Bowen, Bruce D. : Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., Berkeley
Review
"The writing style is mature and experienced. There is noticeable care in the presentation of materials
and appropriate sensitivity to the intended audience. . . . The book categorizes large bodies of wisdom in the
conduct of survey research over the past half century and provides 'rules-of-thumb' guidance to the production,
analysis, and consumption of survey data."
--Steve Seitz, University of Illinois
"The authors have provided a well-written update of their textbook, useful as a textbook or supplement in
upper-division undergraduate or introductory graduate courses on survey research, statistical data analysis, or
research design. The book provides readers with the knowledge that enables them to evaluate the results of survey
research. It sensitizes the readers to potential problems that arise from flaws in research design, sampling, questionnaire
construction, data collection, coding, data analysis techniques, and improper presentation or interpretation of
findings."
--Mike Margolis, University of Cincinnati
Sage Publications Incorporated Web Site, September, 2000
Summary
Why should we believe the results of surveys based on relatively few interviews? What are the appropriate cautions
in interpreting survey reports? Aimed at answering these questions, An Introduction to Survey Research, Polling,
and Data Analysis, Third Edition describes how surveys are conducted in such a way that they can be believed, explains
how to read statistical reports and analyze data, and provides guidelines that are useful in evaluating polls.
Using frequent examples from contemporary, large national surveys and polls as well as from the media, the authors
stress understanding tables thoroughly before moving to interval statistics. In addition, they cover survey design,
sampling and question-writing steps, interviewing and coding strategies, and survey analysis from frequency distributions
and cross-tabulations to control tables and correlation/regression. They also cover the ethics of survey research
and how to read and write survey research reports. Readers of this book will learn to distinguish good from bad
polls and to better design and conduct their own surveys and polls.
Table of Contents
I. Survey Design
1. The Nature of Survey Research
2. The Survey Process
3. Sampling Procedures
4. Questionnaire Construction
5. The Data Collection Stage
6. Coding Practices
7. Designing a Survey
II. Data Analysis
8. The Process of Data Analysis
9. Single-Variable Statistics
10. Statistical Inference for Means
11. Two-Variable Tables
12. Measures of Association
13. Control Tables
14. Correlation and Regression
III. Survey Guidelines
15. Writing Survey Reports
16. Evaluating Surveys
17. The Ethics of Polls
