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We examined the potential prevalence Impact of differences In consent procedures, mode of administration, and editing protocols in the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, the Monitoring the Future study, and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, limiting analyses to 10th and 12th graders. NHSDA's high level of compliance with federal regulations regarding human subjects research, including thorough parental permission prior to adolescent participation, may in part be responsible for the relatively low prevalence rates obtained in this study. Key mode effects which contribute to observed differences across surveys are survey setting and privacy. The two school-based surveys produce higher prevalence estimates than the NHSDA. Although NHSDA prevalence rates Increase with increased interview privacy, the increase Is not enough to account for discrepancies with the school surveys. The procedures used to handle Inconsistent survey responses and to Impute missing data are very different across the three surveys. These differences In editing procedures, however, are unlikely to be responsible for the observed differences in prevalence rates. Based on these analyses, we conclude that the field would benefit from a well-designed experimental study evaluating school vs. household effects as well as the impact of variation In consent procedures. Increased methodological research on the validity of school based drug surveys is also needed.

This authoritative handbook reviews the most widely-used methods for studying the use and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs. Its thorough coverage spans the range of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches to documenting and measuring the complex psychological, behavioral, and physical experience of substance misuse and dependence, to ensure valid, useful results. Experts discuss special issues and considerations for conducting ethical research with specialized populations, including youth, inmates, and the LGBT community. Throughout these chapters, contributors demonstrate the multidisciplinary nature of substance abuse research, with emphasis on professional ethics and the critical role of research in developing best practices and effective policy for prevention and treatment. Among the topics covered: · Transdisciplinary research perspective: a theoretical framework for substance abuse research. · Longitudinal methods in substance use research · Considerations in blending qualitative and quantitative components in substance abuse research · The use of biological measures in social research on drug misuse · Using surveys to study substance use behavior · Applications of GIS to inform substance abuse research and interventions · Evaluating substance use prevention and treatment programs Research Methods in the Study of Substance Abuse is an essential resource for health services and public health professionals, policymakers, and researchers working and training in the field of addiction. It encourages the rigor and understanding necessary to address widespread social and public health concerns.

This study reveals the existence of a paradox in how the public views polling within the democratic process. Specifically, even though the public believes that it can influence poli­cymaking, it considers public opinion polls not as useful as other, less representative forms of public input, such as comments at town hall meetings. Analyzing data from multiple surveys conducted in the United States of America, we find no evidence for the demo­cratic representation hypothesis with respect to polling. Comparisons across stakeholders (public, journalists, and politicians) demonstrate that general perceptions of inputs into the democratic process are similar, which confirms the citizen-elite congruence hypothesis. However, unlike members of the public, experts are more likely to believe that public opin­ion polls are the optimal method by which the public can successfully inform policymak­ing, a finding consistent with the legitimization hypothesis. With respect to perceptions of politicians, we found substantial differences regarding party registration with Democrats and Independents favoring public opinion polling and Republicans preferring alternative methods (e.g., town hall meetings) of informing policymakers.

Physician surveys are now commonly conducted online, although there is little information currently available regarding the practice of online survey research with health care professionals. We addressed this concern by conducting an overview and assessment of the methodologies disclosed in a sample of 200 published papers that report findings from web-based surveys of physicians. Fifteen methodological aspects of web surveys were coded from each paper, and a transparency index based on aggregation of these various indicators was constructed to evaluate overall survey quality. Some indicators, such as the source and type of samples, along with information regarding ethical aspects of protocols, were commonly reported. In contrast, the use of incentives, and discussion of potential coverage and processing errors were reported less frequently. We hypothesize that these reporting patterns may be dictated by journal requirements. As web surveys are destined to serve as an important modality for data collection from physicians and other health care professionals for the foreseeable future, it is important to encourage – if not require – researchers to regularly disclose a broader range of quality indicators when reporting their research findings.

AbstractObjective:Anecdotal evidence suggests that the term "pollster" has, in recent years, become stigmatized in the United States. We explore this and a subsequent question as to whether negative perceptions of pollsters affect people's perceived trustworthiness of survey findings.Methods:Survey experiments were administered to national probability‐based samples after the 2016 and 2020 elections.Results:In each study, pollsters obtained significantly more negative ratings when compared to "survey researchers" and "public opinion researchers," suggesting that the general public views pollsters, who are more likely to be viewed as partisan, as being less honest/ethical. In line with social identity theory, interaction models revealed that those rating pollster critic Donald Trump most favorably had the most negative ratings of pollsters and public opinion researchers, compared to survey researchers. Yet, the vignette experiment showed that negative perceptions of pollsters did not affect the perceived trustworthiness of survey result reports.Conclusions:We conclude that while there appears to be a stigmatization of pollsters, those negative perceptions do not translate into less trust in the findings of public opinion.