Review by Choice Review
Thousands of articles and books have been written in the field of survey research methodology. Among them are three volumes by G. R. Walden: Polling and Survey Research Methods (CH, Apr'97, 34-4229), Public Opinion Polls and Survey Research (CH, Sep'90, 28-0054), and Survey Research Methodology, 1990-1999 (CH, May'03, 40-4991). But only Lavrakas and his team of over 320 contributors have provided encyclopedic coverage with this publication of over 640 entries. Many well-known and heavily published authors in survey research participated. Lavrakas has had a distinguished career in both the academic and commercial realm (notably with The Nielsen Company, the corporate sponsor for this work). The volumes are accessible to a wide range of users, starting with the uninitiated and moving through the continuum to advanced researchers. This set is well designed, with a list of entries and a "Reader's Guide" that divides the subject into nine main categories that are then subdivided. The front matter includes a roster, and a lengthy index appears at the end of volume 2. Unfortunately, no contributor index is included to allow readers to determine who wrote which section; however, the entries are all signed within the encyclopedia. The well-written entries cover the body of research thoroughly. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. G. R. Walden Ohio State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Despite the existence of a large body of literature devoted to survey research, this work is set apart by its purpose: to be "a 'first place' to turn for those who need to learn about an aspect of survey methodology" as well as a guide to related topics and additional, deeper readings. Articles are authored by more than 300 specialists from academia as well as the public and private sectors. Editor Lavrakas spent 20 years as a survey researcher in academia and as chief research methodologist for Nielsen Media Research. He is also the author of four previous books and multiple articles on survey methodology, election polling, and the news media. He has organized the topics into nine broad categories-including ethics; measurement; nonresponse; operations; political and election polling; public opinion; sampling, convergence, and weighting; survey industry; and survey statistics-that make up the "reader's guide" included in the front matter of both volumes along with a complete alphabetical list of entries. Topics are covered as they relate to survey research. For example, entries on Type I and Type II Errors and Internal Validity describe these concepts as they apply to survey research and include examples of how their use occurs in and can affect the outcomes of survey research. Bottom Line There's a slightly troubling tendency toward quantitative bias, e.g., in the entry describing key informants, qualitative methods are dismissed as being rarely used because they lack generalizability. In addition, an understanding of relatively advanced mathematics is needed by readers with an interest in the statistical methods used for survey data analysis. The former issue should not dissuade academic libraries from acquiring this highly useful work, but the latter will make the set less accessible to users with modest mathematical skills and thus may preclude its acquisition by many school libraries and some public libraries. Highly recommended for academic libraries. [Available online through Sage eReference as well as Gale Virtual Reference Library.]-Sarah Sutton, Texas A&M Univ., Corpus Christi (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Library Journal Review
