Enkätundersökningar i teori och praktik - med inriktning på folkbibliotek
EvaluationCustomersLibrariesMethodologyPublic librariesQuantitative researchQuestionnairesUser surveysUser studiesDocumentationInformationLibrary scienceArchivisticsArkiv- och bibliotekskunskapDokumentationSocial Sciences
The purpose of this thesis is to study to what extent the methodological theories are being reflected in the construction of user surveys at public libraries in Sweden. The study has been conducted as a qualitative literature study in two parts. The first part is an examination of literature concerning survey methodology; the second part is a study of three user surveys conducted at Swedish public libraries after 1995. Our main results indicate that the theories about methodology are followed in part, though it cannot be determined whether this is due to any actual methodological studies, common sense, or just copying other surveys. In our study we have found some areas of user survey construction that need further attention and that would benefit from more extensive methodology studies on the part of survey designers. The most important of these areas are: tying the purpose of the survey to the goals of the library, making a statistically correct selection of respondents, designing more nuanced response alternatives, and finally the need for discussion about the surveys and the results on a meta-level. Our conclusion is, that increased application of methodological theories about survey construction would lead to more representative, reliable and useful results from user surveys at public libraries.