Design, Evaluation, and Analysis of Questionnaires for Survey Research

Praise for the First Edition

"...this book is quite inspiring, giving many practical ideas for survey research, especially for designing better questionnaires."
--International Statistical Review

Reflecting modern developments in the field of survey research, the Second Edition of Design, Evaluation, and Analysis of Questionnaires for Survey Research continues to provide cutting-edge analysis of the important decisions researchers make throughout the survey design process.The new edition covers the essential methodologies and statistical tools utilized to create reliable and accurate survey questionnaires, which unveils the relationship between individual question characteristics and overall question quality. Since the First Edition, the computer program Survey Quality Prediction (SQP) has been updated to include new predictions of the quality of survey questions on the basis of analyses of Multi-Trait Multi-Method experiments. The improved program contains over 60,000 questions, with translations in most European languages. Featuring an expanded explanation of the usage and limitations of SQP 2.0, the Second Edition also includes:

• New practice problems to provide readers with real-world experience in survey research and questionnaire design

• A comprehensive outline of the steps for creating and testing survey questionnaires

• Contemporary examples that demonstrate the many pitfalls of questionnaire design and ways to avoid similar decisions

Design, Evaluation, and Analysis of Questionnaires for Survey Research, Second Edition is an excellent textbook for upper-undergraduate and graduate-level courses in methodology and research questionnaire planning, as well as an ideal resource for social scientists or survey researchers needing to design, evaluate, and analyze questionnaires.

Autorentext

WILLEM E. SARIS, PHD, is Emeritus
Professor in Methodology of the University of Amsterdam and the
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. He is Laureate of the 2005
Descartes Prize for "Best Collaborative Research" as
member of the Central Coordinating Team of the European Social
Survey (ESS) and Recipient of the World Association of Public
Opinion Research's "Helen Dinerman Award" in 2009
for his lifelong contribution to the methodology of Opinion
Research. Dr. Saris also received the "2013 Outstanding
Service Prize" of the European Survey Research
Association.

IRMTRAUD N. GALLHOFER, PHD, is a linguist
and was senior researcher on projects of the ESS, Research and
Expertise Centre for Survey Methodology at the Universitat Pompeu
Fabra, Barcelona. She is Laureate of the 2005 Descartes Prize for
"Best Collaborative Research" as a member of the
Central Coordinating Team of the ESS.

Zusammenfassung

Praise for the First Edition

"...this book is quite inspiring, giving many practical ideas for survey research, especially for designing better questionnaires."
International Statistical Review

Reflecting modern developments in the field of survey research, the Second Edition of Design, Evaluation, and Analysis of Questionnaires for Survey Research continues to provide cutting-edge analysis of the important decisions researchers make throughout the survey design process.The new edition covers the essential methodologies and statistical tools utilized to create reliable and accurate survey questionnaires, which unveils the relationship between individual question characteristics and overall question quality. Since the First Edition, the computer program Survey Quality Prediction (SQP) has been updated to include new predictions of the quality of survey questions on the basis of analyses of Multi-Trait Multi-Method experiments. The improved program contains over 60,000 questions, with translations in most European languages. Featuring an expanded explanation of the usage and limitations of SQP 2.0, the Second Edition also includes:

• New practice problems to provide readers with real-world experience in survey research and questionnaire design
• A comprehensive outline of the steps for creating and testing survey questionnaires
• Contemporary examples that demonstrate the many pitfalls of questionnaire design and ways to avoid similar decisions
  Design, Evaluation, and Analysis of Questionnaires for Survey Research, Second Edition is an excellent textbook for upper-undergraduate and graduate-level courses in methodology and research questionnaire planning, as well as an ideal resource for social scientists or survey researchers needing to design, evaluate, and analyze questionnaires.

Inhalt

Preface to the Second Edition xiii

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction 1

I.1 Designing a Survey 4

I.1.1 Choice of a Topic 4

I.1.2 Choice of the Most Important Variables 4

I.1.3 Choice of a Data Collection Method 5

I.1.4 Choice of Operationalization 6

I.1.5 Test of the Quality of the Questionnaire 8

I.1.6 Formulation of the Final Questionnaire 9

I.1.7 Choice of Population and Sample Design 9

I.1.8 Decide about the Fieldwork 10

I.1.9 What We Know about These Decisions 10

I.1.10 Summary 11

Exercises 12

Part I The Three-Step Procedure to Design Requests for Answers 13

1 Concepts-by-Postulation and Concepts-by-Intuition 15

1.1 Concepts-by-Intuition and Concepts-by-Postulation 15

1.2 Different Ways of Defining Concepts-by-Postulation through Concepts-by-Intuition 19

1.2.1 Job Satisfaction as a Concept-by-Intuition 19

1.2.2 Job Satisfaction as a Concept-by-Postulation 20

1.3 Summary 27

Exercises 28

2 From Social Science Concepts-by-Intuition to Assertions 30

2.1 Basic Concepts and Concepts-by-Intuition 31

2.2 Assertions and Requests for an Answer 32

2.3 The Basic Elements of Assertions 33

2.3.1 Indirect Objects as Extensions of Simple Assertions 36

2.3.2 Adverbials as Extensions of Simple Assertions 37

2.3.3 Modifiers as Extensions of Simple Assertions 37

2.3.4 Object Complements as Extensions of Simple Assertions 38

2.3.5 Some Notation Rules 38

2.4 Basic Concepts-by-Intuition 39

2.4.1 Subjective Variables 40

2.4.2 Objective Variables 47

2.4.3 In Summary 49

2.5 Alternative Formulations for the Same Concept 49

2.6 Extensions of Simple Sentences 51

2.6.1 Adding Indirect Objects 51

2.6.2 Adding Modifiers 52

2.6.3 Adding Adverbials 52

2.7 Use of Complex Sentences 53

2.7.1 Complex Sentences with No Shift in Concept 54

2.7.2 Complex Sentences with a Shift in Concept 54

2.7.3 Adding Conditions to Complex Sentences 56

2.8 Summary 56

Exercises 57

3 The Formulation of Requests for an Answer 60

3.1 From Concepts to Requests for an Answer 61

3.2 Different Types of Requests for an Answer 63

3.2.1 Direct Request 63

3.2.2 Indirect Request 66

3.3 The Meaning of Requests for an Answer with WH Request Words 69

3.3.1 When, Where, and Why Requests 70

3.3.2 Who Requests 70

3.3.3 Which Requests 70

3.3.4 What Requests 71

3.3.5 How Requests 72

3.4 Summary 74

Exercises 75

Part II Choices Involved in Questionnaire Design 77

4 Specific Survey Research Features of Requests for an Answer 79

4.1 Select Requests from Databases 79

4.2 Other Features Connected with the Research Goal 81

4.3 Some Problematic Requests 83

4.3.1 Double-Barreled Requests 83

4.3.2 Requests with Implicit Assumptions 84

4.4 Some Prerequests Change the Concept-by-Intuition 85

4.5 Batteries of Requests for Answers 86

4.5.1 The Use of Batteries of Stimuli 87

4.5.2 The Use of Batteries of Statements 88

4.6 Other Features of Survey Requests 92

4.6.1 The Formulation of Comparative or Absolute Requests for Answers 92

4.6.2 Conditional Clauses Specified in Requests for Answers 93

4.6.3 Balanced or Unbalanced Requests for Answers 93

4.7 Spec…