Total Survey Design

In this episode of Total Survey Design, Dr. Azdren Coma sits down with Dr. Rubén Ángel Arias Rueda, Project Manager and Lead Researcher at Washington State University's Social and Economic Sciences Research Center, for the second part of a two-part series on multilingual surveys. Dr. Arias Rueda specializes in mixed-methods equity research, bilingual data collection, and community-engaged fieldwork, and has led statewide qualitative and survey studies for Washington State agencies and commiss...

In this episode of Total Survey Design, Dr. Azdren Coma explores what it takes to design surveys for populations that speak two or more languages. The episode explains why measurement equivalence (ensuring responses mean the same thing across languages) matters more than literal translation, and why the goal should be conceptual equivalence rather than word-for-word matching. Drawing on a personal case study of the 2021 North Macedonia Census, Azdren walks through real-world translation pitfa...

In this episode, I explore research by Lena Le and Thom Allen at Washington State University on the use of personal appeals in survey contact letters — the persuasive statements that encourage people to participate, like explaining how results will be used or telling respondents their opinion matters. Analyzing 190 surveys, their data shows response rates climb from 21.6% with no appeals to 51.6% with nine. I also ran my own statistical analysis on the data, finding each additional appeal is...

In this episode, Dr. Azdren Coma explores how the Dunning-Kruger effect distorts self-reported skill ratings in hiring and surveys. A seemingly straightforward question like “On a scale of 0 to 10, how skilled are you in Microsoft Excel?” can produce misleading data because undefined scale points allow respondents to interpret them differently. Beginners often overestimate their abilities due to limited awareness of complexity, while more skilled individuals rate themselves more conservativel...

In this episode, I will be talking about open-ended questions. Along with closed-ended questions, open-ended questions are the other major type of question used in surveys. This episode covers the purpose of open-ended questions, their pros and cons, the different types of open-ended questions, several examples, and finally some tips and best practices for implementing them effectively in surveys. The episode also includes an important ethical cautionary tale, as well as a warning about the ...