Improving Survey Questions: Design and Evaluation

Floyd J. Fowler

SAGE Publications, Jul 21, 1995 - Social Science - 191 pages

What is a good question? Although there are several potential sources for error in survey data, the validity of surveys is dependent upon the design of the question asked. This invaluable book shows how to word and format questions that will evoke the kind of answers for which they are designed and how to evaluate empirically survey questions. In addition, the book covers how to write good questions aimed at collecting information about objective facts and events, measuring subjective phenomena, some alternative methods for attacking common measurement problems, how to evaluate the extent to which questions are consistently understood and administered, and how to evaluate the data resulting from a set of questions.

What people are saying

User Review -

good book for forming questionnaires

Review: Improving Survey Questions: Design and Evaluation (Applied Social Research Methods #38)

User Review  - Grant Weaver - Goodreads

Incredibly dry and tedious. It made me realize that I never want to do survey research design... or anything like unto it for a career.

About the author

Floyd J. Fowler, Jr., is a graduate of Wesleyan University and received a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1966. He has been a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Survey Research at UMass Boston since 1971. He was Director of the Center for 14 years. Dr. Fowler is the author (or co-author) of four textbooks on survey methods, including Survey Research Methods, Improving Survey Questions, Standardized Survey Interviewing (with Mangione), and Survey Methodology (with Groves, Couper, Lepkowski et al), as well as numerous research papers and monographs. His recent work has focused on studies of question design and evaluation techniques and applying survey methods to studies of medical care.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Improving Survey Questions: Design and Evaluation; Applied Social Research Methods; Volume 38 of Applied Social Research
• Author: Floyd J. Fowler
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, 1995
• ISBN: 0803945833, 9780803945838
• Length: 191 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Methodology; Social Science / Research