Survey Research Handbook (Paperback)

PART ONE PLANNING AND DESIGNING THE SURVEY 1(86) Chapter 1 Initiating a Survey 3(23) The Quest for Information 3(2) Why Surveys Are Conducted 3(1) Surveys of an Audience 3(1) Surveys of a Clientele 4(1) Surveys of Other Populations 5(1) Alternative Research Methods 5(2) Primary Data Collection Options 6(1) Expectations of Survey Results 7(2) Survey Attributes 7(1) Survey Limitations 8(1) Surveys Don't Dictate Decisions 9(1) The Roles of the Participants 9(4) The Sponsor's Role 10(1) The Researcher's Role 10(2) Respondent Rights 12(1) Potential Survey Topics 13(13) Attitudes 13(2) Images 15(2) Decisions 17(2) Needs 19(1) Behavior 20(2) Lifestyles 22(1) Affiliations 22(2) Demographics 24(1) Conclusion 25(1) Chapter 2 Planning the Project 26(29) The Survey Process 26(1) Specifying Information Needs 27(4) Survey Information Value 28(3) Planning the Survey Elements 31(17) Data Collection 32(6) Sampling Design 38(6) Instrumentation 44(2) Data Processing 46(1) Report Generation 47(1) Project Costs and Timing 48(6) Cost Estimation 49(2) Project Timing 51(3) The Final Project Plan 54(1) Chapter 3 Designing the Sample 55(32) The Purpose of Sampling 55(3) Specification of the Population 55(1) Sample Unit Specification 56(1) Sample Frame Selection 57(1) Reliability and Validity 58(2) Validity and Bias 58(1) Reliability and Error 59(1) Sample Size Determination 60(11) Sample Size and Error 60(1) Confidence Level 61(1) The Outside Limits 62(2) Variance in the Population 64(3) Subsample Sizes 67(1) Judgment and Determination 68(2) Preliminary Sampling 70(1) Progressive Sampling 70(1) Sampling Designs 71(8) Random Sampling Benefits 71(1) Stratified Sampling 71(3) Cluster Sampling 74(2) Telephone Economy 76(1) Other Economies 76(1) Quota Sampling 76(2) Special Designs 78(1) Sample Selection Procedure 79(10) Random Selection Methods 79(1) Sample Selection Bias 80(4) Science and Art of Sampling 84(3) PART TWO DEVELOPING SURVEY INSTRUMENTS 87(92) Chapter 4 Composing Questions 89(27) The Core of the Survey 89(6) Basic Attributes of Questions 89(3) Expressing the Questions 92(3) Instrumentation Bias and Error 95(6) Sources of Response Bias 101(6) Social Desirability 102(5) Question Format 107(9) Composing Categorical Items 110(3) Verbal and Numeric Items 113(3) Chapter 5 Creating Item Scales 116(30) Why Scales Are Used 116(2) Specificity of Scales 116(1) Scale Data Types 117(1) Multiple-Choice Question 118(2) Multiple-Response Items 118(1) Single-Response Items 119(1) Conventional Scale Types 120(18) The Likert Scale 120(2) The Verbal Frequency Scale 122(2) The Ordinal Scale 124(1) Thee Forced Ranking Scale 125(2) The Paired Comparison Scale 127(2) The Comparative Scale 129(1) The Linear, Numeric Scale 130(2) The Semantic Differential Scale 132(2) The Adjective Checklist 134(1) The Semantic Distance Scale 135(2) The Fixed Sum Scale 137(1) Scale Combinations 138(4) The Multiple-Rating List 138(2) The Multiple-Rating Matrix 140(1) The Diagram Scale 141(1) Nonverbal Scales 142(1) The Picture Scale 142(1) The Graphic Scale 142(1) Scale Selection Criteria 143(3) Chapter 6 Building Questionnaires 146(33) Function of the Questionnaire 146(10) Survey Introduction 146(1) A Sample Questionnaire 147(1) Questionnaire Organization 147(9) Creating Questionnaire Sections 156(1) Grouping Items by Topic 156(1) Grouping Items by Scaling Technique 157(1) Grouping Items Both Ways 157(1) Directing Response Flow 157(12) Conditional Branching 158(3) Unconditional Branching 161(1) Branching Limitations 161(1) Unlimited Branching 162(1) Instructions to Respondents 163(6) Concluding the Questionnaire 169(12) Minimizing Threat or Intimidation 170(1) The Demographic Section 171(2) Precoding the Questionnaire 173(4) Pretesting the Questionnaire 177(2) PART THREE COLLECTING AND PROCESSING DATA 179(88) Chapter 7 Self-Administered Surveys 181(32) Self-Administered Questionnaires 181(1) Online Data Collection 181(13) Plain Text E-Mail Surveys 181(1) E-Mail Questionnaire Attachments 182(1) Web Surveys 183(1) Static Web Questionnaires 184(1) Interactive Web Questionnaires 185(6) Web Survey Samples 191(3) Software and Services 194(1) Postal Mail Surveys 194(4) The Paper Stock 196(1) Print Characteristics 197(1) Page Layout 198(1) Vendors and Services 198(3) Mailing Piece Components 201(4) The Mailing Envelope 202(1) The Cover Letter 202(3) Inducements to Respond 205(5) Selecting Inducements 206(1) Types of Inducements 207(3) Mailing and Receipt 210(3) Self-Administered Surveys 211(2) Chapter 8 Collecting Interview Data 213(29) Role of the Interviewer 213(2) Mode of Interviewing 213(2) Data Collection Agencies 215(8) Interviewer Management Functions 223(6) Interviewing Error 229(2) The Interview Questionnaire 231(11) The Personal Interviewing Process 236(2) The Telephone Interview Process 238(4) Chapter 9 Processing the Data 242(25) Receipt of Questionnaires 242(4) Data Receipt 242(1) Handling Completed Questionnaires 243(1) Sight-Editing Printed Documents 244(2) Postcoding the Data 246(11) Data Entry Documents 253(2) Computer Data Editing 255(2) Data Processing 257(1) Purpose of Data Processing 258(1) Scale and Data Types 258(3) Nominal Scale Data 259(1) Ordinal Scale Data 260(1) Interval Scale Data 260(1) The Ratio Scale 261(1) Recoding the Data 261(6) PART FOUR INTERPRETING AND REPORTING RESULTS 267(119) Chapter 10 Describing Data Distributions 269(32) Statistical Data Description 269(8) Category Data Description 270(3) Interpreting Category Data 273(4) Continuous Data Distribution 277(9) Central Tendency and Averages 278(2) Measures of Dispersion or Spread 280(3) Shape of the Distribution 283(3) Interpreting the Statistics 286(11) The Meaning of Bimodality 295(2) Statistical Inference 297(4) Standard Error of the Estimate 297(2) Confidence Interval 299(2) Chapter 11 Measuring Item Interactions 301(40) Relationships Between Variables 301(3) Dependent and Independent Variables 302(2) Statistical Measures of Association 304(34) Cross-Tabulation 308(3) Interpreting Cross-Tabulation 311(3) Analysis of Variance 314(4) Interpreting Analysis of Variance 318(3) Interpreting Paired t-Tests 321(2) Discriminant Analysis 323(1) Regression and Correlation Analysis 324(2) Interpreting Correlation 326(7) Interpreting Regression Analysis 333(5) Interpreting versus Reporting 338(3) Chapter 12 Reporting the Information 341(45) Information Need Satisfaction 341(10) Report Introduction 342(3) Tabular Reporting 345(2) Graphic Reporting 347(4) Reporting Data Description 351(22) Reporting Multiple-Choice Items 351(4) Likert Scale Item Reports 355(1) Verbal Frequency Scale Reports 356(1) Ordinal Scale Reports 357(2) Forced Ranking Scale Reports 359(1) Paired Comparison Scale Reports 360(2) Comparative Scale Reports 362(2) Linear, Numeric Scale Reports 364(1) Semantic Differential Scale Reports 364(3) Adjective Checklist Reports 367(1) Semantic Distance Scale Reports 368(2) Fixed Sum Scale Reports 370(3) Measures of Association 373(10) Cross-Tabulation Reports 373(2) Analysis of Variance Reports 375(1) Paired t-Test Reports 376(3) Correlation Analysis Reports 379(1) Regression Analysis Reports 380(3) Concluding the Project 383(3) Hard Copy Reports 383(1) Online Report Generation 384(1) Wrapping Up the Project 384(2) Appendix A Conducting Focus Groups 386(17) Focus Group Characteristics 386(4) Advantages and Disadvantages 386(3) Focus Group Requirements 389(1) Focus Group Agenda 390(3) Translating Information Needs 391(2) Focus Group Participants 393(3) Selection Criteria 393(1) Screening Candidates 394(2) Focus Group Moderators 396(2) Personal Attributes 396(2) Focus Group Interpretations 398(5) Monitoring and Recording 398(2) Analysis and Application 400(3) Appendix B Conducting Experiments 403(17) Experimentation and Causality 403(3) Types of Experiments 403(3) Experimental Designs 406(10) Seriously Flawed Designs 407(2) Genuine Experimental Designs 409(3) Imperfect Experimental Designs 412(4) External Validity of Experiments 416(2) Artificiality and Generalizability 416(1) Blind Testing 417(1) Experimentation and Survey Methods 418(2) Appendix C Presenting Survey Results 420(17) Why Do a Presentation? 420(1) Presentation Advantages 420(1) Presentation Disadvantages 420(1) Planning and Preparation 421(9) Selecting Content 422(1) Choosing Presenters 422(4) Organization and Timing 426(4) Presentation Technology 430(3) Presentation Software 430(1) Projection Equipment 431(2) Making the Presentation 433(4) Presentation Anxiety 433(1) Using Notes Effectively 433(1) Pacing and Timing 434(1) Concluding the Presentation 434(3) Glossary 437(15) Index 452