the field of survey design, recent news suggest that survey results are not easily trusted by the public in the U.S. The Town of East Hampton, New York, recently conducted an aerial survey to count the total population of deer in the town. The recent survey concluded that there were 877 deer, whereas the 2006 roadside distance sampling concluded that there were 3,293 deer in 2006. Considering the alarming decrement in the deer population, Rohma Abbas wrote an opinion titled "East Hampton Town Deer Survey Results May Not Reflect True Population" (2013). Throughout her article, Abbas persistently reiterates that the survey's conclusion was precisely inaccurate because of the type of survey that was used. While the 2006 roadside distance sampling was considered accurate, the recent aerial sampling did not embrace the 2006's level of accuracy.
For instance, let me present a scenario that will help everyone to understand the complexity behind this world of surveys. Let us imagine that a survey has been carried out on the topic of alcohol consumption by college students and researchers have decided to conduct the survey using two different methods.Like the East Hampton deer case, it might even be true that the outcome of one method could differ significantly from the outcome of the second method. If the outcome produced by the survey method "A" does not match with the outcome produced by the survey method "B," this provides enough ground to conclude that there might be errors associated with the data, or interpretation, or survey technique.
How can one survey method be more accurate than others? How to prefer one method over another? These questions pose a clear threat to the modern approach of survey scientists and researchers. Given that the academic community has been producing new survey techniques in the last decade, they have not been able to produce one best technique out of those many survey techniques.
As mentioned in the first paragraph, new survey techniques have succeeded over the telephone survey method. The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance has famously concluded that the main advantages the new survey techniques have over telephone surveys are money and speed. Automated and online surveys are less expensive and also surveys can be carried out at a faster pace. This further creates another problem: do automated and online surveys give us the right information?
Let us imagine that a group of researchers want to study about the persistence of poverty in the U.S., and they have decided to conduct an online survey. Given that situation, it is likely that their subject will be poor Americans. However, if the survey will be an online one, it is very less likely that they will ever reach to their subject. Many poor Americans may not have access to computers or telephones, so the researchers would be missing their subject of the survey. So the academic community has to choose one out of so many survey techniques that it has produced in the past, so the public always gets the right information.
Therefore, academicians have to develop and embrace one reliable method of survey sampling. Otherwise, faulty information will reach the doorstop of every American. If the academic community does not do it on the right time, then every American might embrace the thought of Mark Twain, who once said, "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics." If the data set is not interpreted properly and the right survey method is not used, then the data set may just serve as a medium to institutionalize lies.
References
Abbas, Rohma .
"East Hampton Town Deer Survey Results May Not Reflect True Population -
27east." The Hamptons. N.p., 11 June 2013.
Web. 21 July 2013.
<http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/General-Interest-EH/15883/East-Hampton-Town-Deer-Survey-Results-Are-In>.
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