ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the techniques and challenges of the survey method by highlighting how questions and interactional processes can shape responses and clarify knowledge about social problems. Examples from prior studies on crime, victimization, and other social issues are used throughout the chapter to illustrate survey design and question-writing procedures that affect definitions, recall, and memory reconstruction. The chapter concludes with a detailed example of an original survey project on physical altercations at college to showcase the operational decisions related to survey design, sampling, and the writing of both closed- and open-ended questions.
