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
About the author
Paul J. Lavrakas, Ph D, is a Research Psychologist and Research Methodologist consultant. He served as Chief Research Methodologist for Nielsen Media Research from 2000-2007. Before joining Nielsen, he was a Full Professor at Northwestern University (1978-1996) and Ohio State University (1996-2000), as well as the founding faculty director of the survey centers at both universities. He is the author of Telephone Survey Methods: Sampling, Selection, and Supervision (2nd Edition, SAGE, 1993) and four other books covering election polling and the news media, as well as numerous other methodological and substantive publications and conference papers.
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