This two-volume work updates a previous edition of our book that was intended to introduce the fundamentals of good survey research to students and practitioners of the survey process as well as end users of survey information. It describes key survey components needed to design, understand, and use surveys effectively and avoid the pitfalls stemming from bad survey construction and inappropriate methods. In the first volume, we first considered the ways to best identify the information needed and how to structure the best approach to getting that information. We then reviewed the processes commonly involved in conducting a survey, such as the benefit of representative sampling and the necessity of dealing with the types of errors that commonly distort results. Volume I concluded with a chapter that examines the elements to consider when developing a survey followed by a chapter that acquaints the reader with the different modes of delivering a survey.
In this second volume, we focus on carrying out a survey. We begin with a brief overview of the importance of research questions and the research design and go on to discuss key elements in writing good questions. We then focus on the steps that researchers must go through when conducting the survey. We next turn our attention to the impacts of rapidly changing technology on survey research, including rapidly evolving mobile communication, specifically, online access, the expanded use of web-based surveys, and the use of survey panels, and the opportunities and challenges provided by access to “Big Data.” We conclude with an important, but often neglected, aspect of surveys: the presentation of results in different formats appropriate to different audiences. As with the previous edition, each chapter concludes with a summary of important points contained in it and an annotated set of references for readers who want more information on chapter topics.
Keywords
Big Data; ethical issues; Internet surveys; interviewer training; mailed surveys; mixed-mode surveys; mobile devices; sampling; surveys; survey content; survey construction; survey panels; survey processes; survey reports; survey technology; telephone surveys; web surveys