Applied Social Research Methods

2 total works

Survey Research Methods

by Floyd J. Fowler

Published 19 May 1988

From sampling to questionnaire design to data analysis, Fowler′s basic introduction to survey research methods covers the spectrum of data collection procedures used in social surveys. He looks at the options available to the researcher, discusses standards for good practice, examines the decisions to be made in designing a survey, and identifies sources of error in survey research. He demonstrates how each aspect of a survey can affect its accuracy and credibility, and confronts the practical problems of survey research, exploring the theoretical and methodological issues at stake. This revised edition also features a new chapter on data entry options, including computer-assisted telephone interviewing.

Improving Survey Questions

by Floyd J. Fowler

Published 27 September 1995

What is a good question? Although there are several potential sources for error in survey data, the validity of surveys depends on the design of the questions asked. This book shows how to word and format a question, write questions that will evoke the kind of answers for which they were designed, and empirically evaluate survey questions. In addition, the book covers topics such as how to write good questions aimed at collecting information about objective facts and events, how to measure subjective phenomena, some alternative methods for attacking common measurement problems; shows how to evaluate the extent to which questions are consistently understood and administered, and explains how to evaluate the data resulting from a set of questions. A clearly written book, Improving Survey Questions enables researchers and practitioners to write better survey questions and helps users of survey data to evaluate their data more critically.