Internet, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method [Hardcover]

Don A. Dillman (Author), Jolene D. Smyth (Author), Leah Melani Christian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0471698687 | ISBN-13: 978-0471698685 | Edition: 3

A complete, start-to-finish guide for every researcher to successfully plan and conduct Internet, mail, and telephone surveys, Internet, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, Third Edition presents a succinct review of survey research methods, equipping you to increase the validity and reliability, as well as response rates, of your surveys. Now thoroughly updated and revised with information about all aspects of survey research?grounded in the most current research?the new edition provides practical ?how-to? guidelines on optimally using the Internet, mail, and phone channels to your advantage.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'...a useful and comprehensive guide to designing, developing and managing surveys of all types.' (SRA:News, November 2009).

From the Back Cover

A comprehensive revision of the definitive guide to developing and conducting effective surveys across all modes

Now thoroughly updated and revised with information about all aspects of survey research, Internet, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, Third Edition provides professionals with practical "how-to" guidelines—grounded in the most current research—on optimally using the Internet, mail, and phone channels to their best advantage.

Featuring expanded coverage of online surveys, recognized leaders in the field—author Don Dillman and coauthors Jolene Smyth and Leah Christian—show you:

• Strategies and tactics for determining the needs of a given survey, how to design it, and how to effectively administer it

• How and when to use mail, telephone, and Internet surveys to your maximum advantage

• Proven techniques to increase response rates

• Guidance on how to obtain high-quality feedback from mail, electronic, and other self-administered surveys

• Direction on how to construct effective questionnaires, including considerations of layout

• The effects of sponsorship on the response rates of surveys

A complete, start-to-finish guide for every researcher to successfully plan and conduct Internet, mail, and telephone surveys, Internet, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, Third Edition presents a succinct and thorough review of survey research methods, equipping you to increase the validity and reliability, as well as response rates, of your surveys.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 3 edition (October 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471698687
• ISBN-13: 978-0471698685
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.5 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Marketing > Web Marketing
  • #39 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Research
  • #43 in Books > Education & Reference > Schools & Teaching > Education Theory > Assessment

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 62 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Light on the technical side January 30, 2002

By MJ23447 VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

For those of you who do survey research and struggle with getting an acceptible response rate, this is the book for you. It truly is an amazing resource for a method that can get one to near a 75% response even on mail-only surveys. Highly recommended.

For those of you looking for any help on statistics, this is NOT the book for you.

For those of you interested in increasing the validity and reliability of your surveys, this is could be the book for you. It does have an effective treatment of writing questions and effective survey design.

If you wish to become an expert in coverage, sample frames, sampling, etc, look elsewhere. That topic gets just 10 pages.

No book can do it all of course but I would have left out some of the "fluff" chapters Dillman included for some discussion of the more technical side of the statistics of analyzing surveys after you have designed them the way he suggests.

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Still lots of great wisdom on survey research. June 14, 2001

By wombat18

Format:Hardcover

Dillman's text was the classic for so long that many of us think of him as the guru of survey research. I would guess that is why the Census Bureau hired him as their lead consultant for the 2000 Census.

As has been pointed out, Dillman does not present as much theoretical material as he might. But, I don't think that that detracts from the strengths of this book. There are other books out there that cover the cognitive and social psychology behind survey answers, and there are other books that give you guidance on the scientific method, experimental design, sampling, etc. (I would recommend Babbie's Practice of Social Research) And Dillman even has a more hands-on book (How to Conduct Your Own Survey) for non-scientists.

But, the real strength of Dillman's book might be how well he instructs on how to put together a great questionnaire - the design, layout, order, question design and implementation.

I find his take on internet surveys to be controversial and a little out-of-date. But, my concerns might be viewed as those of a skeptic - I'm not yet convinced that internet surveys are viable for all that many situations. And, I think Dillman does a good job of laying out some of the challenges and promises of internet surveys.

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So much to say, even to those who think they know July 17, 2000

By Frank Lynch

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have close to 20 years of experience in market research; yet with the move that many are making to conducting their research over the Internet, I knew I needed to get a lot of learning quickly, in order to better understand the trade-offs being made between cost savings and research quality. Dillman's book fills that need. Building on an earlier edition, which focused on the issues surrounding interviewing by mail, Dillman confronts issues surrounding lack of randomness, need for clarity in a self-administered-survey world, and issues of internet coverage, in drawing conclusions. Also, he has a very helpful discussion on the issues surrounding combining data collected through different methodologies at once. Dillman also discusses the need to recruit within the context of a social exchange; we are, after all, collecting information with the respondent's approval, and our generalizations are stronger when we have a good sampling plan and can maximize co-operation.

Highly recommended!