Peruse the history of survey research and the essential conceptsfor data quality. With an emphasis on total survey error, theauthors review principles and concepts in the field and examineimportant unresolved issues in survey methods. Spanning a range oftopics dealing with the quality of data collected through thesurvey process, they focus on such key issues as: * Major sources of survey error, examining the origins of eacherror source most successful methods for reducing errors from thosesources * Methods most often used in practice for evaluating the effectsof the source on total survey error * Implications of improving survey quality for organizationalmanagement and costs