High Gas Prices on the Term Paper

The former might be, 'What specific...' [while] Less structure might be exemplified by: "Please respond to the following in your own words: I....'" (Dereshiwsky, 1999) in addition:

adding some open-ended items such as these to a more traditionally scaled quantifiable survey, such as one with Likert-scaled attitudinal items, and/or "check/off" questions on demographic background variables, is a good way to make the survey "multimethod" in nature. This is because you'd be using that "single" data collection vehicle (survey instrument) to collect your data (responses) in more than one form: quantitative and qualitative! You could ask the same general questions in both forms and then compare the two alternative forms of responses to see if they 'converged,' or agreed, regarding the phenomenon that you are trying to measure via the survey (e.g., attitudes towards school climate). If they do, you can have greater assurance that "there's something real being captured/measured" regarding to climate, rather than some "fluke" or artifact of the measurement process itself. (Dereshiwsky, 1999)

Survey research may be categorized as the questionnaire and the interview. In the past, questionnaires were usually paper-and-pencil instruments the respondent completed. Today, questionnaire may be completed electronically on computer or with other technological tools.

The interviewer bases responses on answers the interviewees give to questions. At times, the difference between a questionnaire and an interview may be hard to decipher as both questionnaires and interviews may ask short closed-ended questions, as well as, broad open-ended ones. (Trochim, 2006) During the past decade, survey research has dramatically changes, Trochim (2006) reports.

Automated telephone surveys utilize random dialing methods and in some public areas, there are computerized kiosks which permit people to solicit input. Another variation of group interview, group methodology, currently claims its place in research. Survey research closely integrates with the delivery of service, such as a survey on the hotel desk or a brief customer satisfaction survey, a waitress/waiter presents with a customer's check. This type survey could also include follow-up phone calls, emails, etc. after an individual receives technical assistance or response to a Web site one visits. (Trochim, 2006) Some individuals relate questionnaires to basically being a mail survey. Mail surveys are generally inexpensive to administer and permit respondents to complete responses when time best suits them. Disadvantages include response rates frequently rank extremely low. Additionally, questionnaires do not serve as effective ways to secure detailed written responses. Group administered questionnaires present some advantages over the mail type while the household drop-off survey proves similar to the mail survey and may or may not be completed, depending on the respondent. The majority of major public opinion polls are secured from telephone interviews, one research method which enables a researcher to access information quickly. Many individuals, however, do not like the intrusion of an interview and may consider the poll an imposition. (Trochim, 2006)

Interviews

Interviews prove to be a more personal form of research as the interviewer works directly with the respondent. During an interview, the interviewer may probe for additional information and/or ask follow-up questions. Interviews, however, may prove to consume inordinate amounts of time. They may also require intensive research. As the interviewer constitutes a measurement instrument component, interviewers need to be effectively trained in how to respond to a number of contingencies. (Trochim, 2006)

Along with completing a content analysis of assessed researched information, information retrieved from a minimum of five interviews, along with information from several questionnaires is presented. For each interviewee interviewed for this study, the individual's name, his/her title and the name of the company employing him/her is identified.

Individuals interviewed during this research effort will constitute the study subjects, to "human-perspective" insight. For the interviewing process, for this researcher's purposes, several points are considered consideration for conducting interviews include the scheduling, the interview setting, and relevant statements and questions.

Style denotes a vital element to consider when preparing to interview an individual. Is the individual:

formal, structure oriented, and driven by detail, or are they casual, comfortable with delegating and focused on results ("How to Conduct an Interview" 2000)?" As an interviewer, this researcher notes the style of the interviewee and matches this as much as possible. Scheduling the time for the interview needs to fit the interviewee's best accessible time, so he/she will not feel rushed or pressured when answering questions and relating relevant information regarding higher gas prices. This researcher schedules interviews to best accommodate the person allotting time to sharing his/her perceptions regarding the focus of this study, the impact of higher gas prices. Setting for the interview, this researcher notes, will need to compliment the interviewee's choice for environment. This researcher additionally takes into account. however, the need to ensure, prior to the interview that the setting/environment will compliment this researcher's ability to not only "tune in" to ideas being expressed, but also be favorable to recording the interview and taking relevant notes. The setting particularly needs to be conducive to the interviewee's ability to concentrate/focus on questions and statement relating to the impact of higher gas prices. Prior to the scheduled interview appointment, this researcher prepared leading statements and questions to be utilized to solicit relevant information. For this pre-planning stage, this researcher additionally researched information relating to the interviewee's company to enhance understanding regarding which statements and questions would most likely produce more relevant responses. ("How to Conduct an Interview," 2000)

Participants

Trochim (2006) relates the following considerations regarding the choice of a population/participants and accessibility for a study.

Can the population be enumerated?

For some populations, you have a complete listing of the units that will be sampled. For others, such a list is difficult or impossible to compile. For instance, there are complete listings of registered voters or person with active drivers licenses. But no one keeps a complete list of homeless people. If you are doing a study that requires input from homeless persons, you are very likely going to need to go and find the respondents personally. In such contexts, you can pretty much rule out the idea of mail surveys or telephone interviews.

Is the population literate?

Questionnaires require that your respondents can read. While this might seem initially like a reasonable assumption for many adult populations, we know from recent research that the instance of adult illiteracy is alarmingly high. and, even if your respondents can read to some degree, your questionnaire may contain difficult or technical vocabulary. Clearly, there are some populations that you would expect to be illiterate. Young children would not be good targets for questionnaires.

Are there language issues?

We live in a multilingual world. Virtually every society has members who speak other than the predominant language. Some countries (like Canada) are officially multilingual. and, our increasingly global economy requires us to do research that spans countries and language groups. Can you produce multiple versions of your questionnaire? For mail instruments, can you know in advance the language your respondent speaks, or do you send multiple translations of your instrument? Can you be confident that important connotations in your instrument are not culturally specific? Could some of the important nuances get lost in the process of translating your questions?

Will the population cooperate?

People who do research on immigration issues have a difficult methodological problem. They often need to speak with undocumented immigrants or people who may be able to identify others who are. Why would we expect those respondents to cooperate? Although the researcher may mean no harm, the respondents are at considerable risk legally if information they divulge should get into the hand of the authorities. The same can be said for any target group that is engaging in illegal or unpopular activities.

What are the geographic restrictions?

Is your population of interest dispersed over too broad a geographic range for you to study feasibly with a personal interview? It may be possible for you to send a mail instrument to a nationwide sample. You may be able to conduct phone interviews with them. But it will almost certainly be less feasible to do research that requires interviewers to visit directly with respondents if they are widely dispersed. (Trochim, 2006)

For this study, this researcher elected to utilize participants within a 30-mile radius of this researcher's location. Other criteria contributing to choices of participants include:

1.6 ORGANIZATION of STUDY

This study's organization adheres to the following design:

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

During the initial chapter of this study, the introduction, this researcher relates the context of the study phenomena/problem - higher gas prices impact on the automobile industry. The primary research question, along with sub-questions answered during this study, is presented, along with the significance of this study, noting the individuals who will benefit from this research effort.

The ways the research design and methodology will be…