Where Do We Go from Here? Nonresponse and Social Measurement

Abstract

In their systematic assessment of the challenge that survey nonresponse poses to social statistics and social research, the authors of articles in this volume have abundantly highlighted the critical importance of surveys to contemporary society. Table 10.1 lists all of the surveys mentioned by any author as an illustration or by way of example in their contribution. It is by no means an exhaustive listing of surveys in the world today, or even the most important. It simply includes those surveys with which the authors were familiar and turned to for purposes of example or illustration. This admittedly ad hoc listing of surveys includes 22 sponsored by a U.S. federal agency along with 14 others conducted in the United States mainly for research purposes, most with funding from federal granting agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation. In addition the authors mentioned some 19 surveys fielded outside the United States, mostly but not entirely in Europe.