Table of Contents

PREFACE
1. Conducting Surveys: Everyone Is Doing It
Overview
What Is A Survey?
When Is A Survey Best?
Questionnaires And Interviews: The Heart Of The Matter
Survey Types: The Friendly Competition
A Survey Continuum: From Specific To General Use
2. The Survey Form: Questions, Scales, and Appearance
Overview
The Content Is The Message
Define The Terms
Select Your Information Needs Or Hypotheses
Make Sure You Can Get The Information Needed
Do Not Ask For Information Unless You Can Act On It
Writing Questions
Organizing Responses To Open-Ended Survey Items: Do You Get Any Satisfaction?
Rules For Writing Closed Survey Questions
Responses For Closed Questions
Rating Scales
3. Getting It Together: Some Practical Concerns
Overview
Length
Putting Questions In Order
Questionnaire Format: Aesthetics and Other Concerns
Branching Questions, or the Infamous "Skip" Pattern
Administration
The Survey is Put on Trial
Guidelines for Pilot Testing
Ethics, Privacy, and Confidentiality
A Far Reaching World: Surveys, Language And Culture
4. Sampling
Overview
Sample Size and Response Rate: Who and How Many?
Probability Sampling Methods
Nonprobability Sampling Methods
Finding the Sample
How Large Should Your Sample Be?
Response Rate
5. Survey Design: Environmental Control
Overview
Which Designs Are Available?
Cross-Sectional Survey Designs
Longitudinal Surveys
Cohort Designs
Panel Designs
Comparative Group Survey Designs: Quasi- and True Experiments
Other Survey Designs: Normative and Case Control
6. Analyzing and Organizing Data From Surveys
Overview
What Is Typical Anyway? Some Commonly Used Methods For Analyzing Survey Data
Putting The Horse In Front Of The Cart: Selecting Analysis Methods
Statistical Significance
A Technical Interlude
Data Organization or Management
Creating a Code Book
7. Presenting the Survey Results
Overview
Reproducing The Questionnaire
Using Tables
Drawing Pie Diagrams
Using Bar Graphs
Using Line Graphs
Drawing Diagrams or Pictures
Writing The Results Of A Survey
The Oral Presentation
Computerized "Slide" Presentations
Oral Versus Written Reports: A Difference in Conversation
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

About the Author

Arlene Fink (PhD) is Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, and president of the Langley Research Institute. Her main interests include evaluation and survey research and the conduct of research literature reviews as well as the evaluation of their quality. Dr. Fink has conducted scores of evaluation studies in public health, medicine, and education. She is on the faculty of UCLA’s Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and is a scientific and evaluation advisor to UCLA’s Gambling Studies and IMPACT (Improving Access, Counseling & Treatment for Californians with Prostate Cancer) programs. She consults nationally and internationally for agencies such as L’institut de Promotion del la Prévention Secondaire en Addictologie (IPPSA) in Paris, France, and Peninsula Health in Victoria, Australia. Professor Fink has taught and lectured extensively all over the world and is the author of more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and 15 textbooks.

Reviews

"This book presents a thoughtful, succinct overview of survey research methods. The author′s extensive experience in conducting survey research and in training others to do the same is reflected in the practical advice given throughout the work. It does an admirable job of presenting the basics in a generally clear, easy to read style."
*ScienceDirect*

"I recommend the book as a desk resource if you are considering conducting a survey in the near future or if you have to prepare a presentation on survey results."
*Journal of the Society for Technical Communication*