Resources
Mail and
Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. Don A Dillman; Wiley 2000
How to
Conduct Your Own Survey. Patricia Salant and Don A Dillman; Wiley 1994
Mail
Surveys: Improving the Quality. Thomas W Mangione; Sage 1995
Designing
Surveys: A Guide to Decisions and Procedures. Ronald Czaja and Johnny Blair;
Pine Forge 1996
How Many
Subjects: Statistical Power in Analysis in Research. Helen Chmura Kraemer and
Sue Thiemann; Sage 1987
Survey
Research Methods 2nd Edition. Floyd Fowler; Sage 1993
The Survey
Kit 10 Volumes. various authors; Sage 1995
Improving
Survey Questions: Design and Evaluation. Floyd Fowler; Sage 1995
Questions
About Questions: Inquiries Into the Cognitive Bases of Surveys. Judith M.
Tanur, ed; Russell Sage 1991
Answering
Questions. Norbert Schwarz and Seymour Sudman, eds; Jossey Bass 1996
Thinking
About Answers. Seymour Sudman, Norman Bradburn, and Norbert Schwarz; Jossey
Bass 1996
These questions can be used to help plan and design a survey research project.
Question 1:
Is a survey needed to gather the information? Would an alternate data gathering
technique work better? Should you use more than one method of gathering data?
Question 2:
Do you have sufficient resources to conduct the survey? Identify the staff,
time, personnel, funding, etc. available to conduct the survey. Where will you
get technical help when needed?
Question 3:
Do you have enough time to conduct the survey? Is there quicker method of
gathering the data? Can a report wait six months or more? Who will analyze the
data?
Question 4:
Who will you survey? Can you fully identify the target group? Can you get a
good list of possible respondents? Will you survey people, groups, or
organizations? Will respondents be willing to participate? How would you
address these problems?
Question 5:
Which survey mode do you think is best? Does it fit with the other constraints
of the design – sample, respondent burden, content, etc? Should you use more
than one mode?
Question 6:
Survey researchers consider five sources of survey error. Describe how you will
design to reduce error and improve quality.