The SAGE Handbook of Survey Methodology

Survey Methodology is becoming a more structured field of research, deserving of more and more academic attention. The SAGE Handbook of Survey Methodology explores both the increasingly scientific endeavour of surveys and their growing complexity, as different data collection modes and information sources are combined. The handbook takes a global approach, with a team of international experts looking at local and national specificities, as well as problems of cross-national, comparative survey research. The chapters are organized into seven major sections, each of which represents a stage in the survey life-cycle: Surveys and Societies Planning a Survey Measurement Sampling Data Collection Preparing Data for Use Assessing and Improving Data Quality The SAGE Handbook of Survey Methodology is a landmark and essential tool for any scholar within the social sciences.  

Table of Contents:
Part I: Basic Principles 1. Introduction - Yang-chih Fu, Dominique Joye, Tom W. Smith and Christof Wolf 2. Survey standards - Tom W. Smith 3. Total survey error: a paradigm for survey methodology - Lars E. Lyberg and Herbert F. Weisberg 4. Challenges of comparative survey research - Timothy P. Johnson and Michael Braun Part II: Surveys and Societies 5. Surveys and society - Claire Durand 6. Defining and assessing survey climate - Geert Loosveldt and Dominique Joye 7. The Ethical issues of survey and market research - Kathy Joe, Finn Raben and Adam Phillips 8. Observations on the historical development of polling - Kathleen A. Frankovic Part III: Planning a Survey 9. Research question and designs for survey research - Ben Jann and Thomas Hinz 10. Total survey error paradigm: : Theory and Practice - Paul P. Biemer 11. Survey mode or survey modes? - Edith de Leeuw and Jernej Berzelak 12. Surveying in multi-cultural and multi-national contexts - Beth-Ellen Pennell and Kristen Cibelli-Hibben 13. Surveys in societies in turmoil - Zeina N. Mneimneh, Beth-Ellen Pennell, Jennifer Kelley and Kristen Cibelli-Hibben Part IV: Measurement 14. What does Measurement Mean in a Survey Context? - Jaak Billiet 15. Cognitive models of answering processes - Kristen Miller and Gordon B. Willis 16. Designing questions and questionnaires - Jolene D. Smyth 17. Creating a good question: how to use cumulative experience - Melanie Revilla, Diana Zavala-Rojas and Willem Saris 18. Designing a mixed-mode survey - Don A. Dillman and Michelle L. Edwards 19. The Translation of Measurement Instruments for Cross-cultural Surveys - Dorothée Behr and Kuniaki Shishido 20. When Translation is not Enough: Background Variables in Comparative Surveys - Silke Schneider, Dominique Joye and Christof Wolf Part V: Sampling 21. Basics of sampling for survey research - Yves Tillé and Alina Matei 22. Nonprobability sampling - Vasja Vehovar, Vera Toepoel and Stephanie Steinmetz 23. Special challenges of sampling for comparative surveys - Siegfried Gabler and Sabine Häder Part VI: Data Collection 24. Questionnaire pretesting - Gordon B. Willis 25. Survey fieldwork - Annelies G. Blom 26. Responsive and adaptive designs - François Laflamme and James Wagner 27. Unit nonresponse - Ineke A. L. Stoop 28. Incentives as a possible measure to increase response rates - Michèle Ernst Stähli and Dominique Joye Part VII: Preparing Data for Use 29. Documenting Survey Data Across the Life Cycle - Mary Vardigan, Peter Granda and Lynette Hoelter 30. Weighting: principles and practicalities - Pierre Lavallée and Jean-François Beaumont 31. Analysis of data from stratified and clustered surveys - Stephanie Eckman and Brady T. West 32. Analytical Potential Versus Data Confidentiality – Finding the Optimal Balance - Heike Wirth 33. Harmonizing Survey Questions Between Cultures and Over Time - Christof Wolf, Silke L. Schneider, Dorothée Behr and Dominique Joye Part VIII: Assessing and Improving Data Quality 34. Survey data quality and measurement precision - Duane F. Alwin 35. Nonresponse error: detection and correction - Jelke Bethlehem and Barry Schouten 36. Response styles in surveys: understanding their causes and mitigating their impact - Caroline Roberts 37. Dealing with missing values - Martin Spiess 38. Another Look at Survey Data Quality - Victor Thiessen and Jörg Blasius 39. Assessment of cross-cultural comparability - Jan Cieciuch, Eldad Davidov, Peter Schmidt and René Algesheimer Part IX: Further Issues 40. Data preservation, secondary analysis, and replication: learning from existing data - Lynette Hoelter, Amy Pienta and Jared Lyle 41. Record linkage - Rainer Schnell 42. Supplementing cross-national surveys with contextual data - Jessica Fortin-Rittberger, David Howell, Stephen Quinlan and Bojan Todosijevic 43. The Globalization of surveys - Tom W. Smith and Yang-chih Fu

About the Author :
Tom W. Smith specializes in the study of societal change in comparative perspective. He is director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Society at NORC, University of Chicago. Since 1980, he has been a principal investigator of the National Data Program for the Social Sciences and director of its General Social Survey (GSS). He is also cofounder of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). It has conducted an international survey annually since 1985 and has involved 60 nations. He was Secretary General of ISSP in 1997–2003. Smith has taught at Purdue University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, Tel Aviv University, and the University of Cologne. He was awarded the 2000 and 2003 Innovators Awards of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), the 2002 AAPOR Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement, and the 2013 AAPOR Book Award as coeditor of Multinational, Multicultural, and Multiregional Survey Methods.

Review :
This exciting new handbook provides a comprehensive guide to conducting survey research studies.  Authored by a distinguished set of experts from across the globe, chapters cover all phases of survey projects—from conceiving, designing and planning, through sampling, measurement, and data collection, to post-fieldwork data processing, data augmentation, and quality assessment.  Extensive attention to multi-national or cross-cultural survey projects is a special asset:  both challenges to comparability in such studies, and current practices to achieving it in vital domains including sampling, translation, and harmonization of data over space and time, are treated in depth.   The environment for conducting surveys has changed substantially in the last several decades.  New approaches to data collection and data dissemination are required, but the approaches must be adapted depending on country and culture.  This Sage handbook is an up-to-date reference that covers virtually all steps in the survey life cycle.  It contains methodological topics like survey modes, surveying in multicultural and cross-cultural contexts, questionnaire design and pretesting, and responsive design, along with statistical topics like sampling, weighting, analysis of complex surveys, and record linkage.  Coverage of distinctive areas, like ethical issues, surveys in conflict areas, question translation, and harmonization of questions across cultures, also set this book apart from others.  The handbook will be a valuable reference for survey practitioners and other professionals who need a broad overview of the many steps required to conduct high quality surveys.  The new Sage Handbook broadens our view of survey research by including topics important for data sharing and reuse.  Data are expensive public resources, and we need more attention on issues like disclosure risk, harmonization, life-cycle documentation, and preservation. "The SAGE Handbook of Survey Methodology is a useful resource for researchers and individuals who want to learn about the process of surveying. In an era where surveying is so hotly debated, the handbook comes at an important moment in history. This book is recommended for academic libraries." "This thorough volume provides extensive information on understanding and creating surveys. Its 43 chapters cover important topics such as types of surveys (face-to-face, mail, internet), designing questions for surveys, sampling, administering surveys, handling ethical issues, combining administrative and survey data, and analyzing data from surveys... Summing Up: Highly recommended. Faculty and professionals" The SAGE Handbook of Survey Methodology is a valuable compendium and reference reflecting a broad range of expertise from the survey world and beyond.The authors of the 43 chapters represent a diverse group of institutions, mainly from the United States and Europe, and bring a deep expertise on their given "assignments. For those whose research depends on the quality of survey data, especially in an international context, the Handbook is a solid and dependable anchor.