Survey Question Bank

Data collection zone - resources

The resources listed here are online resources rather than books, offline journals. The majority are introductory, a small number are advanced or specialised. They represent a selection rather than an exhaustive list. The SQB will be adding links here throughout the life of the service. Email us to recommend a key online resource that is not included here.

Bulletins/newsletters

Ipsos MORI: Understanding Research Methods (scroll to bottom of page)
Office for National Statistics (ONS): Survey Methodology Bulletin
Survey Research Methods

General/overview

American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR)

Audience Dialogue: Know Your Audience: A Practical Guide to Media Research
North Carolina State University, Public Administration Program: Survey Research
ONS: Data Collection Methodology
Research Methods Knowledge Base: Survey Research
StatPac: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Surveys
University of Leeds, Information Systems Services: Guide to the Design of Questionnaires
What is a Survey?
World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR): ESOMAR/WAPOR Guide to Opinion Polls

Scoping/design

Audience Dialogue: Know Your Audience: chapter 1, part A Planning audience research
Research Methods Knowledge Base: Selecting the Survey Method
The Survey System: Survey Design
University of Reading, Statistical Services Centre: Guidelines for Planning Effective Surveys
What is a Survey? Chapter 2 - How to Plan a Survey

Ethical/legal

UK Data Archive Create & Manage Data pages

Sampling

Audience Dialogue: Know Your Audience: chapter 2, part A Sampling
FANTA-2 project: Sampling Guide
Galloway, A., University of Edinburgh: Sampling: A Workbook
Government Social Research Unit: What is sampling?
International Household Survey Network (IHSN): Sampling - Concepts and methods
North Carolina State University, Public Administration Program: Sampling
Research Methods Knowledge Base: Sampling
Statistics Canada: Sampling methods
The Survey System: Sample Size Calculator
University of California, Psychology: A Brief Introduction to Sampling
Wikipedia: Survey sampling

Method/mode/instrument

Audience Dialogue: Know Your Audience: chapter 7 Telephone surveys
Audience Dialogue: Know Your Audience: chapter 8 Mail surveys
NatCen: An analysis of mode effects using data from the Health Survey for England 2006 and the Boost Survey for London
Research Methods Knowledge Base: Plus & Minus of Survey Methods
Sainsbury, R., Ditch, J. and Hutton, S. (1993) 'Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing' social research UPDATE, 3. Retrieved July 31, 2009 from http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU3.html.
Thomas, R. and Purdon, S. (1994) 'Telephone methods for social surveys' social research UPDATE, 8. Retrieved July 31, 2009 from http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU8.html.
Wei Wei, C. (2003) 'Reducing error in mail surveys' Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 8(18). Retrieved July 31, 2009 from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=18.
What is a Survey? Chapter 8 - More About Mail Surveys
What is a Survey? Chapter 9 - More About Telephone Surveys

Questionnaire design

Audience Dialogue: Know Your Audience: chapter 3, part A Principles of questionnaires
Boynton, P. and Greenhalgh, T. (2004) 'Selecting, designing, and developing your questionnaire' BMJ 328:1312-1315. Retrieved July 31, 2009 from http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7451/1312.
Cano, V., Queen Margaret University: Questionnaire Design
Farrall, S. et al (1997) 'Open and Closed Question' social research UPDATE, 17. Retrieved July 31, 2009 from http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU17.html.
Frary, R. B. (1996) 'Hints for designing effective questionnaires' Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 8(18). Retrieved July 31, 2009 from http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=3.
Galloway, A., University of Edinburgh: Questionnaire Design and Analysis: A Workbook
Georgia Tech College of Computing: Questionnaire Design
IHSN: Principles of questionnaire design
MRS: Questionnaire design guidelines
North Carolina State University, Public Administration Program: Survey Research: Survey design considerations
Research Methods Knowledge Base: Constructing the Survey
What is a Survey? Chapter 6 - Designing a Questionnaire

Piloting/pre-testing

NatCen reports for clients

ONS Data Collection Methodology: Cognitive testing
van Teijlingen, E and Hundley, V. (2001) 'The importance of pilot studies' social research UPDATE, 35. Retrieved July 31, 2009 from http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU35.html
What is a Survey? Chapter 7 - How to Conduct Pretesting
Willis, G.B. (1999) 'Cognitive Interviewing: A "How To" Guide', presented at the 1999 Meeting of the American Statistical Association. Retrieved July 31, 2009 from http://appliedresearch.cancer.gov/areas/cognitive/interview.pdf.