14396: Challenges and Solutions of Modern Survey Research

Survey research is a cornerstone of empirical inquiry for management scholars. However, scholars using survey designs encounter mounting challenges. First, the decline of participation rates has worsened in recent years (“survey fatigue”), partially due to a growing disconnect between surveys and the practical needs of organizations, which are in turn less willing to grant access to scholars. Second, the rise of online survey platforms poses unique challenges to data quality. Third, cross-national, multi-source, and longitudinal surveys are essential for a study’s validity; however, they come with rising challenges (costs, attrition etc.). Finally, following the replication crisis in psychology and recent data scandals, methodological rigor and relevance have faced increasing scrutiny, raising the complexity and requirements of survey research. Considering these challenges, this PDW will offer participants a valuable opportunity to engage in a collective reflection on these and further challenges in survey-based research, to explore possible solutions and innovations, and to envision the future of survey-based designs. We do this by bringing together a panel of experts, who discuss the ins and outs of established approaches, such as experience sampling methods, and introduce the audience to innovative methods, such as behavioral coding, visual recall of temporal trajectories, and the use of “Big Data” and AI for accessing rich real-world datasets. The PDW will provide participants with a space to reflect on their current and future practice by fostering conversations and problem-solving in small groups.

Come with all your questions, problems, challenges and together with our expert panelists, we will try to solve them all.