Surveys

METHODS - Survey methods

Start with these two

What is a survey http://www.whatisasurvey.info/ This "booklet is written primarily for non-specialists and is free of charge. Its overall goal is to improve survey literacy among individuals who participate in ...Surveys".

Evaluating Survey Quality in Today's Complex Environment http://www.aapor.org/Education-Resources/Reports.aspx AAPOR, June 2016. This document is comprised of a series of 17 questions that users of survey data should ask to help them make judgments about the validity of a survey’s results

Next, check these sites on how a survey should be done:

4 tips on great survey design https://www.digitalgov.gov/2014/11/10/4-tips-on-great-survey-design/ from 2014

Best Practices for Survey Research Reports: A Synopsis for Authors and Reviewers, JoLaine Reierson Draugalis and others

Am J Pharm Educ. v.72(1); Feb 15, 2008. "This article provides a checklist and recommendations for authors and reviewers to use when submitting or evaluating manuscripts reporting survey research that used a questionnaire as the primary data collection tool." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2254236/

Ithaca College Survey Research Center. Best Practices for Survey Research. 2015 "This document provides recommendations on how to plan and administer a survey."

http://www.ithaca.edu/ir/icsrc/docs/bestprac.pdf

The rest of these sites are grouped by academic, government, private, and organization, but within each group, are presented in no particular order.

Academic sources:

Trochim, William M. The Research Methods Knowledge Base, Internet WWW page, at URL: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/ (version current as of August 2, 2000). See chapter on surveys, at http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/survey.htm. Just to mention, the site says "There is no commitment to supporting or maintaining this site in the future," but the survey page was last revised on 2006.

Cui, Wei Wei (2003). Reducing error in mail surveys. http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=18 "Those conducting surveys should recognize four potential sources of error -- sampling error, non-coverage error, non-response error, and measurement error -- and take steps to minimize their impact. Any one of these sources of error may make the survey results unacceptable. This article describes the four types of errors and summarizes ways they can be reduced."

Questionnaire Design and Surveys Sampling http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/Business-stat/stat-data/Surveys.htm overview of many topics, kind of from a statistical point of view.

Writing survey questions https://extension.usu.edu/htm/publications/by=category/category=700 booklet, basic ideas. 2011

Survey Development and Execution: An Overview http://faculty.nps.edu/rdfricke/index.htm Professor Ronald Fricker, The Naval Postgraduate School's Operations Research Department. See his presentations page. 2011

Research Methods in Psychology has chapter on surveys http://open.lib.umn.edu/psychologyresearchmethods/part/chapter-9-survey-research/ 2010

Government Sources:

Developing and Using Questionnaires. GAO/PEMD-10.1.7 October 1993 238 pp. One of the GAO free books. The booklet is available here http://www.gao.gov/products/PEMD-10.1.7

The National Statistical Service http://www.nss.gov.au/nss/home.NSF/sdm?OpenView has two guides: Basic Survey Design (a basic survey book) and An Introduction to Sample Surveys: A User's Guide. This last one is in the "other" section.

Air University Sampling and Surveying Handbook http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awcerese.htm This is in the Sampling and Surveys section. 2002.

Survey steps http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/12-539-x/4058337-eng.htm from statcan (statistics Canada). guidelines and principals. 2003

Survey Methods and Practices http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/12-587-x/12-587-x2003001-eng.htm "This publication shows readers how to design and conduct a census or sample survey. It explains basic survey concepts and provides information on how to create efficient and high quality surveys. It is aimed at those involved in planning, conducting or managing a survey and at students of survey design courses." 2003

Developing and Testing Survey Questions http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Research/DER/BSSRB/PowerPointPresentations/DevelopingTestingSurveyQuestions.htm Gordon Willlis, Ph.D. National Cancer Institute. 2014

Survey design and data collection http://www.stats.govt.nz/surveys_and_methods/methods/survey-design-data-collection.aspx includes "A guide to good survey design" from 2014 or 2015. Also includes "Methodological standard for writing and constructing a questionnaire"

Commercial or private sources:

PEW survey research http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-research/ Description of how they do it

Basics of Developing Questionnaires http://www.managementhelp.org/evaluatn/questnrs.htm Written by Carter McNamara, PhD. Part of his site: Basic Guide to Program Evaluation http://managementhelp.org/evaluation/program-evaluation-guide.htm

Creative Research Systems at http://www.surveysystem.com especially see their resources page http://www.surveysystem.com/resource.htm a page on Resources for Survey Researchers, for example, survey design.

Statpac http://www.statpac.com/surveys/ brief (very) overview of survey research, including discussion of cost, cover letters, and a nice little "Questionnaire Research Flow Chart". Qualities of a good question is longer and more detailed.

Organizations:

The American Association for Public Opinion Research. (AAPOR) http://www.aapor.org/ has Best Practices for Survey Research http://www.aapor.org/Standards-Ethics/Best-Practices.aspx and a Transparency Initiative http://www.aapor.org/Standards-Ethics/Transparency-Initiative/Latest-News.aspx The TI "is designed to promote methodological disclosure through a proactive, educational approach that assists survey organizations in developing simple and efficient means for routinely disclosing the research methods associated with their publicly-released studies."

UN Statistical Division Household Surveys in Developing Countries http://unstats.un.org/unsd/hhsurveys/index.htm technical report with sections on Design and implementation, design effect, analysis of data, survey costs. From 2005

Doing surveys on the internet

Also see the research page on this site, which has links about research of using the web.

Don Dillman's page http://www.sesrc.wsu.edu/dillman/papers.html Some papers include Online Appendix for “Surveying the General Public Over the Internet Using Address-Based Sampling and Mail Contact Procedures” and Determinants of Item Nonresponse to Web and Mail Respondents in Three Address-Based Mixed-Mode Surveys of the General Public, both from 2012.

Conducting Research Surveys via E-mail and the Web http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1480/index.html some guidelines, lit reviews. 2001.

Using Electronic Surveys: Advice from Survey Professionals http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=1 "The study reports the perceptions and recommendations of sixty-two experienced survey researchers from the American Educational Research Association regarding the use of electronic surveys."

online survey design guide http://lap.umd.edu/survey_design/index.html how to design surveys on the web.

ORGANIZATIONS WITH INFO ABOUT SURVEYS

American Statistical Association http://www.amstat.org/ and the Survey Research Methods Section (SRMS) http://ww2.amstat.org/sections/srms/ See especially SRMS's What is a Survey series described at the top of this page, and listed here http://www.whatisasurvey.info/ in html format or can download the entire file in pdf. Some are: "more about mail surveys", "margin of error", and "what are focus groups".

page last updated and checked 5/10/2017