Table Of ContentTHE BUSINESS An Introduction to Survey Research C Quantitative Approaches
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EXPERT PRESS W
Ernest L. Cowles • Edward Nelson to Decision Making Collection
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DIGITAL LIBRARIES E
An Introduction to Survey Research is for those who want an S • Donald N. Stengel, Editor
EBOOKS FOR overview of the survey process. It is intended to describe N
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BUSINESS STUDENTS fundamental survey components to help both students and L
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Curriculum-oriented, born- managers understand and use surveys effectively and avoid O
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the pitfalls stemming from bad survey construction and
digital books for advanced
An Introduction
inappropriate methods. The authors discuss how best to
business students, written
identify the information needed and the best approach to get
by academic thought
that information. They also highlight the processes c ommonly
leaders who translate real-
to Survey
involved in conducting a survey including the value of both
world business experience
obtaining a representative sample and dealing with the types
into course readings and
of errors that can distort results. Each chapter focuses on one
reference materials for
Research
of the key components of constructing and carrying out a
students expecting to tackle
survey, including the elements to consider when developing a
management and leadership
survey, the modes of survey delivery, writing good questions,
challenges during their
conducting the survey, and presenting the results.
professional careers.
Ernest L. Cowles is professor emeritus of sociology and past
POLICIES BUILT
BY LIBRARIANS director of the Institute for Social Research at C alifornia
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State University, Sacramento (CSUS). He received his PhD N
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in c riminology from Florida State University. P rior to his I
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appointment at CSUS, he served as the director of the I nstitute T
• Unrestricted downloading R
for Legal and Policy Studies at the University of I llinois for O
and printing D
• Perpetual access for a 10 years and interim director of the Institute for Public Affairs, U
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one-time fee Abraham Lincoln Center for Policy Studies for two years. T
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He has received more than $25 million in research f unding and O
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maintenance fees has authored numerous publications and r esearch reports. T
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• Free MARC records Edward Nelson is professor emeritus of sociology at California S
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State University, Fresno. He received his PhD in sociology
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The Digital Libraries are a from the University of California, Los Angeles, specializing in V
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comprehensive, cost-effective research methods. He was the director of the Social Research Y Ernest L. Cowles
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way to deliver practical Laboratory at CSU, Fresno from 1980 to 2013 and directed more E
treatments of important than 150 surveys. He taught research methods, quantitative SE Edward Nelson
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business issues to every methods, critical thinking, and computer applications. He has R
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student and faculty member. published books on observation in sociological research and H
using SPSS, a statistical computing package widely used in the
social sciences.
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to Decision Making Collection
Donald N. Stengel, Editor
ISBN: 978-1-60649-818-7
An Introduction to Survey
Research
An Introduction to Survey
Research
Ernest L. Cowles and Edward Nelson
An Introduction to Survey Research
Copyright © Business Expert Press, LLC, 2015.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other
except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior
permission of the publisher.
First published in 2015 by
Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-60649-818-7 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-60649-819-4 (e-book)
Business Expert Press Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making
Collection
Collection ISSN: 2163-9515 (print)
Collection ISSN: 2163-9582 (electronic)
Cover and interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd.,
Chennai, India
First edition: 2015
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
Ernest Cowles. First, I would like to thank my lovely wife, Ellison, without
whose insights, patience, and support this book would have remained on my
to do list. I would also like to take a moment to thank my friends, colleagues,
and family for their wisdom and guidance p rofessionally and personally
across the years. Finally, I am deeply indebted to my coauthor, Ed Nelson, for
his perseverance, thoroughness, and hard work during the writing process.
Without his effort, this work would have still likely existed only as electrons
dancing around inside my computer.
Edward Nelson. I want to dedicate this book to my wife, Elizabeth Nelson,
and my children, Lisa and David, for all their support over many years.
Elizabeth and I were both in the Sociology Department at California State
University, Fresno for many years and shared so much both at work and
at home with our family. It has been a pleasure to work with my coauthor,
Ernest Cowles, on this book. Both of us were directors of survey research
centers until our retirements and we have combined our years of
experience in this project.
Abstract
This book is an introduction to survey research for those who want an
overview of the survey process. It is intended to describe fundamental
survey components to help both students and managers understand and
use surveys effectively and avoid the pitfalls stemming from bad survey
construction and inappropriate methods. We begin by talking about
how best to identify the information needed and the best approach
to get that information. We then discuss the processes commonly
involved in c onducting a survey including the value of both obtaining a
representative sample and dealing with the types of errors that can distort
results. Next, each chapter focuses on one of the key components of con-
structing and carrying out a survey, including the elements to consider
when developing a survey, the modes of survey delivery, writing good
questions, conducting the survey, and presenting the results. Each chapter
concludes with a summary of important points contained in the chapter
and an annotated set of references indicating where readers can go for
more information on chapter topics.
Keywords
ethical issues, internet surveys, interviewer training, mailed surveys,
mixed-mode surveys, sampling, survey, survey construction, telephone
surveys, web surveys
Contents
Preface ..................................................................................................xi
Acknowledgments .................................................................................xiii
Chapter 1 Introduction .....................................................................1
Chapter 2 Probability Sampling ......................................................13
Chapter 3 Total Survey Error ..........................................................35
Chapter 4 Factors to Consider When Thinking About Surveys .......65
Chapter 5 Modes of Survey Delivery ...............................................81
Chapter 6 Writing Good Questions ..............................................101
Chapter 7 Carrying Out the Survey...............................................127
Chapter 8 Presenting Survey Results ..............................................145
Notes..................................................................................................169
References ...........................................................................................181
Index .................................................................................................193
