How to Conduct Surveys
A Step-by-Step Guide
7th Edition
Published on 3. April 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
232 pages
978-1-0718-6132-5 (ISBN)
Description
The seventh edition of How to Conduct Surveys: A Step-by-Step Guide by Arlene Fink provides a concise and reliable resource for developing and running surveys. The seventh edition includes new information on the use of AI in surveys, social media, videoconference platforms, cultural validity, and research ethics, along with updated data and citations throughout.
More details
Edition
7th Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Thousand Oaks
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Edition type
Revised edition
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
442 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0718-6132-5 (9781071861325)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Book
03/2016
6th Edition
SAGE Publications Inc
€86.00
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
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 Prevention 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.
Content
Preface
About the Author
Chapter 1. Conducting Surveys: Everyone Is Doing It
What Is a Survey?
When Is a Survey Best?
Self-Administered Questionnaires and Interviews: The Heart of the Matter
The Friendly Competition
A Survey Continuum: From Specific to General Use
Ethics, Privacy, and Confidentiality
Children and Survey Ethics
International Surveys
Formal Standards for Survey Ethics
Chapter 2. The Survey Form: Questions, Scales, and Appearance
The Content Is the Message
Define the Terms
Select Your Information Needs or Hypotheses
Make Sure You Can Get the Information
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
Children and Surveys
Online Surveys
Plain and Simple Survey Questions and Responses
Scaling
Chapter 3. Getting It Together: Some Practical Concerns
Length Counts
Getting the Survey in Order
Questionnaire Format: Aesthetics and Other Concerns
Branching Questions
Administration: Who Gives What to Whom?
Reliability and Validity: The Quality of Your Survey
Selecting and Adapting Surveys
The Survey Is Put on Trial: Guidelines for Pilot Testing
A Far-Reaching World: Surveys, Language, and Culture
Chapter 4. Sampling
Sample Size and Response Rate: Who and How Many?
Random Sampling Methods
Stratified Random Sampling
Simple Random Cluster Sampling
Systematic Sampling
Convenience Samples
Other Convenience Sampling Methods
Characterizing the Sample: Who Is In? Who Is Out?
Finding the Sample: Recruitment Modes
How Large Should Your Sample Be?
Statistical Methods: Sampling for Two Groups and an Intervention
Response Rate
Weighting
Margin of Error and Confidence Level
Chapter 5. Survey Design: Environmental Control
Which Designs Are Available?
Cross-Sectional Survey Designs
Longitudinal Surveys
Experimental Survey Designs
Other Survey Designs: Normative and Case Control
Case Control Design
Survey Design Validity
Surveys, Research Design, and Internal and External Validity
Surveys With Qualitative Data: Threats to Internal and External Validity
Chapter 6. Analyzing and Organizing Data From Surveys
What Is Typical Anyway? Some Commonly Used Methods for Analyzing Survey Data
Surveying Differences: Usual Methods
To Be or Not to Be: Statistician or Qualitative Analyst?
Content Analysis, Open-Ended Responses, and Comments
Putting the Cart in Front of the Horse: Selecting Analysis Methods
Data Management
Chapter 7. Presenting the Survey Results
Reproducing the Questionnaire
Using Tables
Drawing Pie Diagrams
Using Bar Graphs
Using Line Graphs
Drawing Diagrams or Pictures
Writing the Results of a Survey
Survey Reporting Checklists and Guides
The Oral Presentation
Slide Presentations
Oral Versus Written Reports: A Difference in Conversation
Index
About the Author
Chapter 1. Conducting Surveys: Everyone Is Doing It
What Is a Survey?
When Is a Survey Best?
Self-Administered Questionnaires and Interviews: The Heart of the Matter
The Friendly Competition
A Survey Continuum: From Specific to General Use
Ethics, Privacy, and Confidentiality
Children and Survey Ethics
International Surveys
Formal Standards for Survey Ethics
Chapter 2. The Survey Form: Questions, Scales, and Appearance
The Content Is the Message
Define the Terms
Select Your Information Needs or Hypotheses
Make Sure You Can Get the Information
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
Children and Surveys
Online Surveys
Plain and Simple Survey Questions and Responses
Scaling
Chapter 3. Getting It Together: Some Practical Concerns
Length Counts
Getting the Survey in Order
Questionnaire Format: Aesthetics and Other Concerns
Branching Questions
Administration: Who Gives What to Whom?
Reliability and Validity: The Quality of Your Survey
Selecting and Adapting Surveys
The Survey Is Put on Trial: Guidelines for Pilot Testing
A Far-Reaching World: Surveys, Language, and Culture
Chapter 4. Sampling
Sample Size and Response Rate: Who and How Many?
Random Sampling Methods
Stratified Random Sampling
Simple Random Cluster Sampling
Systematic Sampling
Convenience Samples
Other Convenience Sampling Methods
Characterizing the Sample: Who Is In? Who Is Out?
Finding the Sample: Recruitment Modes
How Large Should Your Sample Be?
Statistical Methods: Sampling for Two Groups and an Intervention
Response Rate
Weighting
Margin of Error and Confidence Level
Chapter 5. Survey Design: Environmental Control
Which Designs Are Available?
Cross-Sectional Survey Designs
Longitudinal Surveys
Experimental Survey Designs
Other Survey Designs: Normative and Case Control
Case Control Design
Survey Design Validity
Surveys, Research Design, and Internal and External Validity
Surveys With Qualitative Data: Threats to Internal and External Validity
Chapter 6. Analyzing and Organizing Data From Surveys
What Is Typical Anyway? Some Commonly Used Methods for Analyzing Survey Data
Surveying Differences: Usual Methods
To Be or Not to Be: Statistician or Qualitative Analyst?
Content Analysis, Open-Ended Responses, and Comments
Putting the Cart in Front of the Horse: Selecting Analysis Methods
Data Management
Chapter 7. Presenting the Survey Results
Reproducing the Questionnaire
Using Tables
Drawing Pie Diagrams
Using Bar Graphs
Using Line Graphs
Drawing Diagrams or Pictures
Writing the Results of a Survey
Survey Reporting Checklists and Guides
The Oral Presentation
Slide Presentations
Oral Versus Written Reports: A Difference in Conversation
Index