Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement

Abstract

This second edition of Dr Bram Oppenheim's established work, like the first, is a practical teaching text of survey methods. The new edition has extended its scope to include interviewing (both clip-board and depth interviewing), sampling and research design, data analysis, and a special chapter on pilot work. As before, the chapters on questionnaire design are supported by further chapters on attitude scaling methods, and on projective techniques. There is refreshingly critical treatment of problems such as faulty research designs, errors in sampling, ambiguities in question wording, biases in interviewing, losses of information, and the interpretation of attitude scales and of projective data. The book is laced throughout with instructive examples from many fields, ranging from marketing surveys to the study of children's political perceptions. Problems of reliability and validity are kept to the fore. Above all, the need for pilot work is emphasized at every stage. The book is intended for graduate methodology courses in the social sciences, but it is also designed to reach other professionals, including teachers, social workers, medical researchers, and opinion pollsters, who have to evaluate or carry out social surveys.