Surveys

Chapter 4 is about surveys using questionnaires. It takes a processual view, moving from the theoretical model to hypothesis development to empirical investigation, and covers many general issues on sampling, validity, reliability, and other issues common to all research approaches. Because of this, Chapter 4 is important not only in itself, but also because of many fundamental issues valid across the subsequent chapters on specific approaches. It takes as a starting point conceptualization of the research issue through the development of a theoretical model and discusses the unit of analysis and definitions. The reader is then taken through the steps of detailed research planning, paying particular attention to the development of measures. Before going to present the survey execution activities the chapter deepens advanced issues regarding the interdependences between the theoretical aspects (e.g. monadic/polyadic constructs) and survey design choices (e.g. single/multiple respondents). Special care is then given to how to analyse and interpret data, further discussing validity issues. Commonly used and advanced data-analysis methods are presented. Finally, emerging issues and techniques in data collection, management, and analysis are presented such as data integration from multiple sources and data visualization. Along this chapter, the reader can see the evolution of OSCM survey research in the last forty years.