Total Survey Error in Practice (Wiley Survey Methodology)

Total Survey Error in Practice (Wiley Survey Methodology)

Paul P. Biemer (Editor), Edith D. de Leeuw (Editor), Stephanie Eckman (Editor)
$123.95
Publication Date: February 21st, 2017
Publisher:
Wiley
ISBN:
9781119041672
Pages:
624
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Description

An edited volume for an upcoming conference on Total Survey Error (TSE), this book provides an overview of the TSE framework and current TSE research as related to survey design, data collection, estimation and analysis. The book recognizes that survey data affects many public policy and business decisions, and thus focuses on the framework for understanding and improving survey data quality.

The book also addresses issues with data quality in official statistics and in survey, opinion, and market research as the field of statistics has changed, leading to larger and messier data sets. This challenges survey organizations to find ways to collect data more efficiently without sacrificing quality.

This volume consists of the most up-to-date research and reporting from over 70 contributors representing the best academics and researchers from a range of fields. The chapters are broken out into five main sections: The TSE Framework; Implications for Survey Design; Data Collection and Data Processing Applications; Evaluation and Improvement; Estimation and Analysis. Each chapter introduces and examines at least one error source, such as sampling error, measurement error, and nonresponse error, which are the most recognized. The TSE framework presented also encourages readers not to lose sight of the less-commonly studied error sources, such as coverage error, processing error, and specification error. The book also notes the relationships between errors and the ways in which efforts to reduce one type can increase another, resulting in an estimate with more total bias.

Examples are provided of recent scandals involving incorrect or misleading official statistics and survey estimates, such as the ongoing controversy over the number of civilians killed in the Iraq war, and how many reputable polling firms made incorrect predictions about the outcome of the 2012 US election. In Sweden, a faulty calculation of the Consumer Price Index led to overpayments of social security benefits and some organizations collecting data in international surveys have been accused of fabricating portions of their data sets. This practical insight on survey data quality presents concerns about the data errors and the methods and approaches necessary to prevent or remove them.

About the Author

Paul P. Biemer, PhD, is distinguished fellow at RTI International and associate director of Survey Research and Development at the Odum Institute, University of North Carolina, USA. Edith de Leeuw, PhD, is professor of survey methodology in the Department of Methodology and Statistics at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Stephanie Eckman, PhD, is fellow at RTI International, USA. Brad Edwards is vice president, director of Field Services, and deputy area director at Westat, USA. Frauke Kreuter, PhD, is professor and director of the Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University of Maryland, USA; professor of statistics and methodology at the University of Mannheim, Germany; and head of the Statistical Methods Research Department at the Institute for Employment Research, Germany. Lars E. Lyberg, PhD, is senior advisor at Inizio, Sweden. N. Clyde Tucker, PhD, is principal survey methodologist at the American Institutes for Research, USA. Brady T. West, PhD, is research associate professor in the Survey Research Center, located within the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan (U-M), and also serves as statistical consultant on the Consulting for Statistics, Computing and Analytics Research (CSCAR) team at U-M, USA.

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