Towards new cognitive foundations for survey research

Müller, Karl H. (author), Toš, Niko (author)

This article will focus on the rapidly widening cognitive-science landscapes and their potential impact for fresh perspectives on survey research. More ambitiously, the article wants to explore new foundations for survey research which are based on current advances within the broad domains of the cognitive sciences. In essence, the article wants two establish four major claims. First, over the last decades survey research has reached its point of perfection and, given the quality standards of European data collections like the European Social Survey (ESS), can be improved further only marginally. Second, survey research in its current form is characterized by various forms of incompleteness which, however, cannot be re-solved within the contemporary boundaries of survey research. Third, the expanding field of the cognitive sciences should be considered as the most relevant background knowledge for survey research in all its aspects, starting from the design of questionnaires to the actual fieldwork-procedures and to the analysis of survey data. Fourth, shifting to a cognitive science background should have a highly significant aspect of re-shaping survey research and for alternative paths for survey designs which, so far, have hardly been explored.

• Language: English
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2010
• Number of pages: Str. 1316-1339
• Numbering: Let. 47, št. 6
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-23160
• UDC: 303.62:165.194
• ISSN on article: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 30046301
• Publication date in RUL: 11.07.2014

MÜLLER, Karl H. and TOŠ, Niko, 2010, Towards new cognitive foundations for survey research. Teorija in praksa : revija za družbena vprašanja [online]. 2010. Vol. 47, no. 6, p. 1316–1339. [Accessed 18 March 2025]. Retrieved from: http://dk.fdv.uni-lj.si/db/pdfs/tip20106_muller_tos.pdf

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Teorija in praksa : revija za družbena vprašanja
• Shortened title: Teor. praksa
• Publisher: Fakulteta za družbene vede
• ISSN: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 763652

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian

Abstract

Članek obravnava hitro se razvijajoče področje kognitivnih znanosti kot možen vir novih pristopov v anketnem raziskovanju. Konkretneje, nakazati skuša, kateri novi pristopi v anketnem raziskovanju lahko temeljijo na najnovejših izsledkih kognitivnih znanosti. Analiza izhaja predvsem iz naslednjih štirih trditev. Prvič, anketno raziskovanje je v zadnjih desetletjih skorajda že doseglo točko popolnosti zato ga je, zaradi visoke kakovosti meril zbiranja podatkov kot je npr. značilna za European Social Survey, mogoče le še malenkostno izboljšati. Drugič, za anketno raziskovanje, kakršno je danes, so značilne nekatere pomanjkljivosti, ki pa jih ni mogoče odpraviti brez preseganja meja obstoječih raziskovalnih pristopov. Tretjič, razvijajoče se področje kognitivnih znanosti predstavlja najpomembnejši vir novih znanj za različne vidike anketnega raziskovanja, od zasnove vprašalnikov, do postopkov na terenu in analize podatkov. In četrtič, obrat k teoretskemu ozadju kognitivnih znanosti bi lahko prinesel preoblikovanje dosedanjega anketnega raziskovanja in nastanek alternativnih raziskovalnih poti, ki so bile doslej le malo raziskane.