SOCIAL SURVEY

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UPSC MAINS SOCIOLOGY  

Paper 1 – Chapter 3 – Research Methods and Analysis : Qualitative and quantitative methods.

 
 
WHAT IS SOCIAL SURVEY ?
  • The word Survey is derived from words ‘sur’ and ‘veeir’ which means over and see respectively. 
  • They provide the data for administration, rather than for the illustrative or descriptive material.
  • They are generally quantitative and the history of the social survey is intimately bound up with the develop­ment of statistics.
  • The modern social survey is said to be the product of the intellectual response of the urban middle classes to the social condition of town life in the 19th Century.
  • The social survey method has the ultimate goal of seeking social facts. 
 
 
DEFINITION
  • Dictionary of Sociology defines social survey this way: “The social survey is a systematic collection of facts about people living in a specific geographic, cultural, or administrative area”.
  • “A social survey is the collection of data concerning the living and working conditions, broadly speaking, of the people, in a given community”. – Bogardus
  • ”Social Survey is a method of analysis in scientific and orderly form of defined purpose of a given social situation and activities” – Herman N Morse
 
 
TYPES OF SOCIAL SURVEYS
  • Official, semi-official or private surveys
  • wide­spread or limited surveys
  • census survey or sample surveys
  • general or specialised surveys
  • postal or personal surveys
  • public or confidential surveys
  • initial or repetitive surveys
  • regional or adhoc surveys.
 
SAMPLING
  • Sampling is an important aspect of social survey.
  • Sampling, that is, selection of the relevant units of inquiry for the collection of data, must be done in a scientific manner.
  • To ensure that the units he selects really reflect the characteristics of the population, the researcher may resort to different devices such as “quota sampling” or “random sampling”.

 

MERITS

  • Very practical method of obtaining information from individuals.
  • A tool for verifying theories.
  • Facilitates inferring generalizations.
  • Can use multiple data collection methods.
  • Useful for administrators and policy makers.

 

DEMERITS  

  • Time consuming and costly.
  • Chance for sampling errors.
  • Success depends on willingness of respondents.
  • No uniformity of data.
  • Inadequate method to analyze complex phenomenon. 

 

SUMMARY

A social survey in its broadest sense, has a reference to a first-hand investigation, analysis and co-ordination of economic, sociological and other related aspects of a selected community or group  A Social Survey involves obtaining information in a standardised from large groups of people. The main survey methods are questionnaires and structured interviews.