The Scope and Scholarly Impact of Survey Research: Evidence from Data Archives

We live in a world heavily infiltrated by systematic social research sponsored by universities, governments, think-tanks and private enterprise which is then, variously turned into public and private stocks of social knowledge with varying usefulness.  Some overview of the volume of survey research can be garnered from surveys on surveys and from industry data but a particularly good source of information on the development of survey research is the metadata of surveys collected in data archives. This paper describes the overall development of survey research and data archives and then compares (especially Anglo-Saxon) countries in terms of the characteristics (subject-matter & methodological) of the surveys which have been archived. Information on use of surveys is also noted.