CHAPTER 3
Total Survey Error
Error is inevitable and occurs in any survey. If you need perfection, don’t bother doing research. What is important is to identify the possible sources of error and then try to minimize these errors.
Herbert Weisberg defines error as the “difference between an obtained value and the true value.”1 Typically we don’t know what the true value is but that doesn’t change our definition of error. When we discussed sampling in the previous chapter, it was the population value. When we focus on measurement, it is the true or actual value of whatever is being measured. Error is the difference between that true value and whatever the obtained or observed value turns out to be. It’s important to keep in mind that error can ...
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