ABSTRACT
Carrying out surveys in developing countries is both different and more difficult than conducting surveys in a developed country. This chapter offers some guidelines on planning, conducting, and analyzing survey data that help avoid some of the most common problems. The problems of collecting information may be both in logistics and in cultural differences. Logistic problems may include: transportation problems such as a shortage of vehicles, difficult or impassable roads, or long distances between homes. People are much more apt to be cooperative in data collection if they have been informed that a survey will be done, what its purpose is, and that the researchers are legitimate. Survey work overseas is apt to be less "scientific" than it might be in a situation where there is more control over data collection, when informants are literate and familiar with the usual research techniques. Survey research is time consuming and costly.
