“Many of our students do not have prior methods experience. They need a text that brings them into the methodology of the field and this one is just right. The concrete examples are especially helpful. Students tell me that this text is one that they keep and use over and over. It is the kind of text that empowers them to walk through the steps of doing their research.”
“Without fail, my students are very interested in the practical aspects of survey design and implementation. They want to understand, quickly and simply, the workflow of a survey project, how many observations they need to answer their research questions, and how much it is going to cost. Not surprisingly, then, I find the applied focus of the text very helpful. The coverage of sampling and power calculations for hypothesis testing are unique strengths. The text is accessible, practical, and concise.”
“This book has much to recommend it. The authors succeed in pulling off some difficult balancing acts. They manage to introduce a good deal of material in a concise package. They cover key topics in practical, accessible terms, but not in simple cookbook terms. The entire survey research process is covered in a way that helps students appreciate how steps in the process are integrated. Students will understand that survey research is research, not just a series of tasks.”
I have no hesitation in recommending this book as a preferred course text at post-graduate level or for in-house training. It’s far superior to anything else on the market and sits nicely between Andres (2012) and Marsden and Wright (2010). Whereas some books tend to be more academic (and sometimes based on limited, if any, serious experience of actually doing surveys) this book is written by people who do surveys for a living, one of them for forty years.
“Designing Surveys is well written and is intended for novices engaged in designing a (student) survey for the first time as well as for those with some knowledge of and experience with surveys. I would add a third group of potential readers to the list: more experienced researchers who feel the need to update and refresh their knowledge.”
—Edith D. de Leeuw, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Good book, fits my teaching needs
Excellent text for the novice or experienced researcher
A useful textbook for helping our students with the design of their project research surveys.
Its specificity in designing surveys makes it a reference manual in this area. On the other side are needed other manuals that explain what to do with the colected data.
At last a truly comprehensive guide to the process of designing and doing surveys of all types
Invaluable resource
Designing surveys has explored the broad principles for sampling and has addressed representative sampling issues. Researchers at all levels stand to benefit from reading the areas of the book that are applicable to their survey design.
Recommended reading for any student (or tutor!) planning a survey for their research dissertations. An excellent guide.
This book helped me a lot in planning a survey based seminar.
Perfect for undergraduate students
This book offers a wealth of practical support in designing surveys. It tackles the challenges within use of surveys as well as the opportunities.
Nothing new was offered.
It is a good book looking up detailed information or explanation of survey design issues. Yet for use in the class room it is too much text based where the design of a survey is actually highly practice based
An interesting text that aids students' understanding of the complexity of survey design
easy to follow text
A gem of a book; really useful and nothing else on the market that does such a specific job.
Helpful diagrams such as the one showing the stages in designing and using a survey
Useful for beginners, particularly the first few chapters, and for more advanced researchers, to refine their technique
Addresses the use of social media, but possibly more on this growth area would be useful
A little more on the ethical issues of using surveys would also have been helpful
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