{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01601708489054992, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0037373198077949813, 'mean_word_length': 4.930379746835443, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Book Review: Multiway Contingency Tables Analysis for the Social Sciences

Chapters 5 through 9 cover the methodological aspects of polls and surveys. These chapters may have some value to a manager who needs a quick introduction to the issues that must be managed in a survey if its results are to be valuable to him or her. These chapters may also help such a manager in structuring an intelligent relationship with the market research department or agency on which he or she may rely. The chapters are not adequate, however, to give the manager the capability to execute the research personally. Chapter 5 discusses the pros and cons of data collection methods, namely personal interviewing and telephone and mail surveys. Focus groups are not mentioned. Chapter 6 is an introduction to survey sampling, and includes such topics as sample frame, sample design, sample error, and sample size. The most common methods of respondent selection also are described. Chapter 7 on question wording, Chapter 8 on data analysis and interpretation, and Chapter 9 on sampling bias and nonsampling error are very elementary in their treatment of the topics. The marketing research student or practitioner would be better off turning to standard marketing research texts to explore these topics. The final two chapters of the books turn to the societal aspects of polls and surveys. They examine the impact of polls and surveys on various constituencies and thereby frame the debate for public policy. The four major charges against polls are that they influence elections, invade privacy, oversimplify issues, and are ultimately meaningless. It is these two concluding chapters that perhaps provide the most value to this book. The preceding chapters give the reader sufficient expertise to question, as citizens or as students, whether polls and surveys help shape a better society.