ABSTRACT
Most of the chapters in this book are concerned with sources of information on economic activity and land use which are available in printed form or are accessed via on-line databases. The majority of this information comes originally from direct surveys. Clearly it is important to understand the nature of such surveys and the problems associated with them because the results of the limitations eventually find their way through to most of the published and unpublished statistics used by those interested in local and regional studies. This chapter assesses the different ways of obtaining information from businesses right across the spectrum of economic activities, from farmers and manufacturers to office managers and hoteliers. The following chapter examines land use surveys.
