- Welcome
- Important notice
- About the author
- About this site
- Site guide + Search box
- Dedications
- Acknowledgments
- My personal pantheon (of the great and the good in survey research)
- Recent and planned activities
- Textbooks for Research Methods and Data Analysis
- 1: Survey Analysis Workshop (SPSS)
- 1a: Statistical concepts and methods
- 1b: Teaching with Survey Data
- 1c: Developing research projects using survey data
- 1d: Workshop and presentations for ASSESS (SPSS users in Europe)
- 2: Survey Research Practice
- 2a: Survey Research Methodology, Practice and Training
- 2b: Major survey series
- 3: Subjective Social Indicators (Quality of Life)
- 4: Survey Unit, Social Science Research Council (UK)
- 5a: Polytechnic of North London (1976-1992)
- 5b: Survey Research Unit (1978-1992)
- Village life in Normandy
- Contact
- Origins of the British Crime Survey
- British Crime Survey
David de Vaus (2014)
David de Vaus
Surveys in Social Research
(6th edition, Routledge, 2014)
[6 Feb 2015]
The first edition of this book was published in 1986 and has been required reading as a course text for social (survey) research methods ever since. Students of survey methods should have their own copy.
This new edition, greatly expanded to take account of modern developments in digital technology (telephone and web surveys) and statistical software (graphics in SPSS 19 onwards) is aimed at students in sociology, political science and similar areas and covers everything but the kitchen sink, even though most (undergraduate) students will never use most of it outside course assignments and formal assessment.
It presents practical methods in a formal and theoretical academic setting and therefore belongs more with course texts such as Moser & Kalton (1958) Marsh (1981) and Andres (2012) rather than with practitioner-oriented books such as Hoinville & Jowell (1977) Crouch & Housden (2003) Marsden & Wright (2010) and Blair et al (2014).
It comprises four main sections: the scope of survey research, data collection, data preparation and data analysis. Whilst covering methods of data collection, it does so in the context of formal (sociological) theory and eventual needs of (causal) analysis. It is one of the few survey methods books to make heavy use of (cross-) tabulation and the only one to advocate elaboration as an analytical technique. It also makes effective use of flow diagrams to illustrate the research process and to present causal models.
Early data examples tend to be artificial: later examples are based on actual survey data, but the source is not always stated. Chapter summaries and exercises give ample pause for thought. Data matrices, spreadsheets, tables and graphics are based on SPSS 19, but they have all been typeset rather than left as screenshots.
Each chapter includes recommended further reading, summaries of ideas and topics covered, and plenty of thought-provoking comments and exercises. In addition to the contents pages, there is a list of all boxes, figures, tables and (very useful) web-pointers (but there is no associated website, so you have to type the URLs in yourself), a glossary of terms and a thorough historical and up-to-date methodological bibliography (including examples from market research).
There are dozens of URLs, but no companion website, so you will have to type them in yourself.
[Publisher's blurb]
David de Vaus' classic text Surveys in Social Research provides clear advice on how to plan, conduct and analyse social surveys. It emphasises the links between theory and research, the logic and interpretation of statistics and the practices of social research. This sixth edition has been completely revised and updated, and contains new examples, data and extensive lists of web resources.
As well as explaining how to conduct good surveys, de Vaus shows how to become a critical consumer of research. He argues that the logic of surveys and statistics is simply an extension of the logic we use in everyday life; analysis, however, requires creativity and imagination rather than the application of sterile mechanical procedures. The prime goal of research should be to gain accurate understanding and, as a researcher, use methods and techniques which enhance understanding. De Vaus advocates researchers use the method, rather than letting the method use you.
Surveys in Social Research is essential reading for students and researchers working with surveys. It assumes no background in statistical analysis, and gives you the tools you need to come to grips with this often challenging field of work.
Surveys in Social Research
(6th edition, Routledge, 2014)
[6 Feb 2015]
The first edition of this book was published in 1986 and has been required reading as a course text for social (survey) research methods ever since. Students of survey methods should have their own copy.
This new edition, greatly expanded to take account of modern developments in digital technology (telephone and web surveys) and statistical software (graphics in SPSS 19 onwards) is aimed at students in sociology, political science and similar areas and covers everything but the kitchen sink, even though most (undergraduate) students will never use most of it outside course assignments and formal assessment.
It presents practical methods in a formal and theoretical academic setting and therefore belongs more with course texts such as Moser & Kalton (1958) Marsh (1981) and Andres (2012) rather than with practitioner-oriented books such as Hoinville & Jowell (1977) Crouch & Housden (2003) Marsden & Wright (2010) and Blair et al (2014).
It comprises four main sections: the scope of survey research, data collection, data preparation and data analysis. Whilst covering methods of data collection, it does so in the context of formal (sociological) theory and eventual needs of (causal) analysis. It is one of the few survey methods books to make heavy use of (cross-) tabulation and the only one to advocate elaboration as an analytical technique. It also makes effective use of flow diagrams to illustrate the research process and to present causal models.
Early data examples tend to be artificial: later examples are based on actual survey data, but the source is not always stated. Chapter summaries and exercises give ample pause for thought. Data matrices, spreadsheets, tables and graphics are based on SPSS 19, but they have all been typeset rather than left as screenshots.
Each chapter includes recommended further reading, summaries of ideas and topics covered, and plenty of thought-provoking comments and exercises. In addition to the contents pages, there is a list of all boxes, figures, tables and (very useful) web-pointers (but there is no associated website, so you have to type the URLs in yourself), a glossary of terms and a thorough historical and up-to-date methodological bibliography (including examples from market research).
There are dozens of URLs, but no companion website, so you will have to type them in yourself.
[Publisher's blurb]
David de Vaus' classic text Surveys in Social Research provides clear advice on how to plan, conduct and analyse social surveys. It emphasises the links between theory and research, the logic and interpretation of statistics and the practices of social research. This sixth edition has been completely revised and updated, and contains new examples, data and extensive lists of web resources.
As well as explaining how to conduct good surveys, de Vaus shows how to become a critical consumer of research. He argues that the logic of surveys and statistics is simply an extension of the logic we use in everyday life; analysis, however, requires creativity and imagination rather than the application of sterile mechanical procedures. The prime goal of research should be to gain accurate understanding and, as a researcher, use methods and techniques which enhance understanding. De Vaus advocates researchers use the method, rather than letting the method use you.
Surveys in Social Research is essential reading for students and researchers working with surveys. It assumes no background in statistical analysis, and gives you the tools you need to come to grips with this often challenging field of work.