ABSTRACT
A great many qualitative research projects involve the collection of survey data, and some quantitative projects also use survey data. This chapter examines a number of issues of methodology regarding written surveys, in which respondents provide their responses on some written medium, including paper or electronic surveys. It discusses a number of wording and formatting issues that arise and suggest ways to encourage responsiveness. When constructing and administering a survey instrument, there are many ways you can go wrong. The idea behind good surveying practice is to try to minimize various sources of error that can result in unreliable responses. The main sources of error are coverage error, sampling error, non-response, and measurement error. Quantitative studies rely heavily on closed-ended questions, in which respondents are asked a question and given a menu of specific choices, from which they are asked to select an answer. On the other hand, qualitative studies can rely on both closed-ended and open-ended questions.
