The power of survey design : a user's guide for managing surveys, interpreting results, and influencing respondents / Giuseppe Iarossi.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Iarossi, Giuseppe.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social surveys--Methodology.

Social surveys.

Questionnaires--Methodology.

Questionnaires.

Physical Description:

xv, 262 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : World Bank, [2006]

Summary:

"Are you in favor of financial incentives for poor countries?" If this question were asked in a survey many people would be inclined to agree. But the result would be different if the question asked were "Are you in favor of subsidies for poor countries?" Changing one word can change the answer to basically the same question.

The wording of survey questions can have a dramatic effect on responses-often as much as a 30 percent swing. This means that a skilled questionnaire designer can "demonstrate" popular support (or nonsupport) by wording questions in a manner that tends to produce responses that align with his or her desired objective.

Skewed responses are not limited to the wording of questions. Comparing survey results across international boundaries is a common occurrence, but this is often done without considering and controlling for such factors as who is asking the question. For example, underreporting will always occur if a government official asks questions about taxes and corruption.

Written both for those who manage surveys and those who use their results, The Power of Survey Design not only reveals the multitude of survey design factors that play subtle but crucial roles in the accuracy of survey data and therefore can taint their interpretation, but also offers a guide to the steps involved in administering a survey and convincing potential respondents to participate. Finally, a chapter on data cleaning offers a unique method for improving the accuracy of data after the survey's completion.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Taking A Closer Look at Survey Implementation 1

Chapter 2 Survey Management: An Overview 9

Overall Program Design 10

Questionnaire Design, Pilot, and Data Entry Form 10

Survey Firm Selection 12

The Sample 18

Training 20

Fieldwork and Data Quality Control 20

Chapter 3 How Easy It Is to Ask the Wrong Question 27

Practical Guidelines in Questionnaire Designs 29

Question Wording 29

Question Style 44

Question Type 49

Question Sequence 74

Questionnaire Length 78

Questionnaire Layout 80

Pre-Test 86

Chapter 4 A Practical Approach to Sampling 95

Determining the Sample Size in Simple Random Sampling 96

Determining the Sample Size in Stratified Sampling 99

How to Carry Out Systematic Sampling 104

How to Carry Out the Probability Proportional to Size Selection Method 107

How to Deal with Population Frame Problems 110

Impact of Mergers, Acquisitions, and Separations on Sampling Weights 115

Weight Adjustments and Poststratification 120

Sampling in Practice: How to Maximize the Sample Representativeness while Minimizing the Survey Cost through the Use of Poststratification 129

Chapter 5 Respondent's Psychology and Survey Participation 147

Factors Affecting Participation 147

Training 159

Practical Training Tips 163

Securing Participation 164

Conducting the Interview 178

Chapter 6 Why Data Management Is Important 187

Coding 188

Editing 189

Electronic Data Entry 191

Cleaning 195

Appendix 1 Perception Questions in the Investment Climate Survey Core Questionnaire 229

Appendix 2 Objective Questions Used for Parametric Estimation of Survey Firm Fixed Effect 231

Appendix 3 Parametric Results of Survey Firm Fixed Effects on Objective Questions 235

Appendix 4 Table of Z[subscript [alpha]/2] Distribution Corresponding to Different Levels of Confidence [alpha] 251

Appendix 5 Table of Random Numbers 253

Appendix 6 Information Disclosed in Survey Introductions 255

Appendix 7 Minimum Fieldwork Log Data 257

1.1 One Poll, Multiple Interpretations 5

2.1 Criteria to Look at When Selecting a Survey Firm 12

2.2 Key Actors and Their Functions in a Typical Investment Climate Survey 15

2.3 Responsibilities Must be Clearly Identified in the Interview Cycle 23

3.1 List of Questionnaire Problems for Pre-Test Expert Review 91

4.1 The Sampling Unit in Business Surveys 97

4.2 Advising a Mayor 100

4.3 Why it is Important to Use Weights with Stratified Sampling 121

4.4 Using SAS to Draw Samples 142

6.1 How to Assign Questionnaire IDs 193.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-227) and index.

ISBN:

0821363921

OCLC:

61520417

Publisher Number:

9780821363928