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The book is divided into 4 parts Foundations of social research deals with universal and basic units of social research like scientific approach, meaning, process and development of scientific research problem. It also deals with defining and measurement of variables and testing of reliability and validity of measuring instruments. Research Methods section deals with the three major research methods used in extension education/ Agricultural extension, namely Survey research, Action research and case study..

Written for students and researchers who wish to understand the conceptual and practical aspects of sampling, this book is designed to be accessible without requiring advanced statistical training. It covers a wide range of topics, from the basics of sampling to special topics such as sampling rare populations, sampling organizational populations, and sampling visitors to a place. Using cases and examples to illustrate sampling principles and procedures, the book thoroughly covers the fundamentals of modern survey sampling, and addresses recent changes in the survey environment such as declining response rates, the rise of Internet surveys, the need to accommodate cell phones in telephone surveys, and emerging uses of social media and big data.

This valuable book examines the complex psychological processes involved in answering different types of survey questions. Drawing on both classic and modern research from cognitive psychology, social psychology, and survey methodology, the authors examine how survey responses are formulated and they demonstrate how seemingly unimportant features of the survey can affect the answers obtained. The book provides a comprehensive review of the sources of response errors in surveys, and it offers a coherent theory of the relation between the underlying views of the public and the results of public opinion polls. Topics include the comprehension of survey questions, the recall of relevant facts and beliefs, estimation and inferential processes people use to answer survey questions, the sources of the apparent instability of public opinion, the difficulties in getting responses into the required format, and the distortions introduced into surveys by deliberate misreporting.

Survey Research can be used as an independent guide or as a workbook to accompany Keith F Punch's bestselling Introduction to Social Research (SAGE, 1998). It represents a short, practical `how-to' book on a central methodology technique aimed at the beginning researcher. The focus of this book is on small-scale quantitative surveys studying the relationships between variables. After showing the central place of the quantitative survey in social science research methodology, it then takes a simple model of the survey, describes its elements and gives a set of steps and guidelines for implementing each element. The book then shows how the simple model of the quantitative survey generalizes easily to more complex models. It includes a detailed example of both simple and complex models, which readers should find very helpful. It is directed primarily at beginning researchers - upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in any area of social science, who often have to do small scale surveys in projects and dissertations. Beyond this, it will be of interest to anybody interested in learning about survey research. It is written in non-technical language, aiming to be as accessible as possible to a wide audience

Cover -- Half Title -- Series -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- List of contributors -- Foreword -- Editors' note -- Introduction -- Part I Epistemological issues -- 1 Methodological or epistemological issues in social research -- Part II Debates in research methods -- 2 Towards a pragmatic centre: debates on qualitative methodology -- 3 Ethnographic fieldwork: the predicaments and possibilities -- 4 Diversity in economics: an examination and defence of heterodox approach -- Part III Methods of conflict analysis and policy evaluation -- 5 Game theory: strategy design in conflict situations -- 6 Impact evaluation: a simple need and a difficult choice of methodology -- 7 Construction of different types of indices in social science research: some numerical examples -- Part IV Quantitative research methods and predictive analysis -- 8 Designing a primary survey-based research -- 9 Sampling methods: a survey -- 10 An introduction to statistical inference -- 11 Problems of endogeneity in social science research -- 12 Quantitative methods for qualitative variables in social science: an introduction.

Insightful observations on common question evaluation methods and best practices for data collection in survey research Featuring contributions from leading researchers and academicians in the field of survey research, Question Evaluation Methods: Contributing to the Science of Data Quality sheds light on question response error and introduces an interdisciplinary, cross-method approach that is essential for advancing knowledge about data quality and ensuring the credibility of conclusions drawn from surveys and censuses. Offering a variety of expert analyses of question ev

Front Cover -- Usability Testing for Survey Research -- Copyright Page -- Dedications -- Contents -- About the Authors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Who Should Read This Book? -- How Is This Book Organized? -- Chapter 1: Usability and Usability Testing -- Chapter 2: Respondent-Survey Interaction -- Chapter 3: Adding Usability Testing to the Survey Process -- Chapter 4: Planning for Usability Testing -- Chapter 5: Developing the Usability Testing Protocol -- Chapter 6: Think Aloud and Verbal-Probing Techniques -- Chapter 7: Conducting Usability Sessions -- Chapter 8: Analyzing and Reporting Results -- Glossary of Terms -- 1 Usability and Usability Testing -- A Brief History -- Defining Modern Usability -- Defining Usability for Surveys -- The Product -- The Specified Users of the Product -- The Goals of the Users -- The Context of Use -- Metrics of Evaluation -- Importance of Usability Testing as a Pretesting Methodology -- Usability Testing Does Not Replace Good Design -- Overview of the Usability Testing Process -- References -- 2 Respondent-Survey Interaction -- Sources of Potential Errors in Surveys -- Errors of Nonobservation -- Errors of Observation -- How Respondents Answer Survey Questions -- How Respondents Interact With Surveys -- Usability Model for Surveys -- Interpreting the Design -- What Meaning Do Respondents Assign to Visual Design and Layout? -- How Do Respondents Believe the Survey Works? -- Completing Actions and Navigating -- How Well Does the Survey Support Respondents' Ability to Complete Tasks and Goals? -- How Well Do Respondents Follow Navigational Cues and Instructions? -- Processing Feedback -- How Do Respondents Interpret and React to the Survey Feedback in Response to Their Actions? -- How Well Does the Survey Help Respondents Identify, Interpret, and Resolve Errors? -- References

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Authors -- Section I: Introduction to Adaptive Survey Design -- 1. Introduction -- 1.1 Why a Book? -- 1.2 Intended Audience and Assumed Prior Knowledge -- 1.3 Outline of the Book -- 2. Adaptive Survey Design: What Is It? -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.1.1 Survey Costs -- 2.1.2 Survey Errors -- 2.1.3 Other Challenges -- 2.1.4 Need for More Flexible Survey Designs to Address Uncertainty in Data Collection -- 2.1.5 Common Survey Design Paradigm -- 2.1.6 New Opportunities -- 2.2 ASD and RD -- 2.2.1 Adaptive Survey Design -- 2.2.2 Responsive Design -- 2.2.3 RD with ASD Features -- 2.3 Objectives of ASDs -- 2.4 Example Case Studies -- 2.4.1 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Surveys -- 2.4.1.1 Propensity-Based Assignment to Interviewers -- 2.4.1.2 Propensity-Based Stopping of Sample Cases ("Interactive Case Management") -- 2.4.1.3 Phase Duration -- 2.4.2 The Dutch Labor Force Survey -- 2.4.3 National Survey of Family Growth -- 2.5 Summary -- Section II: Preparing an Adaptive Survey Design -- 3. Stratification -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Goals of Stratification -- 3.3 Defining Strata -- 3.3.1 Response Propensity Variation -- 3.3.2 Regression Diagnostics -- 3.3.3 Simulation -- 3.3.4 Other Methods for Creating Strata -- 3.3.5 Examples -- 3.3.5.1 The National Survey of Family Growth -- 3.3.5.2 Labor Force Survey -- 3.3.6 Summary and Recommendations -- 3.4 Available Data -- 3.4.1 Sampling Frames -- 3.4.2 Commercial Data -- 3.4.3 Paradata -- 3.5 Summary -- 4. Interventions and Design Features -- 4.1 Overview -- 4.2 The Interventions -- 4.3 The Dosage -- 4.4 The Sequence -- 4.5 Examples -- 4.5.1 The National Survey of Family Growth -- 4.5.1.1 Case Prioritization -- 4.5.1.2 Phased Design Features -- 4.5.1.3 Interviewer-Level Management Intervention -- 4.5.2 The Dutch LFS.

Handbook of Web Surveys presents a self-contained guide to methodological issues related to web surveys, covering both theoretical and practical aspects of the topic. The book first approaches the subject of web survey design, addressing the main question: How can an electronic questionnaire be designed such that respondents can complete it on the Internet without introducing (too many) errors? The second portion of the book is devoted to sampling issues and helping readers understanding how proper samples for web surveys can be selected to allow for unbiased estimation of population characteristics. The authors also explore the topics of under-coverage, self-selection, adjustment weighting, and propensity scores as they pertain to effective web survey development. Each chapter follows the same easy-to-follow format. Following an introduction, a description of theory is presented along with key formulae. Next, the discussed theory is applied to a real data set and accompanied with illustrative descriptions. Example sets and exercises are spread throughout each chapter, and a summary provides a brief overview of main points and concepts. Real data is used throughout the book, and a related Web site features additional data sets, interactive simulations, and solutions to exercises

Inquiry: A fundamental concept for scientific investigation,- Research: Meaning and purpose -- Social research: Definition, types and nature, and characteristics of social research -- Theory in social research -- Inductive and/or deductive research designs -- Positivism -- Critical Theory in Social Research: A Theoretical and Methodological Outlook -- Narrative inquiry, phenomenology, and grounded theory in qualitative research -- Pragmatism -- Designing a research proposal in quantitative research -- Experimental method -- Social survey method -- Survey questionnaires -- Interviews as data collection method -- Sampling techniques for quantitative research -- Data analysis techniques for quantitative study -- Techniques for reporting quantitative data.

The book presents a collection of essays addressing a perceived need for persistent and logical thinking, critical reasoning, rigor and relevance on the part of researchers pursuing their doctorates. Accordingly, eminent experts have come together to consider these significant aspects of the research process, which result in different knowledge claims in different fields or subject areas. An attempt has been made to find a common denominator across diverse management disciplines, so that the broadest range of researchers can benefit from the book. The topics have been carefully chosen to cover problem formulation, contextualizing, soft & hard modeling, qualitative and quantitative analysis and ethical issues, in addition to the design of experiments and survey-based research. The distinguishing feature of this book is that it recognizes the diverse backgrounds of scholars from different interdisciplinary areas as well as their varying needs with regard to modeling, observations, measurements, aggregation, data analyses, etc. After all, researchers are expected to deepen our understanding, expand on existing information, introduce fresh insights, present new evidence and/or disprove accepted theories, hypotheses etc. More importantly, the book cautions against the over-reliance on software packages and mechanical interpretation of results based on the size, sign and significance of the coefficients obtained. Instead, the focus is on the underlying theories, hypotheses and relationships, and on establishing new ones. In doing so, due care is taken to clearly enunciate what exactly constitutes a knowledge claim and what is methodology as distinct from methods, tools and techniques.

This handbook is a comprehensive reference guide for researchers, funding agencies and organizations engaged in survey research. Drawing on research from a world-class team of experts, this collection addresses the challenges facing survey-based data collection today as well as the potential opportunities presented by new approaches to survey research, including in the development of policy. It examines innovations in survey methodology and how survey scholars and practitioners should think about survey data in the context of the explosion of new digital sources of data. The Handbook is divided into four key sections: the challenges faced in conventional survey research; opportunities to expand data collection; methods of linking survey data with external sources; and, improving research transparency and data dissemination, with a focus on data curation, evaluating the usability of survey project websites, and the credibility of survey-based social science. Chapter 23 of this book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com

Complex Surveys: A Guide to Analysis Using R; Contents; Acknowledgments; Preface; Acronyms; 1 Basic Tools; 2. Simple and Stratified sampling; 3. Cluster sampling; 4. Graphics; 5 Ratios and linear regression; 6 Categorical data regression; 7 Post-stratification, raking and calibration; 8 Two-phase sampling; 9 Missing data; 10 * Causal inference; Appendix A: Analytic Details; Appendix B: Basic R; Appendix C: Computational details; Appendix D: Database-backed design objects; Appendix E: Extending the package; References; Author Index; Topic Index

This document describes the background and methodology of the fourth round of the International Self-Report Delinquency study (ISRD4). Drawing from the fields of criminology, public health and cross-national methodology, the ISRD is an ongoing multi-national research study that aims to describe and explain adolescents' experiences with crime and victimization, to test criminological theories, and to develop recommendations for prevention and interventions. The project relies on a common research protocol, which standardizes questionnaire content and administration, and prescribes comparable sampling procedures in participating countries enabling the collection of common data across all of them. The ISRD4 Study Protocol describes the standard sections of the ISRD4 questionnaire (core and sweep-specific), for both the school-based as well as the internet-based samples. In addition to the core ISRD items, the ISRD4 questionnaire includes new items related to cyber-offending and -victimization, discrimination, and perceptions of violence and revenge motives. The protocol also describes the rationale for including an internet-based survey as a complement to the school-based survey. The document aims to provide a detailed set of guidelines for participating national teams but will also be of interest to researchers interested in youth victimization and offending, theory-testing, and cross-national methodology. Fieldwork in approximately 40 countries began in 2020 and will conclude by the end of 2022.