Designing and Doing Survey Research
- Lesley Andres - University of British Columbia, Canada
Taking a mixed method approach throughout, the book provides step-by-step guidance on:
• Designing your research
• Ethical issues
• Developing your survey questions
• Sampling
• Budgeting, scheduling and managing your time
• Administering your survey
• Preparing for data analysis
With a focus on the impact of new technologies, this book provides a cutting-edge look at how survey research is conducted today as well as the challenges survey researchers face. Packed full of international examples from various social science disciplines, the book is ideal for students and researchers new to survey research.
If the two main tasks of data analysis are, as Tukey said, detective work and guidance counseling, then this book makes its author, Lesley Andres, the Agatha Christie of survey research and a sage mentor on statistical journeys toward truth, precision, interpretation, and value. Beautifully written, and filled with practical advice, Andres' book should become required reading
Stephen T. Ziliak
Professor of Economics, Roosevelt University, and author of The Cult of Statistical Significance
There are many things to like about Lesley Andres' book on designing and doing survey research. The language is accessible, the scope is impressive, it covers classic and contemporary authors, it provides concrete examples to beginning researchers, and it integrates survey research into a wider research framework. But there is one thing I loved: it breaks with the tradition of thinking of the survey as a quantitative method and, by extension, qualitative and quantitative methods as belonging to different paradigms. Lesley Andres convincingly argues and shows by example that there is much more to survey research than usually covered in conventional texts on this subject. Research methods books in this vein are overdue and are part of a new generation of applied research methods texts for the social and related sciences
Manfred Max Bergman
Professor of Political Sociology and Methodology, University of Basel
'The basics of survey research are all here, and the exercises in each chapter will help focus the readers’ attention on the essential points.'
Comprehensive up-to-date text on survey research
A little too specific for a survey course, but ordered for Library.
The volume will surely be a helpful source for those students who are interested in advancing their understanding of the survey methodology/ies as such (theoretically + historically). While the author is somewhat inconsistent in terms of easiness of the explanations, the students will still be able to see that "survey" as a method is "scientific" and "technological" enough and should be approached with careful planning. I have already ordered three copies for the uni's library. Once I get the students' feedback, I will then know more on whether the book should be recommended as an essential reading for the next group of students.
This is a very helpful book for students who are thinking about conducting their own survey. I like the manner in which it suggests that students adjust the approach to the practical situation that they face, e.g. that they may not be able to choose a large random sample but many instead give a questionnaire to everyone using a community centre. It is also helpful that there is a section that guides students about entering data into SPSS, as it is difficult to find material that covers the stages before data analysis.
This book has a thorough approach to designing and implementing surveys, much of which will be very useful for Level 3 learners. Some chapters do contain description and explanation which is aimed a little too high for Level 3 learners, for example the in-depth discussion of varied types of validity. What was particularly useful throughout the book was the activity section at the end of each chapter, which will aid learners in a step-by-step approach to designing their research, and also the “Ethical Alerts” throughout.
