Survey Research Methods

From the First Edition . . .

"The text is particularly valuable as a reference for researchers. It provides them with a thorough grasp of questions to consider during data collection in any type of survey and an understanding of the implications of decisions made during the survey′s design. . . . Identifies the important questions that researchers need to ask and have answered."

--Canadian Home Economics Journal

"A convenient resource. Helpful and practical and the material on telephone versus personal interviews is generally up-to-date. To allow the reader to explore topics in greater depth, adequate and appropriate references are provided. Covers the standard gamut of survey research topics. Clearly, the author is well trained, with considerable academic and nonacademic research experience."

--Journal of the American Statistical Association

"This volume is a general discussion of survey research. Provide[s] useful information on comparative methods and especially on relative costs. Thus, its contents include information telephone surveys, as well as mail and personal interviews as sources of data with excellent considerations on how to select a strategy for a particular problem. Special attention is given to questions of comparative reliability and validity of methodologies. Chapter Seven on Survey Interviewing is especially useful as it describes the job of the interviewer and offers suggestions on procedures. Information on how to recruit and train interviewers is especially worthwhile."

--Communication Quarterly

"Deals with all the key survey design issues more comprehensively than I thought in only 159 pages. The author′s aims are achieved. I will certainly recommend the book to young researchers, and seasoned practitioners will find some useful benchmarks against which to assess the quality of current survey research methods."

--Journal of the Marketing Research Society

Popular in the first edition with 17,000 readers for giving those who collect, analyze, or examine survey data a sound basis for evaluating data-collecting procedures,   this new edition covers: the role of microcomputers in data collection and data entry procedures; the latest research findings on the training and supervision of interviewers; and significant developments in question design and evaluation.

    

Floyd J. Fowler, Jr. is a graduate of Wesleyan University and received a PhD from the University of Michigan in 1966. A Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Survey Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston since 1971, he was Director of the Center for 14 years. Dr. Fowler is the author or co-author of four textbooks on survey methods, including Survey Research Methods, Improving Survey Questions, Standardized Survey Interviewing (with Mangione), and Survey Methodology (with Groves, Couper, Lepkowski, et. al), as well as numerous research papers and monographs. His recent work has focused on studies of question design and evaluation techniques and applying survey methods to studies of medical care.