Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods

by Paul J. Lavrakas

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506317885
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/12/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	1072
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Paul J. Lavrakas, PhD, 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.

Editorial Reviews

Despite the existence of a large body of literature devoted to survey research, this work is set apart by its purpose: to be "a first place' to turn for those who need to learn about an aspect of survey methodology" as well as a guide to related topics and additional, deeper readings. Articles are authored by more than 300 specialists from academia as well as the public and private sectors. Editor Lavrakas spent 20 years as a survey researcher in academia and as chief research methodologist for Nielsen Media Research. He is also the author of four previous books and multiple articles on survey methodology, election polling, and the news media. He has organized the topics into nine broad categories-including ethics; measurement; nonresponse; operations; political and election polling; public opinion; sampling, convergence, and weighting; survey industry; and survey statistics-that make up the "reader's guide" included in the front matter of both volumes along with a complete alphabetical list of entries. Topics are covered as they relate to survey research. For example, entries on Type I and Type II Errors and Internal Validity describe these concepts as they apply to survey research and include examples of how their use occurs in and can affect the outcomes of survey research.
—Sarah Sutton

Library Journal

"Thousands of articles and books have been written in the field of survey research methodology. Among them are three volumes by G. R. Walden: Polling and Survey Research Methods (CH, Apr'97, 34-4229), Public Opinion Polls and Survey Research (CH, Sep'90, 28-0054), and Survey Research Methodology, 1990-1999 (CH, May'03, 40-4991). But only Lavrakas and his team of over 320 contributors have provided encyclopedic coverage with this publication of over 640 entries. Many well-known and heavily published authors in survey research participated. Lavrakas has had a distinguished career in both the academic and commercial realm (notably with The Nielsen Company, the corporate sponsor for this work). The volumes are accessible to a wide range of users, starting with the uninitiated and moving through the continuum to advanced researchers. This set is well designed, with a list of entries and a "Reader's Guide" that divides the subject into nine main categories that are then subdivided. The front matter includes a roster, and a lengthy index appears at the end of volume 2. Unfortunately, no contributor index is included to allow readers to determine who wrote which section; however, the entries are all signed within the encyclopedia. The well-written entries cover the body of research thoroughly. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. "

CHOICE magazine - G. R. Walden

"Thousands of articles and books have been written in the field of survey research methodology. Among them are three volumes by G. R. Walden: Polling and Survey Research Methods (CH, Apr'97, 34-4229), Public Opinion Polls and Survey Research (CH, Sep'90, 28-0054), and Survey Research Methodology, 1990-1999 (CH, May'03, 40-4991). But only Lavrakas and his team of over 320 contributors have provided encyclopedic coverage with this publication of over 640 entries. Many well-known and heavily published authors in survey research participated. Lavrakas has had a distinguished career in both the academic and commercial realm (notably with The Nielsen Company, the corporate sponsor for this work). The volumes are accessible to a wide range of users, starting with the uninitiated and moving through the continuum to advanced researchers. This set is well designed, with a list of entries and a "Reader's Guide" that divides the subject into nine main categories that are then subdivided. The front matter includes a roster, and a lengthy index appears at the end of volume 2. Unfortunately, no contributor index is included to allow readers to determine who wrote which section; however, the entries are all signed within the encyclopedia. The well-written entries cover the body of research thoroughly. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. "— G. R. Walden

Choice Magazine