Studying existing materials and formulating a hypothesis

Make sure to study the existing literature and materials thoroughly before collecting the data. You might find a previous survey that is similar to yours. Furthermore, by carefully reading the existing materials, it is a good opportunity for you to re-examine the significance of your survey, such as whether what you are studying actually has value and whether your question can indeed be answered with a survey.

A hypothesis is a tentative answer to your question. For instance, there are various possible reasons for why students do not join the university’s clubs these days: students with financial difficulties have been increasing; it is no longer advantageous for job hunting; or students have come to avoid interacting with others. Formulate your hypothesis as the most appropriate answer among these reasons or by referring to the literature and statistical materials.

Making questions

Making questions that are suitable for your aims: Question can be divided into four main categories:

• Questions about knowledge: ‘How many students have quit that club in the past?
• Questions about experiences and behavior: ‘Explain what actions you took when you quit the club and in what order.’
• Questions about opinions and values: ‘Did you think about what it means to continue your club activities?’
• Questions about feelings: ‘How did you feel when you were told that?’

The above questions types are listed according to the ease of answering, from top (easiest) to bottom (most difficult). Questions about opinions, values, and feelings might be difficult to answer or the respondents may not want to tell you the truth. By contrast, questions about knowledge are easy to answer, but the answers might still be insufficient to verify your hypothesis. As such, if you center your survey on questions about experiences and behavior, then the interview should suit your aims and also be easy to answer.

Write what you prepared so far in the formal request. The formal request is to be shown to the respondents and is supposed to include the survey’s aims and significance, why you have selected the target respondents, and how you will protect their privacy.

Asking for the respondents’ help

Once you make the hypothesis and questions, you will start preparing for the survey. It is especially important to choose your respondents and ask for their cooperation with the survey. For example, if you want to ask about why students do not join the university’s clubs these days, you need to decide where to get your sample from; for example, the liberal arts or the natural sciences, men or women, particular school years, current students or graduates, national or private university students, etc. You should write down the details concerning the kind of respondents you need, such as 3 first-year liberal arts students from a national university or 3 female students from a private university.

Once you set these details, you need to begin looking for actual respondents; for example, by asking acquaintances to introduce them to you or by advertising publicly. You need to show the request form to the potential respondents and obtain their consent to participate in the survey.

Preparing for interviews

You can interview your respondents by either talking to them one by one or talking to several at the same time. The latter is called a group interview. Interviewing one person at a time is more standard, but in the case of highly abstract questions, more opinions may come out by listening to the responses of others.

For example, when comparing a question about experiences of how their language ability was improved while studying abroad and a question about what skills were improved by studying abroad, the latter question is more abstract. In that case, by listening to other people’s responses, questions that are difficult to answer for one person may become easier to answer, by responding to others’ answers such as ‘I think the same’, ‘I don’t think so’, etc.

Listening to the respondents

In a survey, you should let the respondents speak freely on the topic as much as you can. Specifically, you should pay attention to the following points:

• Ask questions simply: Ask what you want to know without complicating it. If you include abstract language or technical terms in the questions, the respondent might not be able to answer.
• Do not evaluate the respondents’ answers: Show that you are paying attention while listening, but avoid summarizing or evaluating their answers.
• Immediately ask about what you do not understand: If there is a difficult word or an unclear explanation in the response, make sure to ask about it then and there.
• Let the respondents talk feely: Avoid strictly adhering to the order of the questions and trying to know everything because this may result in interrupting respondents or forcing them to respond.

Show respect to your respondents

Everybody is reluctant to talk about private matters with a stranger. Nobody will tell the truth to someone they do not trust. Thus, it is necessary to think about this point when collecting qualitative data through interviews, and pay attention to the following points:

• Behave politely: Make sure to do things that will not lose the respondents’ trust. For example, you should not be late, choose a location that is appropriate for telling personal stories, and make it clear that they do not have to answer if they do not want to.
• Report the results of the survey: Send respondents a letter of thanks after the survey, or report the contents to them after you finalized the results or presented your findings.