how would you compare and differentiate a survey method,case study,correlation study and experiment?

Answer 1

Each method is vauable to answer a particular type of business or research question. Surveys are best for getting answers to simple broad questions. When you want to generalize to a population surveys can provide an understanding of "what" people want. Surveys are often used by Marketing to get at stated habits and practices. This can be used to do market segmentation to target a particular customer base. Case studies are often used by psychologists and ethnographers to understand the depth of why people behave in certain ways. Case studies are more observational in nature and are often used to understand the context of the behavior. Case studies are developed to illustrate principles or lessons learned as in business cases. Correlation studies are systematic attempts to isolate variables that covary together. They are often used to address specific questions or hypothesis with data on the variation of specific variables. Experiments are used to test a specific hypothesis by controlling certain variables, manipulating independent variables and measuring the dependent variables. Experiments are conducted in a controlled environment to eliminate extraneous effects.

Answer 2

With the survey method I would compare and differentiate surveys done in person as compared to those done on paper. Case study speaks for its self, but subjects that participate would need to have a common denominator. Correlation study could be the way or openess people display on written surveys rather than in person. I guess I could answer this question better if I knew what the subject matter is.

Answer 3

Survey method analyzes data available from studies already available in journals, a case study looks at one particular case which occurred naturally and a correlation study looks at how different variables correlate with each other. An experiment tests an hypothesis by seeing if there is an interaction with the experimental manipulation of a variable as compared to the baseline data. Hope this helps.