Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods


Book Description

To the uninformed, surveys appear to be an easy type of research to design and conduct, but when students and professionals delve deeper, they encounter the vast complexities that the range and practice of survey methods present. To complicate matters, technology has rapidly affected the way surveys can be conducted; today, surveys are conducted via cell phone, the Internet, email, interactive voice response, and other technology-based modes. Thus, students, researchers, and professionals need both a comprehensive understanding of these complexities and a revised set of tools to meet the challenges. In conjunction with top survey researchers around the world and with Nielsen Media Research serving as the corporate sponsor, the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods presents state-of-the-art information and methodological examples from the field of survey research. Although there are other "how-to" guides and references texts on survey research, none is as comprehensive as this Encyclopedia, and none presents the material in such a focused and approachable manner. With more than 600 entries, this resource uses a Total Survey Error perspective that considers all aspects of possible survey error from a cost-benefit standpoint. Key Features Covers all major facets of survey research methodology, from selecting the sample design and the sampling frame, designing and pretesting the questionnaire, data collection, and data coding, to the thorny issues surrounding diminishing response rates, confidentiality, privacy, informed consent and other ethical issues, data weighting, and data analyses Presents a Reader′s Guide to organize entries around themes or specific topics and easily guide users to areas of interest Offers cross-referenced terms, a brief listing of Further Readings, and stable Web site URLs following most entries The Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods is specifically written to appeal to beginning, intermediate, and advanced students, practitioners, researchers, consultants, and consumers of survey-based information.










Statistics of Income


Book Description













Cognitive Interviewing


Book Description

"As both an academic instructor in questionnaire design and a research design methodologist for the federal government, I feel this book is very timely, useful for students and practitioners, and unique in its use of real world practical examples that most everyone can relate." —Terry Richardson, General Accounting Office "The combination of theory and practical application will make this a useful book for students as well as professionals who want to learn how to incorporate cognitive interviewing into the questionnaire design process." —Rachel Caspar, RTI International The design and evaluation of questionnaires—and of other written and oral materials—is a challenging endeavor, fraught with potential pitfalls. Cognitive Interviewing: A Tool for Improving Questionnaire Design describes a means of systematically developing survey questions through investigations that intensively probe the thought processes of individuals who are presented with those inquiries. The work provides general guidance about questionnaire design, development, and pre-testing sequence, with an emphasis on the cognitive interview. In particular, the book gives detailed instructions about the use of verbal probing techniques, and how one can elicit additional information from subjects about their thinking and about the manner in which they react to tested questions. These tools help researchers discover how well their questions are working, where they are failing, and determine what they can do to rectify the wide variety of problems that may surface while working with questionnaires. Cognitive Interviewing is ideally suited as a course text for advanced undergraduate and graduate research courses across the social sciences. Professional researchers and faculty in the social sciences, as well as practice fields such as medicine, business, and education, will also find this an invaluable reference for survey research. There is no other book on the market that covers cognitive interviewing as applied to questionnaire design.




Question Evaluation Methods


Book Description

Insightful observations on common question evaluation methods and best practices for data collection in survey research Featuring contributions from leading researchers and academicians in the field of survey research, Question Evaluation Methods: Contributing to the Science of Data Quality sheds light on question response error and introduces an interdisciplinary, cross-method approach that is essential for advancing knowledge about data quality and ensuring the credibility of conclusions drawn from surveys and censuses. Offering a variety of expert analyses of question evaluation methods, the book provides recommendations and best practices for researchers working with data in the health and social sciences. Based on a workshop held at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), this book presents and compares various question evaluation methods that are used in modern-day data collection and analysis. Each section includes an introduction to a method by a leading authority in the field, followed by responses from other experts that outline related strengths, weaknesses, and underlying assumptions. Topics covered include: Behavior coding Cognitive interviewing Item response theory Latent class analysis Split-sample experiments Multitrait-multimethod experiments Field-based data methods A concluding discussion identifies common themes across the presented material and their relevance to the future of survey methods, data analysis, and the production of Federal statistics. Together, the methods presented in this book offer researchers various scientific approaches to evaluating survey quality to ensure that the responses to these questions result in reliable, high-quality data. Question Evaluation Methods is a valuable supplement for courses on questionnaire design, survey methods, and evaluation methods at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. it also serves as a reference for government statisticians, survey methodologists, and researchers and practitioners who carry out survey research in the areas of the social and health sciences.