| Public opinion polls, and the underlying scientific methods upon which the best polls are based, were first developed in the late 1930’s to find out what ordinary people think. Today, survey research is increasingly used by academic researchers to study theoretical issues in fields as diverse as sociology, economics, psychology, communication and political science; by government agencies to assess such things as unemployment, population demographics, and health care needs; by marketers to test the waters before releasing–or even developing–new products; and by public officials to determine public support for new or existing policies. Because the science of survey research has advanced considerably over the years, we are more and more capable of inferring what large numbers of people do, feel, or think on the basis of a relatively small number of structured interviews. Public universities have been central to the growth of survey research. |
| Here at UCSB, the recently created Social Science Survey Center (SSSC) was developed to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration on both theoretical and methodological planes. The SSSC has three central goals: (1) assisting faculty with their funded research projects; (2) providing practical experience for graduate and undergraduate students in survey research; and (3) creating new knowledge in the area of survey methodology. | | A central goal of the SSSC exists to assist faculty (both at UCSB and elsewhere) in the development and execution of their funded survey research projects. As such, it can increase faculty chances of securing funding for survey research projects, as well as provide a local resource for the development of survey instruments and interviewing. The SSSC is currently running 8 computer-aided telephone interviewing stations, although it will ultimately be equipped with a full complement of 20 stations. | | SSSC is also a place for hands on learning for both undergraduate and graduate students. In our facility, the Benton Social Research Laboratory, students enrolled in research design classes can gain practical experience in research techniques through the use of modern tools such as computer-aided telephone interviewing systems. Graduate student support in the form of research assistantships is also available throught the center. Graduate research assistants at SSSC learn the day to day operations of a modern survey research organization in addition to being actively engaged in the creation of new knowledge–both context specific in terms of specific studies contracted through the SSSC, and also in the development of new methodological innovations. | | addition to collecting data for individual projects, the SSSC’s long term goals include the development of knowledge and innovations to increase the quality of survey research. For example, part of the work of the SSSC is to better understand issues such as: the presence of response effects in surveys, the reasons for and solutions to survey non-response and improving the validity of survey measurement. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 April 2007 )
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