What is the Future of Survey-Based Data Collection for Local Government Research? Trends, Strategies, and Recommendations

Surveys are an important vehicle for advancing research on urban policy and governance. The introduction of online tools eased survey-based data collection, making it cheaper and easier to obtain data from key informants like local elected officials or public administrators. However, the utility of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inUrban affairs review (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Vol. 60; no. 3; pp. 1094 - 1115
Main Authors Krause, Rachel M., Fatemi, S. Mohsen, Nguyen Long, Le Anh, Arnold, Gwen, Hofmeyer, Sarah L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2024
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Administrators
COVID-19
Data collection
Governance
Internet
Local government
Management
Pandemics
Polls & surveys
Public administration
Public officials
Surveys
Systematic review
Trends
Urban areas
Urban policy
Urban studies
response rates
survey
local governments
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Summary:Surveys are an important vehicle for advancing research on urban policy and governance. The introduction of online tools eased survey-based data collection, making it cheaper and easier to obtain data from key informants like local elected officials or public administrators. However, the utility of web-based survey administration may be diminishing. To investigate this dynamic and search for strategies to support survey research in urban studies, we perform a systematic review of survey research in urban policy and administration scholarship and conduct an original survey follow-up experiment. Our findings identify a clear downward trend in survey response rates that was accentuated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from our survey experiment show distinctly different costs per solicitation and per completed survey, depending on administration mode. These findings stimulate discussion on how scholars may continue to use surveys to generate high-quality, empirically rigorous research on urban affairs in light of recent trends.
ISSN:1078-0874
1552-8332
DOI:10.1177/10780874231175837