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Surveys are an important vehicle for advancing research on urban policy and governance. The introduction of online tools eased survey-based data collection, making it cheaper and easier to obtain data from key informants like local elected officials or public administrators. However, the utility of web-based survey administration may be diminishing. To investigate this dynamic and search for strategies to support survey research in urban studies, we perform a systematic review of survey research in urban policy and administration scholarship and conduct an original survey follow-up experiment. Our findings identify a clear downward trend in survey response rates that was accentuated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from our survey experiment show distinctly different costs per solicitation and per completed survey, depending on administration mode. These findings stimulate discussion on how scholars may continue to use surveys to generate high-quality, empirically rigorous research on urban affairs in light of recent trends.
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2021 Future of Survey Research Conference: Conference Report
Survey research is at a crossroads. For at least half a century, survey data have been essential to government agencies, policy-makers, businesses, and academics across different fields to inform a wide range of critical decisions with far-reaching consequences. Even in an era of “big data,” surveys remain fundamental to understanding and shaping the economy, politics and governance, and society. Yet challenges to conducting high quality surveys are substantial and increasing. Face-to-face interviewing remains the gold standard of survey research, but the rising costs of such interviews are prohibitive. New technologies, techniques, and data sources present opportunities to improve the efficiency and speed of survey data collection and/or reduce its costs but have shortcomings that may exceed their advantages. To examine and develop strategies to address the challenges facing survey research, the Duke Initiative on Survey Methodology hosted a conference January 14th and 15th, 2021, on the Future of Survey Research. This report summarizes the proceedings and highlights key recommendations that resulted.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2040847
- PAR ID:
- 10302715
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2021 Future of Survey Research Conference
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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