Sense and nonsense about surveys

Among the three articles , " Sense and Nonsense about Surveys is relatively close to the chapter reading in Chapter 2 of Experience Sociology .The article states about how the method of collecting data through surveys can be misleading sometimes and not always accurate . Connoting to the book , the survey research method is a data collection technique that involves asking someone a series of questions.Surveys are popular in part because they are very versatile, are useful for a wide variety of issues, and effectively describe large populations, if appropriate sampling techniques are used ( Czaja and Blair 2004) 

According to the article , the survey method cannot be relied 100 percent as the data collected are generalized when it is impossible to generalize the whole publics opinions. Therefore the survey method is only reliable when it is divided into focus group and asked closed-ended questions and open ended questions.The book and the article agrees on the fact that researchers need to pay extra attention to the wording of the survey as even the slightest variations may result in a totally different data survey.The phrasing of words need to be carefully examined and thoroughly checked in order to get an accurate findings.The chapter also focuses on the pros and the cons of using the Survey method .The various problems that the survey method have are the lack of clarity in the questions, different definitions or wordings ,loaded language that were misunderstood and double barreled questions.Schuman also mentions sampling  method of surveys being crucially biased and the possibility of the method being very limited to the data.He also mentions about the change in the shift of 

how sampling process gained recognition and credibility.In the 1936 presidential election , the poll predictions between the Literary Digest and sociologist George Gallup proved to be one of the most 

recognized sampling method.The fact that the Literary Digest's false prediction of FDR to lose resulted in the recognition of sampling method to be accurate.

There are many flaws in understanding a survey as there is no definite number of subject groups agreeing to this and that and the method itself is time consuming makes it unreliable. Sociologists uses datas and information to make others aware.Relatively , there might be missing information and sometimes  no participation.The questions itself are very limited to the answer.