THIS BOOK is the product of twelve years of survey research experience. As the writer groped to apply his training to surveys of many types in a number of different countries, he faced many problems for which he did not have the answers and learned through hard experience some of the analytic principles which he has here presented. Whatever merit the book may have is the product of these years of experience and of the stimulation and guidance of colleagues in a number of agencies. My debt is great to the Program Surveys Division of the Department of Agriculture and the Morale Divisions of the German and Japanese Strategic Bombing Surveys, within which I worked, and to Rensis Likert, head of these agencies, and among others to such close friends and colleagues in these agencies as Richard Crutchfield, Daniel Katz and David Krech. Similarly, my experience in the Surveys Division of the Office of War Information has been invaluable to me and I wish to specially acknowledge my association with Elmo Wilson, chief of that Division and, again, Daniel Katz. My long connection with the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago has been the source of much of my professional training and I especially appreciate the association with Clyde W. Hart, Director, and Paul B. Sheatsley and Herbert Stember, my co-workers in that organization. Opportunities to practice the trade or profession of a survey analyst also came my way in the course of other research undertaken in Norway, Austria, the United States and Japan and to the friends and colleagues in these undertakings I owe a debt of gratitude. To other friends and colleagues of those years, too many to be named, I am also greatly indebted.
My obligations to my teachers in Psychology and Social Psychology are great. More particularly, my training under F. S. Keller, Otto Klineberg, Gardner Murphy and John Volkmann must be acknowledged.
These constitute the intellectual sources from which this work stems. However, it was Paul F. Lazarsfeld who provided the inspiration for this actual work and the support for the undertaking. In addition, his sensitivity to the unsolved training problems of students and his imagination as to the direction a solution must take was a fruitful source of guidance in the writing of this work. For all these reasons, I owe him a special debt of gratitude. To Patricia Kendall, I also have a special indebtedness. A manuscript which she had prepared on problems of survey analysis was made available to the writer and was the basis for a number of sections now incorporated in the present work, notably in Part III and Appendix D. Her contribution to this volume is so considerable that it is specially acknowledged in the text. While Paul Lazarsfeld and Patricia Kendall are thus responsible for much in this volume, the writer must bear the sole burden for whatever defects remain.
I should also acknowledge aid from Henry Cooperstock in the early phases of the work, and the conscientious labors and assistance of Richard S. Halpern as a research assistant and Mrs. Michael McGarry who did the tedious work of typing the manuscript. I also benefited from the careful reading and criticisms of various drafts of the manuscript by Clyde W. Hart, I. L. Kandel, Daniel Katz, Charles Wright and Hans Zetterberg.
The text makes extensive use of unpublished studies from the National Opinion Research Center. Clyde W. Hart was most generous in making his complete files available to me, and again I must express my appreciation to him. I am indebted to Professor Sir Ronald A. Fisher, Cambridge, and to Messrs. Oliver and Boyd Ltd. Edinburgh, for permission to quote from their book The Design of Experiments.
Author(s): Herbert Hiram Hyman
Edition: 1
Publisher: The Free Press
Year: 1955
Language: English
Pages: 424
City: Glencoe
Tags: Survey Design
COVER
PREFACE
FOREWORD BY PAUL F. LAZARSFELD
Contents
Tables
Illustrative Materials for Training
A Guide to the Use of the Book
Part I-THE ORIENTATION OF THE SURVEY ANALYST
INTRODUCTION
Chapter I: THE GENERAL CONTEXT OF SURVEY RESEARCH AND THE PROPER ORIENTATION OF THE ANALYST
SIZE OF INQUIRY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
ORGANIZATIONAL FORM AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
SPONSORSHIP OF INQUIRY AND SUBSIDIZATION-ITS CONSEQUENCES
CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT MATTER AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
Chapter II: VARIATIONS IN TECHNICAL CONTEXT AND THE PROPER ORIENTATION OF THE ANALYST
THE MAJOR TYPES OF SURVEYS
1. Descriptive Surveys
2. Explanatory Surveys
CONFLICTING GOALS AND COMPROMISES IN RESEARCH DESIGN
Part II-DESCRIPTIVE SURVEYS AND THE FUNCTIONS
INTRODUCTION
Chapter III: THEORETICAL PROBLEMS IN THE DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY
COMPLEXITY OF CONCEPTUALIZATION
1. Distinctions between Different Psychological Dimensions
2. Wide Coverage of the Objects of an Attitude or Opinion
DECISIONS ABOUT THE LOCATION OF THE PHENOMENON
1. Temporal Location
2. Location in Some Human Population
3. Relevant Units
4. Differentiation of the Description
THE INCLUSION OF RELATED PHENOMENA
1. Norms for the Evaluation of a Descriptive Finding
2. Intercorrelations to Establish the Generality or Specificity of the Phenomenon
Chapter IV: TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF THE DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY
PRESENTATION OF THE PROCEDURES
THE QUALIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CONCLUSIONS
EMPIRICAL ESTIMATES OF ERRORS
1. Internal Checks
2. External Checks
TRANSFER OF TRAINING
Part III-EXPLANATORY SURVEYS AND THE FUNCTIONS OF THE ANALYST
INTRODUCTION
Chapter V: PROBLEMS IN TREATING SIMPLE RELATIONS BETWEEN TWO VARIABLES
EMERGENT ERROR ARISING FROM CONTAMINATION
THE USE OF MANY REFINED VALUES OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE IN ESTABLISHING A RELATIONSHIP
THE EVALUATION OF A RELATIONSHIP THROUGH THE USE OF
NORMS FROM THE STUDY OF OTHER DETERMINANTS
THE PROBLEM OF THE TIME ORDER OF VARIABLES
1. Comparisons by Length of Exposure to Some Independent Variable of an Experiential Nature
2. Exploitation of the Verbal Feature of Survey Research to Locate in Time a Variable or Change in Its Value
3. Quasi-Experiments through Manipulation of the Questionnaire Design
4. Checks Upon the Volitional Basis for the Phenomenon of Self-Selection
5. Properties the Phenomenon Would Exhibit for Self-Selection vs. Experience are Derived Logically and the Findings are Examined for Congruence
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE SEARCH FOR AN EXPLANATION AND THE DEMONSTRATION OF A RELATIONSHIP
1. Unique Use of the Indirect Test
2. Supplementary Use of the Direct Test
3. Supplementary Use of the Indirect Test
Chapter VI: THE INTRODUCTION OF ADDITIONAL VARIABLES AND THE PROBLEM OF SPURIOUSNESS
THE CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT AS A MODEL
PROBLEMS AND METHODS OF CONTROL IN THE SURVEY
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN DEVELOPMENTAL SEQUENCES OR CONFIGURATIONS AND PROBLEMS OF SPURIOUSNESS
1. The Refinement of a Complex
2. The Deliberate Creation of a Configuration
Chapter VII: THE INTRODUCTION OF ADDITIONAL VARIABLES AND THE ELABORATION OF THE ANALYSIS
INTERPRETATION AND ITS PLACE IN A GENERAL SCHEMA OF ELABORATION
1. Two Types of Elaboration: The M and P Types
2. The Specification of a Result ... The P Type of Elaboration
GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR THE ELABORATION OF ANALYSES
Part IV-THE UTILIZATION OF SURVEY FINDINGS AND THE FUNCTIONS OF THE ANALYST SOME EXAMPLES
INTRODUCTION
Chapter VIII: UTILIZATION OF DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY FINDINGS AND THE FUNCTIONS OF THE ANALYST
THE APPLICATION OF PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS TO THE DETERMINATION OF PUBLIC POLICY
1. Political Realities and Corresponding Modes of Analysis
2. Political Ideals and Corresponding Modes of Analysis
DISTINGUISHING REPETITIVE INSTANCES OF BEHAVIORAL PHENOMENA IN DESCRIPTIVE SURVEYS INTENDED FOR APPLICATION
Chapter IX: UTILIZATION OF EXPLANATORY SURVEY FINDINGS AND THE FUNCTIONS OF THE ANALYST
GAUGING THE PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF CROSS-TABULATIONS IN EXPLANATORY SURVEYS CONDUCTED FOR APPLIED PURPOSES
GAUGING SIDE EFFECTS IN THE EVALUATIVE OR PROGRAMMATIC SURVEY
COMPREHENDING A DISCURSIVE SYSTEM IN AN EXPLANATORY SURVEY UTILIZED FOR VERIFICATION OF THEORY
A CONCLUDING NOTE FOR THE READER
INDEX
A: QUESTIONNAIRES FROM THE MAJOR SURVEYS DISCUSSED IN THE
TEXT
B: ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES OF PROCEDURAL MATERIALS USED TO GUIDE STAFF MEMBERS DURING THE PROCESSING PHASES OF SURVEY RESEARCH
C: PROBLEM EXERCISES
PROBLEM EXERCISES I: ROUTINE PUNCH CARD PROCESSING FOR DESCRIPTIVE SURVEYS
PROBLEM EXERCISES II: ROUTINE PUNCH CARD PROCESSING FOR EXPLANATORY SURVEYS
D: PRACTICE EXERCISE I: MANIPULATION AND EVALUATION OF COMPLEX NUMERICAL RELATIONSHIPS IN TABULAR FORM
E: ANSWERS TO PROBLEM EXERCISES
Index of Names and Studies
