Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences

An expansive and incisive overview of the practical uses of harmonization and its implications for data quality and costs

In Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences, a team of distinguished social science researchers delivers a comprehensive collection of ex-ante and ex-post harmonization methodologies in the context of specific longitudinal and cross-national survey projects. The book examines how ex-ante and ex-post harmonization work individually and in relation to one another, offering practical guidance on harmonization decisions in the preparation of new data infrastructure for comparative research.

Contributions from experts in sociology, political science, demography, economics, health, and medicine are included, all of which give voice to discipline-specific and interdisciplinary views on methodological challenges inherent in harmonization. The authors offer perspectives from Europe and the United States, as well as Africa, the latter of which provides insights rarely featured in survey research methodology handbooks.

Readers will also find:

• A thorough introduction to approaches and concepts for survey data harmonization, as well as the effects of data harmonization on the overall survey research process
• Comprehensive explorations of ex-ante harmonization of survey instruments and non-survey data
• Practical discussions of ex-post harmonization of national social surveys, census and time use data, including explorations of survey data recycling
• A detailed overview of statistical issues linked to the use of harmonized survey data

Perfect for upper undergraduate and graduate researchers who specialize in survey methodology, Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences will also earn a place in the libraries of survey practitioners who engage in international research.

Irina Tomescu-Dubrow is Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), and director of the Graduate School for Social Research at PAN.

Christof Wolf is President of GESIS — Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology at the University of Mannheim in Germany.

Kazimierz M. Slomczynski is Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFiS PAN) and Academy Professor of Sociology at the Ohio State University (OSU). He co-directs CONSIRT - the Cross-national Studies: Interdisciplinary Research and Training program at OSU and IFiS PAN.

J. Craig Jenkins is Academy Professor of Sociology and Senior Research Scientist at the Mershon Center for International Security at the Ohio State University.