Assessing The Quality Of Survey Data

This book introduces the latest methods for assessing the quality and validity of survey data by providing new ways of interpreting variation and measuring error. By practically and accessibly demonstrating these techniques, especially those derived from Multiple Correspondence Analysis, the authors develop screening procedures to search for variation in observed responses that do not correspond with actual differences between respondents. Using well-known international data sets, the authors show how to detect all manner of non-substantive variation from response styles including acquiescence, respondents' failure to understand questions, inadequate field work standards, interview fatigue, and even the manufacture of (partly) faked interviews.

Peruse the history of survey research and the essential conceptsfor data quality. With an emphasis on total survey error, theauthors review principles and concepts in the field and examineimportant unresolved issues in survey methods. Spanning a range oftopics dealing with the quality of data collected through thesurvey process, they focus on such key issues as: Major sources of survey error, examining the origins of eacherror source most successful methods for reducing errors from thosesources Methods most often used in practice for evaluating the effectsof the source on total survey error Implications of improving survey quality for organizationalmanagement and costs

Offers a clear view of the utility and place for survey data within the broader Big Data ecosystem This book presents a collection of snapshots from two sides of the Big Data perspective. It assembles an array of tangible tools, methods, and approaches that illustrate how Big Data sources and methods are being used in the survey and social sciences to improve official statistics and estimates for human populations. It also provides examples of how survey data are being used to evaluate and improve the quality of insights derived from Big Data. Big Data Meets Survey Science: A Collection of Innovative Methods shows how survey data and Big Data are used together for the benefit of one or more sources of data, with numerous chapters providing consistent illustrations and examples of survey data enriching the evaluation of Big Data sources. Examples of how machine learning, data mining, and other data science techniques are inserted into virtually every stage of the survey lifecycle are presented. Topics covered include: Total Error Frameworks for Found Data; Performance and Sensitivities of Home Detection on Mobile Phone Data; Assessing Community Wellbeing Using Google Street View and Satellite Imagery; Using Surveys to Build and Assess RBS Religious Flag; and more. Presents groundbreaking survey methods being utilized today in the field of Big Data Explores how machine learning methods can be applied to the design, collection, and analysis of social science data Filled with examples and illustrations that show how survey data benefits Big Data evaluation Covers methods and applications used in combining Big Data with survey statistics Examines regulations as well as ethical and privacy issues Big Data Meets Survey Science: A Collection of Innovative Methods is an excellent book for both the survey and social science communities as they learn to capitalize on this new revolution. It will also appeal to the broader data and computer science communities looking for new areas of application for emerging methods and data sources.

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The environment for obtaining information and providing statistical data for policy makers and the public has changed significantly in the past decade, raising questions about the fundamental survey paradigm that underlies federal statistics. New data sources provide opportunities to develop a new paradigm that can improve timeliness, geographic or subpopulation detail, and statistical efficiency. It also has the potential to reduce the costs of producing federal statistics. The panel's first report described federal statistical agencies' current paradigm, which relies heavily on sample surveys for producing national statistics, and challenges agencies are facing; the legal frameworks and mechanisms for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of statistical data and for providing researchers access to data, and challenges to those frameworks and mechanisms; and statistical agencies access to alternative sources of data. The panel recommended a new approach for federal statistical programs that would combine diverse data sources from government and private sector sources and the creation of a new entity that would provide the foundational elements needed for this new approach, including legal authority to access data and protect privacy. This second of the panel's two reports builds on the analysis, conclusions, and recommendations in the first one. This report assesses alternative methods for implementing a new approach that would combine diverse data sources from government and private sector sources, including describing statistical models for combining data from multiple sources; examining statistical and computer science approaches that foster privacy protections; evaluating frameworks for assessing the quality and utility of alternative data sources; and various models for implementing the recommended new entity. Together, the two reports offer ideas and recommendations to help federal statistical agencies examine and evaluate data from alternative sources and then combine them as appropriate to provide the country with more timely, actionable, and useful information for policy makers, businesses, and individuals.

An in-depth look at current issues, new research findings, and interdisciplinary exchange in survey methodology and processing Survey Measurement and Process Quality extends the marriage of traditional survey issues and continuous quality improvement further than any other contemporary volume. It documents the current state of the field, reports new research findings, and promotes interdisciplinary exchange in questionnaire design, data collection, data processing, quality assessment, and effects of errors on estimation and analysis. The book's five sections discuss a broad range of issues and topics in each of five major areas, including * Questionnaire design--conceptualization, design of rating scales for effective measurement, self-administered questionnaires, and more * Data collection--new technology, interviewer effects, interview mode, children as respondents * Post-survey processing and operations--modeling of classification operations, coding based on such systems, editing, integrating processes * Quality assessment and control--total quality management, developing current best methods, service quality, quality efforts across organizations * Effects of misclassification on estimation, analysis, and interpretation--misclassification and other measurement errors, new variance estimators that account for measurement error, estimators of nonsampling error components in interview surveys Survey Measurement and Process Quality is an indispensable resource for survey practitioners and managers as well as an excellent supplemental text for undergraduate and graduate courses and special seminars.

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. 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.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. 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.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. 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.