Technique of Social Surveys

It is now generally recognized that in order to carry out any community program it is necessary to have certain definite facts concerning the community. No intelligent social worker today attempts to outline the work for any group of people without taking an inventory of the community in order to become thoroughly acquainted with its assets and liabilities. Because of this new attitude and an increasing demand for a brief guide in making a community survey, the previous edition of this book has been exhausted, and the continued requests have made this revised edition necessary.
As stated in the preface to the earlier edition, the purpose of this book is to meet certain specific problems of social workers, namely:
1. What relation has the problem under consideration to the community life as a whole?
2. What things should be considered in making a study of any special problem?
3. How can the information desired be secured ?
4. How can the data and information gathered be put to the most effective use ?
5. Can this survey be successfully followed by other investigations along different lines or be made the basis for an annual inventory or ?Community Week??
While there are many excellent questionnaires and treaties published on social surveys, the author has found in supervising the work of civic organizations, clubs, religious groups and college students, and in directing social surveys where both experts and volunteers are used, that a hand-book covering the above points is necessary if efficient work is to be done.
The author has made an effort to eliminate all unnecessary material and questions of social philosophy, and include only such items as have been found to be of greatest aid to the hundreds of volunteers and students whose work he has directed in making surveys and investigations of rural and urban communities.