This article presents a critical evaluation of the growing popularity of online social surveys for the exploration of attitudes and behaviours within higher educational institutions. More specifically this article addresses a number of key issues: the construction of representative online samples, and the presentation of the results from an institutional census constructed from an online survey with a low response rate. The improper use of statistical significance tests, and the reporting of systematic errors when quota sampling is employed in surveys is also discussed. This study compares and evaluates four recent academic surveys: (a) the Czech wave of the EUROSTUDENT IV survey fielded by SC&C, (b) A Research Survey on Academic Staff at Czech Colleges and Universities undertaken by SC&C in 2009, (c) surveys of students and (d) employees at Palacky University Olomouc undertaken by the newly established Laboratory of Social Research. This article shows that an improper interpretation of online surveys resulted in a missrepresention of the views of university students and academic staff on the state of Czech higher education and opinions concerning different tertiary education reform measures., Dan Ryšavý., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the problems associated with the fielding of questions of a socially sensitive nature typically dealing with crime, health, and sexual activity in nationally representative sample surveys. This article presents an overview of previous research on this topic and associated themes such as the definition of sensitive survey questions, the emergence and impact of social desirability effects and application of the Cognitive Aspects of Survey Methodology (CASM) to mechanisms of question response on sensitive topics. Thereafter, this article maps out specific sources of error that are likely to occur when fielding sensitive survey questions; and highlights methods that may used to minimise measurement error, thereby enhancing data validity. The article concludes with an appraisal of some of the most influential criterion-validity used in this sub-field of survey research., Johana Chylíková., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy