Research Survey Plan - Essay Example

From sample results, the researcher generalizes or makes claims about the population. In an experiment, investigators may also identify a sample and generalize to a population: however, the basic intent of an experiment is to test the impact of a treatment (or an intervention) on an outcome, controlling for all other factors that might influence that outcome.” (Creswell, 2003, p 154). Therefore, designing a research survey plan incorporates several fundamental factors and this study focuses on designing a plan for the procedures to be used in a survey study based on a checklist for designing a survey method.

Analyzing the essential components of a survey method plan, one realizes that the design of a survey method section closely follows a standard format and there are several types of such formats available in research journals. They have the fundamental characteristic of providing effective models of this strategy of investigation. In preparing the essential components of a survey method plan, it is also important to follow some fundamental aspects of the checklist questions provided in the Creswell text.

“In a proposal or plan, one of the first parts of the method section can introduce readers to the basic purpose and rationale for survey research. Begin the discussion by reviewing the purpose of a survey and the rationale for its selection as a design in the proposed study.” (Creswell, 2003, p 154). Therefore, it is important to identify, in such a discussion, the purpose of survey research as well as to indicate why the survey method has been preferred as the data collection procedure for the research.

The main purpose of the survey research is to generalize from a sample to a population in order that inferences regarding the attitude or behavior of the population can be easily made. The rationale for indicating why the survey method has been preferred as the data