Abstract:
The objective of this talk is to demonstrate how “data collection” is a misleading term, as data are not collected, they are constructed.  This is illustrated with two examples from survey research in the United States, though the lesson is not restricted to survey data (nor to the U.S.).  The first example shows how mode of administration shaped findings about religious service attendance.  The second example reveals how response rates shaped findings about volunteering activity.  The results not only demonstrate how misleading it is to refer to data collection but underscore the importance of detailed reporting of methodological information in reporting data analyses.

About the presenter:
Stanley Presser is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he teaches in the Sociology Department and the Joint Program in Survey Methodology, which he co-founded in 1992 with colleagues as the University of Michigan and Westat.