The purpose of this Encyclopedia is to provide detailed information about the methods that are used “to conduct reliable and valid surveys” (p.xxxv) especially for those persons whose knowledge of quantitative research survey methods is minimal. There are more than 640 entries provided by over 320 individual contributors. The editor, Paul Lavrakas, is an independent consultant and former chief research methodologist for the Nielsen Company.
Entries in the encyclopedia are in roughly nine major categories – ethics; measurement; non‐response; operations; political and election polling; public opinion; sampling, coverage, and weighting; the survey industry; and survey statistics (p. xxxviii). Each entry is signed and explains the concept in detail. Most entries provide cross‐references to other entries and include a brief bibliography.
A Reader's Guide lists the 20 broad categories. Hovering over the category gives a list of entries in that category that are linked; this will help a user in locating entries on related topics. The user can then click on an item of interest. Or the user can look at the complete list of entries, or use the index of entries. An advanced search option includes the ability to search entries by title, headline, text, sidebars, contributors, further readings, and see also references; this search option allows for three ways to sort results: relevance (the default), an alphabetical list, or a reverse alphabetical list. The left navigation bar with each entry includes options to print and e‐mail. Each entry includes the suggested citation format in each of three citation styles – APA, MLA, and Chicago. Entries are well‐written and explain concepts in a readable style. The electronic version includes the introduction, a list of contributors, and information about the editor. Sage has also published the Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods (Given, 2008) (RR 2009/305) that will provide similar kinds of information about qualitative research.
This reviewer found the electronic version very easy to use and the information in entries easy to understand. Suggested citation formats will be useful, especially to students. The ability to link to cross‐references was also useful as was the ability to email entries. As surveys become more a part of a researcher's life and work, the information contained in this Encyclopedia will help a researcher determine the most useful kind of survey to use.
