an excellent resource, even if a little dated
Has sampling always been a black box for you? You're intimidated by the complexity of designing a quality questionnaire? You're wondering about the difference between a mail versus phone versus face-to-face survey? This book clearly is for you -- and even if you have no particular survey needs right now, it will help you understand how surveys, so important in so many settings today, actually get done.
This is the single best book to introduce surveys in simple, non-technical, commonsense language that I have come across. I keep recommending it to whomever is interested in understanding how surveys work. In our organization, we've done multiple complex surveys, with thousands of respondents, in five languages across three countries, so my appreciation is based on practical experience.
The authors acknowledge that needs are very different, and give detailed instructions of how a survey can be pulled off even with limited budgets. They also tell you when you're better off without the survey.
What about the limitations? A couple of passages could have been edited critically, and could be even clearer, or with slightly more compelling examples. Also, understandably, the book primarily centers on the American experience. As other reviewers point out, the book does not yet take account of the potential (and the limitations) of Internet surveys, but once you understand the principles of the other types of survey work, you can figure this out for yourself.
It's very encouraging to see that professionals can make topics so accessible.
Decent primer
Purchased this book for a refresher on survey issues. It provides a decent primer, and even some interesting statistical issues presented in a simplified manner (e.g. sample size). Not for the advanced marketing professional, but then the title suggests its basic offering.
Accessible volume by one of the best
Dillman's "total design method" is well illustrated in this volume. This work is an accessible introduction to designing one's own survey. The book is written pretty well, too.
Trying to get accurate results is what survey design is all about. This book emphasizes that and then runs through the process, step-by-step.
The book deals with some of the key issues in survey design: (a) what type of survey method (face-to-face, mail, phone), (b) sample selection, (c) construction of questions and the total questionnaire, (d) the logistics of administering the survey, (e) data analysis, (f) reporting the results.
The work concludes with a title that says it all: "Advice, Resources, and Maintaining Perspective."
All in all, a useful and accessible introduction to survey research and how to minimize errors.
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