Book Reviews : Surveys, Polls, and Samples: Practical Procedures. By MILDRED B. PARTEN. (New York: Harper and Brothers. 1950. Pp. xii, 624. $5.00.)

• Author: Frank W. Prescott
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295000300426
• Published date: 01 December 1950
• Date: 01 December 1950
• Subject Matter: Articles

645

The

book

is

evidence

of

the

author’s

wide

reading

in

public

opinion

and

related

fields,

although

often

the

cited

authorities

are

allowed

to

do

too

much

of

the

talking.

The

author

is

not

afraid

to

take

a

position

and

muster

his

support

for

that

position,

though

the

reviewer

will

admit

to

swallowing

hard

on

a

reference

to

Sigmund

Freud:

&dquo;His

work

is

that

of

a

genius,

since

he

viewed

the

problem

of

human

actions

objectively

and

at

the

same

time

was

not

bound

by

the

procedures

of

the

test-tube

sciences.&dquo;

The

chapters

on

media

of

communication

are

realistic

appraisals

of

the

forces

that

make

the

media

tick.

The

book

is

up

to

date.

To

those

who

dare

to

contemplate

the

future,

the

chapter

suggesting

future

methods

of

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IVAN

HINDERAKER.

University

of

California

at

Los

Angeles.

Surveys,

Polls,

and

Samples:

Practical

Procedures.

By

MILDRED

B.

PARTEN.

(New

York:

Harper

and

Brothers.

1950.

Pp.

xii,

624.

$5.00.)

According

to

the

preface,

this

book

represents

an

attempt

to

present

a

comprehensive

analysis

of

current

procedures

used

by

population

sur-

veyors

in

a

wide

variety

of

fields

and

is

based

upon

some

twenty

years

of

work

here

and

abroad.

This

comparatively

new

area

of

measurements

is

beset

with

pitfalls

not

only

for

the

unwary

student,

but

also

for

practi-

tioners

whose

analyses

are

read

by

millions

of

people.

Therefore,

the

author

is

careful

to

balance

the

opinions

and

attitudes

of

writers

on

all

aspects

of

the

problems

confronted

by

researchers.

Procedures

are

sub-

jected

to

critical

analysis

on

all

fronts

of

investigation,

and

readers

are

referred

in

no

fewer

than

1,145

citations

to

the

best

authorities

on

the

subjects

covered.

After

briefly

reviewing

the

historical

background

of

various

social

surveys,

the

author

proceeds

to

a

discussion

of

the

principal

contributions

of

specialists

in

surveying

various

socio-economic

facets of

human

atti-

tudes.

The

range

of

interest in

the

seventeen

chapters

may

be

indicated

by

their

headings:

planning

procedures, gathering

information,

sample

analysis,

interview

and

mail

questionnaires,

sources

of

bias,

editing,

coding,

tabulation

of

data,

and

reporting

of

results.

All

of

these

subjects

have

been

thoroughly

probed,

and

the

reviewer

is

impressed

by

the

fact

that

the

author’s

presentation

is

as

clear

as

the

methodology

she

seeks

to

impart.

Only

in

the

chapter

devoted

to

mathematical

evaluations

would

one

sug-

gest

that

there

are

simpler

formulas

for

standard

errors

of

a

percentage

and

of

a

frequency

which

would

perhaps

be

more

useful

to

students.

This

manual

should

be

indispensable

to

both

the

teacher

and

the

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student of

survey

techniques.

FRANK W.

PRESCOTT.

University

of

Chattanooga.