Initial design:
For my new research project topic on teacher-librarian collaboration, I will be using a simple survey (questionnaire) of teachers in my building to collect my data. I may also conduct a semi-structured interview with the media specialist. I have created short, informal surveys before, but this will be my first longer, formal survey.
Aim:
The aim of my survey is to collect answers to my research question: what factors affect media specialist-teacher collaboration in my high school? I will need to ask about the following factors, and I'm concerned about writing questions that will elicit honest, detailed feedback:
a. Opinions and beliefs about this type of collaboration
b. Attitudes behind those beliefs (their experience discussing this in teacher ed)
c. Past behavior (did they collaborate, to what extent), and the motives behind that behavior (why)
d. Maybe: future behavior
Construction:
I am still debating between using a web survey or paper surveys. Because I will be surveying the staff at my high school, I can easily use mailboxes to distribute and collect the surveys. I am wondering which would give me the highest response rate. I find web-based surveys easy to take, but I also tend to put it off until later, and by then the email is buried underneath new emails. Paper surveys, too, can get lost under piles of papers to grade, but they do seem "more important."
Sampling:
I am also debating about whether to survey the entire teaching staff, or choose a sample. Currently, there are around 134 teachers in my building. Not all of them are full time and some are special education, counselors, etc. who may not be in the classroom. If I do decide to sample, I'll have to decide how many to sample and how to choose. I could simply do a random sampling of the teachers, or I could stratify based on subject area. If I do stratify, it might make sense to use disproportionate stratification to account for the fact that some subject areas are much larger than others. Another way I might approach this is to ask the media specialist to identify teachers she has worked with in the last few years and those she hasn't and stratify the sample that way.
I am also now having second thoughts about the teacher ed piece. Should I also survey students in teacher ed classes at Augsburg, or should I just focus on my building? It seems like it might be too broad, too far away from my research question to bring a whole other population into the mix.
Obviously, I still have lots of decisions to make. I am finding the Gibbs' videos very helpful in thinking through these issues, and I hope we can discuss them in class next week.
Your new topic and research question feel more doable to me, too. Paper surveys make sense if you have a chance to give them to all respondents at the same time and ask for their cooperation personally (e.g., at the end of a teachers meeting). Web surveys are advantageous because you don't need to transcribe answers. You've identified some good sampling options.
ReplyDeleteI tend to think it would be better to focus on the teachers in your building for the pilot study, and include research ideas for the teacher ed piece in your final research proposal.
I'm glad the Gibbs videos are helpful. He does drone on sometimes, but it's helpful to have an experienced researcher walk you through the thinking process. Yes, let's discuss the videos in class.