Designing and Conducting Health Surveys, Third Edition

Designing and Conducting Health Surveys is written for students, teachers, researchers, and anyone who conducts health surveys. This third edition of the standard reference in the field draws heavily on the most recent methodological research on survey design and the rich storehouse of insights and implications provided by cognitive research on questionnaire and question design in particular. This important resource presents a total survey error framework that is a useful compass for charting the dangerous waters between systematic and random errors that inevitably accompany the survey design enterprise. In addition, three new studies based on national, international, and state and local surveys—the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, California Health Interview Survey, and National Dental Malpractice Survey—are detailed that illustrate the range of design alternatives available at each stage of developing a survey and provide a sound basis for choosing among them.

Praise for Designing and Conducting Health Surveys

"In this era of tailoring the design of surveys for specific populations, Aday and Cornelius have produced a much-needed text. It breaks with the trend towards highly specialized books on one or two aspects of surveying to cover all steps in the process. This book will help students get the big picture while learning the details of the entire survey process, from hypothesis formulation and measurement to writing the final report. Because of its breadth—a rarity among current survey books—its influence outside the health sciences will be large."
—DON A. DILLMAN, Regents Professor and the Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Professor of Government and Public Policy in the Department of Sociology and Department of Community and Rural Sociology, Washington State University

"Aday and Cornelius have created a comprehensive volume that is impressive in both breadth and depth and that expertly covers the range of topics that health survey researchers, and survey researchers in general, need to master. As both a training tool and reference, this book is a tremendously valuable resource."
—GORDON WILLIS PH.D., associate professor, Joint Program for Survey Methodology, University of Maryland

"Aday and Cornelius combine sociology and epidemiology in order to provide a well-rounded and lucid guide to the full health survey process: from defining the study objectives through methodological issues such as sample design and question drafting, and operational issues, including survey management, to data analysis and final reporting. The book provides a wealth of knowledge and practical examples which will be of interest to all those involved in health research, including health professionals, students, survey commissioners, and researchers."
—BOB ERENS, Health Research Group Director, National Centre for Social Research, London, England