METHODS - Survey methods
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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".


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


Leslie Altizer.  Survey Research: A Summary of Best Practices.  December 31, 2004, Ethics Resource Center 2004,
This is a brief summary   http://www.ethics.org/resource/survey-research-summary-best-practices  


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. 2013  "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 2005.

Univ of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/evaluation/evaldocs.html   Some pdf files on evaluation and methods, including Program Development and Evaluation: Questionnaire Design: Asking Questions with a Purpose (G3658-2).  The root page is Program Development and Evaluation    http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/
 


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."


Frary, Robert B. (1996). Hints for designing effective questionnaires. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 5(3).    http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=3    "The purpose of this article is to offer tips in designing quality questionnaires and on avoiding common errors."


Questionnaires in Usability Engineering. A List of Frequently Asked Questions (3rd Ed.)   http://www.ucc.ie/hfrg/resources/qfaq1.html    some pointers on making questionairres. Compiled by: Jurek Kirakowski, Human Factors Research Group, Cork, Ireland., University of Cork.


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.


Wikiversity page on survey design   http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Survey_research_and_design_in_psychology   The primary author of this section is James Neill


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


Presentations on doing surveys   http://faculty.nps.edu/rdfricke/index.htm   Professor Ronald Fricker, The Naval Postgraduate School's Operations Research Department. See his presentations page.


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
 

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

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."


Conducting Community Surveys: A Practical Guide for Law Enforcement Agencies  http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=600   basic review of issues. From 1999


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:
 

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 FAQs for Survey Research Investigators  http://www.aapor.org/AAPORKentico/Standards-Ethics/Institutional-Review-Boards/IRB-FAQs-for-Survey-Researchers.aspx   survey disclosure checklist   http://www.aapor.org/AAPORKentico/Standards-Ethics/AAPOR-Code-of-Ethics/Survey-Disclosure-Checklist.aspx   and many more


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  
 

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.


Journal of survey statistics and methodology   http://jssam.oxfordjournals.org/   some of the issues are free, like this article from 2014,  "Mobile Web Survey Design: Scrolling versus Paging, SMS versus E-mail Invitations"  http://jssam.oxfordjournals.org/content/2/4/498.full  

 

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."  
 

Internet-based and Mail Survey: A Hybrid Probabilistic Survey Approach (Mathew Parackal)   http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw03/papers/


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


Free tools for doing surveys

One company is  CoolSurveys   http://www.coolsurveys.com/   "you just cut and paste the html code and place it in your web site!  Within minutes, you will have your own interactive online CoolSurvey!"
Cool Surveys is listed here  http://www.guidestar.org/rxa/news/articles/2003/how-good-is-your-web-site-the-importance-of-user-feedback.aspx  


Lime Survey   http://www.limesurvey.org/   another free survey tool
  mentioned here   http://www.olis.ri.gov/pubs/cesurvey2006.pdf


Another is limeservices   https://www.limeservice.com/en/   You can do 25 surveys for free. Maybe pilot.

I'm sure there are more, but these are just a few.

Phone surveys

How to Write a Telephone Survey Questionnaire   http://www.ehow.com/how_8145651_write-telephone-survey-questionnaire.html  

 


ORGANIZATIONS WITH INFO ABOUT SURVEYS

American Statistical Association http://www.amstat.org/ and the Survey Research Methods Section (SRMS)  http://www.amstat.org/sections/srms/   See especially SRMS's What is a Survey series 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".
 

Council of American Survey Research Organizations http://www.casro.org/    especially see their page Market Research, What it is and why it's important   http://www.casro.org/?page=ForThePublic  
Also see their Code of Standards page:   http://www.casro.org/?page=TheCASROCode 
 
 

page last updated and checked  4/12/2015

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