The Practice of Survey Research Theory and Applications: A Review

The Practice of Survey Research: Theory and Applications (Ruel, Wagner, & Gillespie, 2016) is a book that is based in sociological research and was written to provide examples for graduate and undergraduate students alike. The purpose of the book was to "create a comprehensive survey research book that incorporates survey design, survey implementation, data management, and data analysis" (Ruel, Wagner, & Gillespie, 2016, p. 15). With the belief that research ethics have an overall importance, the book also includes an "ethics corner" in multiple chapters, and provides practical issues specific to the chapter topic. The book is 338 pages and has a total of 15 chapters. The chapters are divided into four sections. Section 1, entitled, "Decisions to Make before Conducting the Survey," is covered in Chapter 1. This section introduces the basic concepts of survey research and includes application examples, a description of various technologies to administer the survey, and key decisions that need to be made in advance. Section 2 is "Questionnaire Design" and is covered in Chapters 2-6. This section covers developing the survey tool, and shares the importance of proper question construction and determining reliability and validity with the data. The importance of having a quality cover letter and of piloting the survey is addressed in this section as well. Section 3 is "Implementing a Survey", and Chapters 7-11 cover this topic. It covers topics such as appropriate sampling techniques, the data collection process, and the need for appropriate response rates, and formulas to calculate this. Section 4 is the final section and covers "Postsurvey Data Management and Analysis." This section gets into the final piece of the survey, that is, performing the data entry and "cleaning" of the data. Various analysis methods are shared in this section as well.The book (Ruel, Wagner, & Gillespie, 2016) takes the reader on a thorough tour of survey research, starting with definitions, moving to the creation of the survey, and analyzing the data collected. I found the book to have practical examples throughout, such as starting the survey with the most engaging questions in order to help the respondent feel comfortable, and place the questions dealing with sensitive or private issues in the middle of the survey. Another example is to not directly correct the data, as then there is no record of the change, but instead to use syntax as a record is made each time a change occurs and if an error is found during analysis, it can be easily fixed. Other practical hints are shared throughout the book. At the end of various chapters, a checklist is provided in order to help one accomplish the objective from that chapter. Throughout the book, key terms are bolded and in blue font in order to catch your eye, and are listed in the name index as the final part of the book. There are mini-case study examples throughout the book that help the reader take information and apply it in a real world example. At the end of the book, the Epilogue lays out an easy to follow step-by-step approach to the eight main areas of creating a valid survey. …