In this overview, we discuss the current state of survey methodology in a form that is useful and informative to a general social science audience. The article covers existing challenges, dilemmas, and opportunities for survey researchers and social scientists. We draw on the most current research to articulate our points; however, we also speculate on both technological and cultural changes that currently influence or may soon affect the efficacy of different methodological choices.
BelliR.TraugottM.YoungM.McGonagleK.. 1999. Reducing vote overreporting in surveys: Social desirability, memory failure, and source monitoring. Public Opinion Quarterly63:90–108.
4.
BhuttaC.2012. Not by the book: Facebook as a sampling frame. Sociological Methods & Research41:57–88.
5.
BiemerP.GrovesR. M.LybergL. E.MathiowetzN. A.SudmanS.. 2004. Measurement errors in surveys. New York: John Wiley.
6.
BlumbergS.LukeJ.. 2012. Wireless substitution: Early release of estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, July–December 2011. National Center for Health Statistics. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/wireless201005.htm(accessed February 12, 2012).
7.
BlumbergS.LukeJ.GaneshN.DavernM.BoudreauxM. H.SoderbergK.. 2011. Wireless substitution: State-level estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January 2007–June 2010. National Health Statistics Report 29. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21568134(accessed February 12, 2012).
8.
BourqueL. B.FielderE. P.. 2003. How to conduct self-administered and mail surveys. 2nd ed. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
9.
BrickM.WilliamsD.MontaquilaJ.. 2011. Addressed-based sampling for subpopulations. Public Opinion Quarterly75:409–28.
ChangL.KrosnickJ.. 2009. National surveys via RDD telephone interviewing versus the Internet: Comparing sample representativeness and response quality. Public Opinion Quarterly734:641–78.
13.
ChristianL. M.DillmanD. A.. 2004. The influence of symbolic and graphical language manipulations on answers to paper self-administered questionnaires. Public Opinion Quarterly68:57–80.
14.
CouperM.2011. The future of modes of data collection. Public Opinion Quarterly75:889–908.
15.
DavisC. G.ThakeJ.VilhenaN.. 2010. Social desirability biases in self-reported alcohol consumption and harms. Addictive Behaviors354:302–11.
16.
de LeeuwE. D.2005. To mix or not to mix data collection modes in surveys. Journal of Official Statistics21:233–55.
17.
de LeeuwE. D.2008. Choosing the method of data collection. In International handbook of survey methodology, eds. de LeeuwE. D.HoxJ. J.DillmanD. A., 113–35. London: Taylor & Francis.
18.
de LeeuwE. D.de HeerW.. 2002. Trends in household survey nonresponse: A longitudinal and international comparison. In Survey nonresponse, eds. GrovesR. M.DillmanD. A.EltingeJ. L.LittleR. J. A., 41–54. New York: Wiley.
19.
de LeeuwE. D.HoxJ.. 2011. Internet surveys as part of a mixed mode design. In Social and behavioral research and the Internet: Advances in applied methods and new research strategies, eds. DasM.EsterP.KaczmirekL., 45–76. New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
20.
DennisJ.KruseY.ThompsonT.. 2011. Examination of panel conditioning effects in a web-based 2008 election study. Paper presented at the 66th Annual Conference of American Association for Public Opinion Research, Phoenix, May 12–15.
21.
DillmanD. A.2002. Navigating the rapids of change: Some observations on survey methodology in the early twenty-first century. Public Opinion Quarterly66:473–94.
22.
DillmanD. A.2012. Introduction to Special Issue of Survey Practice on item nonresponse. Survey Practice5:1–3.
23.
DillmanD. A.ChristianL.. 2005. Survey mode as a source of instability in responses across surveys. Field Methods17:30–51.
24.
DillmanD. A.SmythJ.ChristianL.. 2009. Internet, mail, and mixed-mode surveys: The tailored design method. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
25.
DuffyB.SmithK.TerhanianG.BremerJ.. 2005. Comparing data from online and face-to-face surveys. International Journal of Market Research47:615–39.
26.
European Association of Methodology Series. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
27.
FowlerF. J.2009. Survey research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
28.
FultonJ.MedwayR.. 2012. When more gets you less: A meta-analysis of the effect of concurrent web options on mail survey response rates. Presented at the 67th Annual Conference of American Association for Public Opinion Research, Orlando, May17–20.
29.
GentryR.GoodC.. 2008. Offering respondents a choice of survey mode: Use patterns of an Internet response option in a mail survey. Presentation at the Annual Conference of the American Association of Public Opinion Research, New Orleans, May 15–18.
30.
GrovesR. M.CouperM. P.. 1998. Nonresponse in household interview surveys. New York: Wiley.
GrovesR. M.LybergL.. 1988. An overview of nonresponse issues in telephone surveys. In Telephone survey methodology, eds. GrovesR.BiemerP.LybergL.MasseyJ.NichollsW.WaksbergJ.. 191–212. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
33.
HamptonK.WellmanB.. 2003. Neighboring in Netville: How the Internet helps connect people in a wired suburb. City and Community2:277–311.
34.
JenkinsC.DillmanD. A.. 1997. Towards a theory of self-administered questionnaire design. In Survey nonresponse, eds. GrovesR.DillmanD. A.EltingeJ.LittleR., 165–96. New York: Wiley.
35.
KeeterS.KennedyC.ClarkA.TompsonT.MokrzyckiM.. 2007. What’s missing from national landline RDD surveys?: The impact of the growing cell-only population. Public Opinion Quarterly715:772–92.
LererA.WardM.AmarsingheS.. 2010. Evaluation of IVR data collection UIs for untrained rural users. Proceedings of the First ACM symposium on computing for development, ACM DEV’10, December 17–18. London, UK: ACM Press. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/73000(accessed July 17, 2012).
39.
LesslerJ.ForsythB., 1996. A coding system for appraising questionnaires. In Answering questions: Methodology for determining cognitive and communicative processes in survey research, eds. SchwartzN.SudmanS., 259–92. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
40.
LybergL. E.KasprzykD.. 1991. Data collection methods and measurement error: An Overview. In Measurement errors in surveys, eds. BiemerP. P.GrovesR. M.LybergL. E.MathiowetzN. A.SudmanS., 237–57. New York: Wiley.
41.
MathiowetzN.BrickM.StokesL.AndrewsR.MuzzyS.. 2010. A pilot test of a dual-frame mail survey as an alternative to an RDD survey. Paper presented at the Joint Statistical Meetings, Vancouver, BC, July 28–August 2.
42.
MatulewiczH.FriendD.BoraasS.CiemneckiA.. 2012. Respondent permission to contact or locate on Facebook: Preliminary findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012. Presented at the 67th Annual Conference of American Association for Public Opinion Research, Orlando, May 17–20.
43.
MesserB.DillmanD. A.. 2011. Surveying the general public over the Internet using address-based sampling and mail contact procedures. Public Opinion Quarterly75:429–57.
44.
MillarM.DillmanD. A.. 2011. Improving response to web and mixed-mode surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly75:249–69.
NunanD.KnoxS.. 2011. Can search engine advertising help access rare samples?International Journal of Market Research53:523–40.
48.
PayneS.1964. Combination of survey methods. Journal of Marketing Research12:61–62.
49.
SarisW. E.1998. Ten years of interviewing without interviewers: The telepanel. In Computer assisted survey information collection, eds. CouperM. P.BakerR. P.BethlehemJ.ClarkC.MartinJ.NichollsW. L. IIO’ReillyJ. M., 409–31. New York: Wiley.
50.
SarisW. E.de PijperW. M.. 1986. Computer assisted interviewing using home computers. European Research14:144–50.
51.
SchaefferN.DykemaJ.. 2011. Questions for surveys current trends and future directions. Public Opinion Quarterly75:909–61.
52.
ScherpenzeelC. A.DasM.. 2010. True longitudinal and probability-based Internet panels: Evidence from the Netherlands. In Social and behavioral research and the Internet: Advances in applied methods and new research strategies, eds. DasM.EsterP.KaczmirekL., 77–104. New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
53.
SchumanH.PresserS.. 1981. Questions and answers in attitude surveys: Experiments on question form, wording, and context. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
54.
SmythJ.DillmanD. A.ChristianL.O’NeillA.. 2010. Using the Internet to survey small towns and communities: Limitations and possibilities in the early 21st century. American Behavioral Scientist53:1423–48.
55.
SmythJ.DillmanD. A.ChristianL.SternM.. 2006. Comparing check-all and forced-choice question formats in web surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly70:66–77.
56.
SteigerD.ConroyB.. 2008. IVR: Interactive Voice Response. In International handbook of survey methodology, eds. de LeeuwE. D.DillmanD. A., 285–98. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.
57.
SternM. J.AdamsA.ElsasserS.. 2009. Digital inequality and place: The effects of technological diffusion on Internet proficiency and usage across rural, suburban, and urban counties. Sociological Inquiry79:391–417.
58.
SternM. J.CottenS.DrenteaP.. 2012. The separate spheres of online health information searching: The influence of gender and parenting on behaviors and feelings about searching for health information on the web. Journal of Family Issues33:1324–50.
59.
SternM. J.DillmanD. A.. 2006. Community participation, social ties, and use of the Internet. City and Community5:409–24.
60.
SternM. J.DillmanD. A.SmythJ. D.. 2007. Visual design, order effects and respondent characteristics in a self-administered survey. Survey Research Methods1:121–38.
61.
TerhanianG.BremerJ.. 2012. A smarter way of selecting respondents for surveys?International Journal of Market Research26:751–80.
62.
TourangeauR.CouperM.ConradF.. 2004. Spacing, position, and order interpretive heuristics for visual features of survey questions. Public Opinion Quarterly68:368–93.
63.
TourangeauR.CouperM.ConradF.. 2006. Color, labels, and interpretive heuristics for response scales. Public Opinion Quarterly71:91–112.
64.
TourangeauR.RipsL.RasinskiK.. 2000. The psychology of survey response. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
65.
ValliantR.DorfmanA.RoyallR.. 2000. Finite population sampling and inference: A prediction approach. New York: John Wiley.
66.
WellmanB.2001. Computer networks as social networks. Science293:2031–34.
67.
YeagerD. S.KrosnickJ. A.ChangL.JavitzH. S.LevenduskyM. S.SimpserA.WangR.. 2011. Comparing the accuracy of RDD telephone surveys and Internet surveys conducted with probability and nonprobability samples. Public Opinion Quarterly75:709–47.