Survey research for public administration [[electronic resource] /] / David H. Folz

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910480540303321
• Autore: Folz David H
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Thousand Oaks, : SAGE, c1996
• ISBN: 1-4833-2757-4; 1-4522-4821-4
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (210 p.)
• Disciplina: 303.38; 350.0072
• Soggetti: Public opinion polls; Public administration - Research; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-182) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Cover; Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1 - Introduction; Why do a Citizen Survey?; What is a Citizen Survey?; Purpose of This Book; Decision Applications; Policy Formulation; Policy Implementation; Policy Evaluation; Surveys as Participation Mechanisms; The Misuse of Citizen Surveys; An Overview of the Survey Research Process; Summary; Chapter 2 - Planning the Survey; Identifying the Survey's Objectives; What Can Surveys Tell Us? The Problem of Nonattitudes; Types of Information; Opinions and Attitudes; Beliefs and Perceptions; Behaviors; Facts and AttributesSpecifying Information Needs; Focus Groups; The Time Dimension; Identifying the Target Population; Methods of Contact: The Merits of Mail, Telephone, and Face-to-Face Surveys; Cost Considerations; Personnel Requirements; Implementation Time; Accuracy; Dealing with Nonresponses; Strategies for Surveying Elite or Specialized Populations; Summary; Chapter 3 - Sampling; The Logic of Sampling; Determining Sample Size; Confidence Levels and Intervals; Small Populations; Analysis of Population Subgroups; Computing Sample Size; Sampling Designs; The Dangers of Nonprobability SamplingProbability Sampling Methods; ; Simple Random Sampling; Systematic Sampling; Stratified Random Sampling; Cluster Sampling; Weighting Cases; Obtaining Samples for Telephone Surveys; Random Digit Dialing; Estimating the Size of the Sampling Pool for Telephone Surveys; Screening Respondents for Telephone Interviews; Processing Sampling Pools; Calculating Response Rates; Summary; Chapter 4 - Survey Design and Implementation; The Basics of Question Order; Question Types; Open-Ended Questions; Closed-Ended Questions; Choosing the Question Type; Avoiding Bias in Questionnaire DesignComposing Questions and Response Choices; Positive Inducements; Composition Standards; Simplicity Versus Specificity; Clarity; Avoiding Biased Terms and Loaded Questions; Time References; Symmetry; Question Order for Mail Surveys; Constructing Indexes and Scales; Designing the Mail Questionnaire; The Cover Letter; The Mail Questionnaire Booklet; Implementing the Mailing; Designing the Telephone Survey; The Introductory Spiel; Question Wording and Order for Telephone Surveys; Pretesting the Questions and the Instrument; Training Callers and Implementing the Telephone SurveySummary; Chapter 5 - Coding and Data Entry; The Coding Process; Selecting the Statistical Software; The Coding Scheme; Coding Open-Ended Questions; The Codebook; Data Entry; Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing; Data Cleaning; Summary; Chapter 6 - Data Analysis with Computers; A Statistical Primer; Levels of Measurement; Univariate Analysis; Presenting Survey Results in Tables; Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion; Univariate Analysis with SPSS for Windows; Bivariate Analysis; Constructing Contingency Tables; Measures of Association and Statistical Significance
• Sommario/riassunto: With opinion surveys being used increasingly to measure the public response to governmental initiatives, this book that helps clarify the basics of survey research as they apply to public administration will be welcomed. It is organized around the fundamental stages of the research process - planning, design, implementation, analysis and presentation of data. David H Folz presents practical illustrations and does not assume the reader to have an extensive background in statistics. Thorough coverage of the use of computers in data analysis is provided, together with illustrations o