An Introduction to Survey Research, Volume II: Carrying Out the Survey (Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making Collection)

Survey research is a powerful tool to help understand how and why individuals behave the way they do. Properly conducted, surveys can provide accurate insights into areas such as attitudes, opinions, motivations, and values, which serve as the drivers of individual behavior. This two-volume book is intended to introduce fundamentals of good survey research to students and practitioners of the survey process as well as end-users of survey information. This second volume focuses on carrying out a survey— including how to formulate survey questions, steps that researchers must use when conducting the survey, and impacts of rapidly changing technology on survey design and execution. The authors conclude with an important, but often neglected aspect of surveys—the presentation of results in different formats appropriate to different audiences. Cover An Introduction to Survey Research, Volume II: Carrying Out the Survey Contents Preface Acknowledgments CHAPTER 1: Introduction Research Design Questioning (Interviewing) as a Social Process Book Overview Annotated Bibliography Research Design Questioning (Interviewing) as a Social Process CHAPTER 2: Writing Good Questions Begin at the Beginning Validity and Reliability in Survey Questions Willingness to Answer Questions Key Elements of Good Questions Specificity, Clarity, and Brevity Avoiding Common Question Pitfalls Question Types and Formats Open-Ended Questions Closed-Ended Questions Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 Example 5 Example 6 Example 7 Example 8 Example 9 Summary Annotated Bibliography General Characteristics of Good Questions Reliability and Validity Question Type and Structuring Questions on a Survey CHAPTER 3: Carrying Out the Survey Developing the Survey Looking at Other Surveys Focus Groups Cognitive Interviews Behavior Coding and Interviewer Debriefing Asking Experts to Review the Survey Pretesting the Survey Administering the Survey—Using Probe Questions Probing in Web Surveys Probing in Mailed Surveys Administering the Survey—Record Keeping Administering the Survey—Linking to Other Information Processing the Data Coding Editing the Data Data Entry Data Analysis Writing the Report Making the Data Available to Other Social Scientists Listening Interviewer Training Providing Documentation Practice Interviews Survey Participation Summary Annotated Bibliography CHAPTER 4: Changing Technology and Survey Research The Force of Modern Computing The Move to Wireless Telephones Internet Access and Survey Mobility Survey Panels Probability-based Panels Opt-in Panels Big Data and Probability Surveys Summary Annotated Bibliography Survey Sampling and Technology Online Surveys Survey Panels Big Data and Probability Sampling CHAPTER 5: Presenting Survey Results The Audience Knowing Your Audience The Hidden Lack of Understanding by the Audience Types of Audiences The Content Executive Summaries Privacy, Confidentiality, and Proprietary Information The Expression Presenting Data Text, Graphs, and Tables Summary Annotated Bibliography General Audience Considerations Presentation Elements Narrative, Charts, Graphs, and Tables Notes References About the Author Index Ad Page Back Cover