Jolene D. Smyth

Don A. Dillman

Leah Melani Christian

The classic survey design reference, updated for the digital age For over two decades, Dillman's classic text on survey design has aided both students and professionals in effectively planning and conducting mail, telephone, and, more recently, Internet surveys. The new edition is thoroughly updated and revised, and covers all aspects of survey research. It features expanded coverage of mobile phones, tablets, and the use of do-it-yourself surveys, and Dillman's unique Tailored Design Method is also thoroughly explained. This invaluable resource is crucial for any researcher seeking to increase response rates and obtain high-quality feedback from survey questions. Consistent with current emphasis on the visual and aural, the new edition is complemented by copious examples within the text and accompanying website. This heavily revised Fourth Edition includes: Strategies and tactics for determining the needs of a given survey, how to design it, and how to effectively administer it How and when to use mail, telephone, and Internet surveys to maximum advantage Proven techniques to increase response rates Guidance on how to obtain high-quality feedback from mail, electronic, and other self-administered surveys Direction on how to construct effective questionnaires, including considerations of layout The effects of sponsorship on the response rates of surveys Use of capabilities provided by newly mass-used media: interactivity, presentation of aural and visual stimuli. The Fourth Edition reintroduces the telephone—including coordinating land and mobile. Grounded in the best research, the book offers practical how-to guidelines and detailed examples for practitioners and students alike.

The Tailored Design Method

Internet, Phone, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys

Janet Keller

Robert W. Marans

In response to concerns resulting from changes in metropolitan growth during the past decade, and the concomitant gain in population of nonmetropolitan areas, this study was conducted in an effort to understand the effects of such growth on the quality of rural life and the physical environment. Data analyzed dealt with safisfactions, perceptions, evaluations, behaviors, and environmental characteristics, as seen by rural residents in three national and one regional (northern Michigan) surveys conducted between 1971 and 1976. The studies, which included questionnaires, personal interviews, and telephone interviews, defined the population groups by age, race, income and educational levels, job status, and occupation, with the last three categories looked at separately for men and women. Results indicated a somewhat "mixed picture" of life in rural America. In most instances, a greater satisfaction than dissatisfaction was seen in rural areas than in urban areas, but rural residents taken as a whole were seen to be neither better nor worse off than urban Americans. Stemming from limitations of using available national data in characterizing life in rural America, six issues concerning research tasks were identified which should be addressed by policy makers and other groups and individuals concerned with the quality of rural life. (JD)

An Analysis of Survey Data from Four Studies

Perceptions of Life Quality in Rural America

The Tailored Design Method -- 2007 Update with New Internet, Visual, and Mixed-Mode Guide

Mail and Internet Surveys

Don A. Dillman

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