The fourth edition has been updated in four primary ways: it much more prominently addresses the growth of the Internet for data collection and the subsequent rapid expansion of online survey usage; it addresses the precipitous drop in response rates for telephone surveys, particularly those based on random-digit dialing; it offers new and expanded coverage monitoring the continued improvement in techniques for presurvey evaluation of questions; and it addresses the growing role of individual cell phone in addition--and often instead of--household landlines. Two new chapters, "The nature of error in surveys" and "Issues in analyzing survey data," further emphasize the importance of minimizing nonsampling errors through superior question design, quality interviewing, and high response rates. Key features: covers the expansion of cell phone use and legislation regarding them (this offers survey researchers guidance as to policy implications and practical application); expands the coverage of web-based and online surveys as well as the latest resources available to the beginning and expert researcher; offers in-depth discussion of non-response and sample size issues, especially as they relate to power; focuses on data analysis, especially with regard to bivariate and multivariate approaches. The author walks students and researchers through the various types of analyses one would do once the data are ready to analyze and provides a list of strengths and weaknesses for each of the different types of survey data collection, including the more recent web-based approaches. Includes updated references and survey examples that offer various levels of students and researchers other exemplary literature and models.

Introduction: Reasons for surveys ; Components of surveys ; Purposes and goals of this text --Types of error In surveys: Error associated with who answers ; Error associated with answers ; Recapping the nature of error in surveys -- Sampling: The sample frame ; Selecting a one-stage sample ; Multistage sampling ; Making estimates from samples and sampling errors ; How big should a sample be? ; Sampling error as a component of total survey error -- Nonresponse : implementing a sample design: Calculating response rates ; Bias associated with nonresponse ; Reducing nonresponse ; Two other approaches to reducing nonresponse error ; Nonprobability (or modified probability) samples ; Nonresponse as a source of error -- Methods of data collection: Major issues in choosing a strategy ; Summary comparison of the methods ; Conclusion -- Designing questions to be good measures: Increasing the reliability of answers ; Types of measures/types of questions ; Increasing the validity of factual reporting ; Increasing the validity of answers describing subjective states ; Question design and error -- Evaluating survey questions And instruments ; Defining objectives ; Preliminary question design steps ; Presurvey evaluation ; Design, format, and layout of survey instruments ; Field pretests ; Survey instrument length ; Conclusion -- Survey interviewing: Overview of interviewer job ; Interviewer recruitment and selection ; Training interviewers ; Supervision ; Survey questions ; Interviewing procedures ; Validation of interviews ; The role of interviewing in survey error -- Preparing survey data for analysis: Formatting a data file ; Constructing a code ; Approaches to coding and data entry ; Data cleaning ; Coding and data reduction as sources of error -- Analyzing survey data ; Adjusting for sample nonresponse and sample frame deficiencies ; Coping with item nonresponse ; Adjusting for different probabilities of selection ; Calculating sampling errors ; Conclusion -- Ethical issues In survey research: Informing respondents ; Protecting respondents ; Benefits to respondents ; Ethical responsibilities to interviewers ; Conclusion -- Providing information about survey methods -- Survey error In perspective: The concept of total survey design ; Error in perspective ; Conclusion.