| Popis: |
When most people think of a survey they imagine the kind of large-scale study carried out for the purposes of market research or the identification of political opinions. This chapter provides an outline account of a three-year nursery evaluation recently conducted in the United Kingdom using interviews and questionnaires. From this case study, a number of general issues is explored including sampling, questionnaire construction, the processes of interviewing and the design of small-scale surveys. Although most large-scale surveys are aimed at gaining a small amount of information from a large number of people, a good deal of the research carried out in early childhood settings involves relatively small populations. Interviewing was therefore a very practical possibility. Among the technical issues considered was the unavoidable trade-off between reliability and validity; alternative sampling strategies were identified and practical advice is given regarding the effective conduct of interviews. |
