Thank you to all those that took part in the research for my dissertation, I have managed to collect enough responses from this phase of research so the survey is now closed.
I appreciate each of you that took the time to participate and especially those that have been in touch with suggested considerations and words of wisdom, what a great community you have here!
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This post was approved by Admin. dd.
Edukat:
Hi All,I am currently writing my dissertation on HGV driver job satisfaction and its links to the proposed driver shortage. The idea is to highlight areas for changes within employment and infrastructure to make the lives of drivers easier.
I need either currently employed HGV drivers or those that have been employed within the last 12 months to take part in a survey. It is a very short survey that does not require any personal information to be disclosed such as name or email addresses etc, all I want is your opinion on your role.
If you feel you could spare a few minutes to take part, I would appreciate it.
This post has been Approved by admin. Thank you.
Quick and easy.
I``ll sent you a PM about one point however. 
Hmmmm… A bit light on details there.
What level is your dissertation at? Degree? Masters?
What’s your subject area? Arts? Science? Economics? Sociology? Psychology?
Do you have a hypothesis?
Have you accounted for the fact that you have no verification that survey participants are indeed actual HGV drivers?
What about skewed data? You’re likely to only get contributions from the type of person who likes to complete surveys.
What other methods of gathering data are you using to counteract the inherent bias?
Are you aware (and I’m not being facetious) that one of the defining characteristics of the HGV driving community is that there is, on the whole, a natural inclination towards complaining rather than objective assessment of the pros and cons of the job. How do you plan to control for that?
Do you have a control group of responses from non-HGV drivers with which to compare your test group?
If you can fill in some of these obvious omissions, I’d probably complete your survey.
Zac_A:
Hmmmm… A bit light on details there.
What level is your dissertation at? Degree? Masters?
What’s your subject area? Arts? Science? Economics? Sociology? Psychology?
Do you have a hypothesis?
Have you accounted for the fact that you have no verification that survey participants are indeed actual HGV drivers?
What about skewed data? You’re likely to only get contributions from the type of person who likes to complete surveys.
What other methods of gathering data are you using to counteract the inherent bias?
Are you aware (and I’m not being facetious) that one of the defining characteristics of the HGV driving community is that there is, on the whole, a natural inclination towards complaining rather than objective assessment of the pros and cons of the job. How do you plan to control for that?
Do you have a control group of responses from non-HGV drivers with which to compare your test group?If you can fill in some of these obvious omissions, I’d probably complete your survey.
Giving info on reasons for a survey are more likely to influence answers rather than doing a survey blind, surely?
The self selection you mentioned will become more acute depending upon perception on any “aims” of the survey. Respondents may try to “game” the survey more to give influence to their own take on it.
.
Done, nice little survey there.
Yes whilst many on thse pages would winge if they were paid the current £70k+ we’re apparently earning 
to stay in bed, there are also some of us in jobs we enjoy and appreciate.
Franglais, I agree that giving too much information will most probably influence responses. This is why the research hypothesis will not be made public.
Juddian, Thank you for taking the survey. Living with a driver myself, I can see that there is a genuine love for the job which seems to bear the brunt of a range of often negative external influences. As for those media suggested £70k+ jobs 
- if I could kick him out the house 6 days a week for that- I would!
Zac_A:
Hmmmm… A bit light on details there.
What level is your dissertation at? Degree? Masters?
What’s your subject area? Arts? Science? Economics? Sociology? Psychology?
Do you have a hypothesis?
Have you accounted for the fact that you have no verification that survey participants are indeed actual HGV drivers?
What about skewed data? You’re likely to only get contributions from the type of person who likes to complete surveys.
What other methods of gathering data are you using to counteract the inherent bias?
Are you aware (and I’m not being facetious) that one of the defining characteristics of the HGV driving community is that there is, on the whole, a natural inclination towards complaining rather than objective assessment of the pros and cons of the job. How do you plan to control for that?
Do you have a control group of responses from non-HGV drivers with which to compare your test group?If you can fill in some of these obvious omissions, I’d probably complete your survey.
Hi Zac_A,
Thanks for your questions, you nearly asked as many as the survey itself!
The dissertation is being undertaken as part of a BA in Business Management and Sustainability.
I will not be sharing my hypothesis, but here is the aim for this particular part of this sequential research. Aim: An analysis of driver satisfaction and its contributions to the proposed driver shortage.
Yes the unverified status of participants has been included within research considerations but due to a range of factors including confidentiality and data security, the logistical challenges of meeting with a large number of drivers face to face to obtain in person verification (especially in the middle of a pandemic) and time constraints this method presents the most efficient way of obtaining data.
This quantitative research is part of a larger research project constructed with a sequential design, utilising a mixed methods approach. Later research will involve not only drivers but also owners of SME’s. Qualitative data will be gathered via interview to try and mitigate any kind of research bias.
I am well aware of the “natural inclination towards complaining rather than objective assessment of the pros and cons of the job”, I have spent many hours around drivers and live with one so I am very much in agreement with you. It is hoped that seeking quantitative data from this aspect of the research will go some way to combat this natural inclination. As well as this, further qualitative studies formulated from the results of this survey will seek to explore any trends identified further.
Instead of a control group, secondary data will be collected and analysed from sources such as the ONS to provide comparison. This will be included as part of the research limitations.
Thanks again
Zac_A:
Hmmmm… A bit light on details there.
What level is your dissertation at? Degree? Masters?
What’s your subject area? Arts? Science? Economics? Sociology? Psychology?
Do you have a hypothesis?
Have you accounted for the fact that you have no verification that survey participants are indeed actual HGV drivers?
What about skewed data? You’re likely to only get contributions from the type of person who likes to complete surveys.
What other methods of gathering data are you using to counteract the inherent bias?
Are you aware (and I’m not being facetious) that one of the defining characteristics of the HGV driving community is that there is, on the whole, a natural inclination towards complaining rather than objective assessment of the pros and cons of the job. How do you plan to control for that?
Do you have a control group of responses from non-HGV drivers with which to compare your test group?If you can fill in some of these obvious omissions, I’d probably complete your survey.
Click the link to find some answers