Survey Research

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Imagine that you are interested in exploring the attitudes college students have about writing. Since it would be impossible to interview every student on campus, choosing the mail-out survey as your method would enable you to choose a large sample of college students. You might choose to limit your research to your own college or university, or you might extend your survey to several different institutions. If your research question demands it, the mail survey allows you to sample a very broad group of subjects at small cost.

• Strengths and Weaknesses of Mail Surveys