Cognition and Survey Research

Monroe G. Sirken and Douglas J. Herrmann are the authors of Cognition and Survey Research, published by Wiley.

"This is overview material on a nonquantitative area of statistics. Persons involved with surveys would seem to benefit from an understanding of this material."(Technometrics Vol. 42, No. 3, August 2000) If you are interested in cognitive methods for improving the quality of data collected in surveys, then this book is for you. This book describes the frontiers of research on the cognitive aspects of survey methodology (CASM). It is an outcome of the Second Advanced Research Seminar in the Cognitive Aspects of Survey Methodology (CASM II). The book as a unique style. Four out of the six coeditors of this book, who organized the plenary sessions of the CASM II Seminar, edited four sections of the book (Chapters 2-22). The remaining editors contributed the first chapter. The purpose of the CASM II seminar and this book is to reflect on and evaluate past work, to demonstrate the exciting potential of focussed interdisciplinary research, and to stimulate creativity, thoughtfulness, and innovation for the future. Nationally and internationally known researchers from the United States have contributed to this book and they have to be congratulated for making the book informative and readable. (JASA, March 2001) ...this book is essential reading for serious survey practitioners and post-graduate students of survey methodology. Many of its individual chapters are also likely to become classic references in their own specialist fields. (The Statistician, Volume 49, No. 3, 2000) "This book...is an excellent summary of what has been accomplished and, perhaps equally important, what remains to be done." (Chance, Volume 13, No. 2, Spring 2000)

• Interdisciplinary Survey Methods Research (M. Sirken & S. Schechter). Looking Backwards and Forwards at the CASM Movement (J. Tanur). CASM Revisited (M. Aborn). CASM: Successes, Failures, and Potential (C. O'Muircheartaigh). Cognitive Research into Survey Measurement: Its Influence on Survey Methodology and Cognitive Theory (N. Schwarz). Making Sense of Questions: An Interactional Approach (M. Schober). The Respondent's Confession: Autobiographical Memory in the Context of Surveys (M. Shum & L. Rips). Context Effects on Answers to Attitude Questions (R. Tourangeau). Is the Bandwagon Headed to the Methodological Promised Land? Evaluating the Validity of Cognitive Interviewing Techniques (G. Willis, et al.). Income Reporting in Surveys: Cognitive Issues and Measurement Error (J. Moore, et al.). Casting a Wider Net: Contributions from New Disciplines (R. Tourangeau). A Linguistic Look at Survey Research (C. Fillmore). The Use of Computational Cognitive Models to Improve Questions on Surveys and Questionnaires (A. Graesser, et al.). The View from Anthropology: Ethnography and the Cognitive Interview (E. Gerber). Survey Error Models and Cognitive Theories of Response Behavior (R. Groves). New Connectionist Models of Mental Representation: Implications for Survey Research (E. Smith). Potential Contributions of the CASM Movement Beyond Questionnaire Design: Cognitive Technology and Survey Methodology (D. Herrmann). The Application of Cognitive Science to Computer Assisted Interviewing (M. Couper). Customizing Survey Procedures to Reduce Measurement Error (F. Conrad). Visualizing Categorical Data (M. Friendly). Statistical Graphs and Maps: Higher Level Cognitive Processes (S. Lewandowsky). Toward a Research Agenda: Future Development and Applications of Cognitive Sciences to Surveys (E. Martin & C. Tucker). Index.