American Shaolin

Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China



384 pages | Gotham (December 27, 2007) | English | ISBN-10: 1616798955 | PDF
The raucously funny story of one young American's quest to become the baddest dude on the planet (and possibly find inner peace along the way)

Growing up a ninety-eight-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series Kung Fu.

American Shaolin is the story of the two years Matthew spent in China living, studying, and performing with the Shaolin monks. The Chinese term for tough training is chi ku (eating bitter), and Matthew quickly learned to appreciate the phrase.

This is both the gripping story of Matthew's journey and an intimate portrait of the real lives of the Shaolin monks, who struggle to overcome rampant corruption and the restrictions of an authoritarian government. Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, American Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of- age story of one man's journey into the ancient art of kungfu—and a poignant portrait of a rapidly changing China

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How to Read a Balance Sheet

The Bottom Line on What You Need to Know about Cash Flow, Assets, Debt, Equity, Profit...and How It all Comes Together



224 pages | Publisher: McGraw-Hill (April 19, 2010) | English | ISBN-10: 0071700331 | PDF
Put the most valuable business tool to work for you!

The balance sheet is the key to everything--from efficient business operation to accurate assessment of a company’s worth. It’s a critical business resource--but do you know how to read it? How to Read a Balance Sheet breaks down the subject into easy-to-understand components.

If you're a business owner or manager, this book helps you . . .
* Manage working capital
* Generate higher returns on assets
* Maximize your inventory dollars
* Evaluate investment opportunities

If you're an investor, this book helps you . . .
* Determine the market value of a company's assets and operations
* Predict future earnings and trends
* Assess the impact of capital expenditures
* Identify potential "red flags" before the crowd

How to Read a Balance Sheet gives you the bottom line of what you need to know about:
Cash Flow * Assets * Debt * Equity * Profit and how it all comes together.

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Triple Your Reading Speed: The Renowned Acceleread Method

Publisher: Arco | English | ISBN: 0671846442 | PDF | 206 pages | 16.1 MB

A complete program of practice exercises designed to improve reading speed and comprehension includes tips on study habits and test-taking skills


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Electronic Filter Design Handbook, Fourth Edition (McGraw-Hill Handbooks)

775 pages | Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 4 edition (July 10, 2006) | English | PDF | ISBN-10: 0071471715 | 14,6 MB
Keep Up with Major Developments in Electronic Filter Design, including the Latest Advances in Both Analog and Digital Filters

Long-established as "The Bible" of practical electronic filter design, McGraw-Hill's classic Electronic Filter Design Handbook has now been completely revised and updated for a new generation of design engineers.

Packed with more than 200 detailed illustrations, the Fourth Edition features:
* Expert coverage of the full range of filter designs as well as an introduction to microwave filters
* A CD with powerful Excel worksheets that perform calculations from just a few data inputs
* Sophisticated guidelines for selecting state-of-the-art components
* A wealth of helpful examples for all filter types with digital filter examples presented in MATLAB

Inside This "Must-Have" Design Tool:
* Introduction to Modern Network Theory * Selecting the Response Characteristic * Low Pass, High Pass, and Bandpass Filter Design * Band Reject Filters * Networks for the Time Domain * Refinements in LC Filter Design and the Use of Resistive Networks * Selection and Design of Inductors for LC Filters * Component Selection for LC and Active Filters * Normalized Filter Design Tables * Introduction to Digital Filters * Finite Impulse Response, Multi-rate, and Infinite Impulse Response Filters * DSP Technology * Switched Capacitor Filters * Introduction to Microwave Filters * Discrete System Mathematics

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1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse: Remake, Restyle, Recycle, Renew

320 pages | Publisher: Quarry Books (November 1, 2009) | English | ISBN-10: 1592535402 | 57,8 MB
Artists and crafters have always been recyclers, but for many, it has not only become a thrifty choice, it has become a moral imperative. 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse contains a cutting edge collection of the most inventive work being made with re-used, upcycled, and already existing materials. The work in this book ranges from clever and humble personal accessories to unique and important large-scale works of art, including paper art, fashion, jewelry, housewares, interiors, and installations.

Review
Johnson, Garth. 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse: Remake, Restyle, Recycle, Renew. Quarry: Quayside. 2009. c.320p. illus. ISBN 978-1-59253-540-8. pap. $25. CRAFTS

This is a photo gallery of funky and somewhat outrageous art objects made from recycled found materials in all media. Johnson (art, Coll. of the Redwoods) assembled this collection of works by established studio artists as a source of ideas for crafters. -- Library Journal, February 15, 2010

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Finding Anyone, Anywhere, Anywhen: Techniques for using Internet to Locate People

320 pages | Publisher: Firefly Books (February 1, 2009) | English | ISBN-10: 1554074703 | PDF
A lot has happened in the four years since this book was first released. This second edition of Finding Anyone, Anywhere, Anywhen has been fully revised and updated to include new or changed websites, to delete dead sites and to provide new tips on using the Internet to locate people.

The Internet is the most powerful research tool available today, but there are tricks to using it to its full potential. Noel Montgomery Elliot reveals what he's learned over his 35 years of research experience, including the most common mistakes people make when trying to locate ancestors who lived a century or more ago. He reveals how the little-known science called onomatology is one of the keys to unlocking genealogical research in the distant past, and he shows how easy it is to open the door.

Whether searching for ancestors or descendents, or just looking to get in touch with friends from years ago, this is the definitive how-to research handbook. Finding Anyone, Anywhere, Anywhen is an exciting read about what is possible now and what will soon be available to those willing to surf on the cutting edge of technology.

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Bad Science

McClelland & Stewart | 2008 | ISBN: 0771035780 | 304 pages | PDF, epub, mobi | 6,3 MB
The informative and witty expose of the "bad science" we are all subjected to, called "one of the essential reads of the year" by New Scientist.

We are obsessed with our health. And yet — from the media's "world-expert microbiologist" with a mail-order Ph.D. in his garden shed laboratory, and via multiple health scares and miracle cures — we are constantly bombarded with inaccurate, contradictory, and sometimes even misleading information. Until now. Ben Goldacre masterfully dismantles the questionable science behind some of the great drug trials, court cases, and missed opportunities of our time, but he also goes further: out of the bullshit, he shows us the fascinating story of how we know what we know, and gives us the tools to uncover bad science for ourselves.

Review
"For sheer savagery, the illusion-destroying, joyous attack on the self-regarding, know-nothing orthodoxies of the modern middle classes, Bad Science can not be beaten. You'll laugh your head off, then throw all those expensive health foods in the bin."
— The Observer (U.K.)

"One of the essential reads of the year."
— New Scientist

"If you were to pick up just one non-fiction book this year, you'd do well to make it this one."
— Daily Mail

"Thousands of books are enjoyable; many are enlightening; only a very few will ever rate as necessary to social health. This is one of them."
— The Independent

"It should be on the national curriculum."
— Time Out (five stars)

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Encyclopedia of Haunted Places: Ghostly Locales from Around the World

360 pages | Publisher: New Page Books | English | ISBN 1-56414-799-1 | PDF | 9 MB
The Encyclopedia of Haunted Places is the first directory to be written by dozens of the world's leading paranormal investigators. Research notes, location background, first-hand accounts, and many anomalous photographs featuring ghostly manifestations comprise the hundreds of haunted listings in this directory. For years, paranormal investigative groups have been studying their local ghosts with scientific equipment as well as with more esoteric methods, such as psychics and séances.

This directory is a repository of some of their most profound cases. From across the United States, Canada, and many spots around the globe, ghost investigators tell of their sometimes harrowing experiences, share their research, and give readers an overview of both well-known and obscure haunted locales. From private residences to inns and restaurants, battlefields to museums and libraries, graveyards to churches, The Encyclopedia of Haunted Places will offer supernatural tourists a guide to points of interest through the eyes of the ghost hunters. This reference also offers names, addresses, phone numbers, and Web addresses to each location covered. Feeling brave? You may just want to stop and visit some ghosts on your next trip.

Jeff Belanger is a voracious fan of the unexplained. He's been studying and writing about the supernatural for regional and national publications since 1997. Belanger is the founder of Ghostvillage.com, the Internet's largest supernatural community, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors per year.

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Looks: Why They Matter More Than You Ever Imagined

288 pages | Publisher: AMACOM (January 30, 2008) | English | ISBN-10: 0814480543 | PDF
We all know one hard and undeniable truth: Physical beauty comes with tremendous power, and tremendous benefits. Those who possess it are generally luckier in love, more likely to be popular, and more apt to get better grades in school. But very few of us realize just how much looks affect every aspect of our lives. Recent studies document that people blessed with good looks earn about 10% more than their average-looking colleagues. They are also more likely to get hired and promoted at work. What exactly is this "physical attractiveness" phenomenon and how does it affect each and every one of us?

Dr. Gordon L. Patzer has devoted the last 30 years to investigating this unsettling phenomenon for both women and men, and how it touches every part of our lives. In Looks, he reveals not only its impact on romance, but also on family dynamics, performance in school, career, courtroom proceedings, politics and government. Looks is the first book to explore how the power of beauty affects both sexes and how the rise of reality TV shows, cosmetic surgery, and celebrity culture have contributed to our culture’s overall obsession with being beautiful.

Unflinching and topical, Looks uncovers the sometimes ugly truth about beauty and its profound effects on all our lives.

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How to Buy a Diamond, 6E: Insider Secrets for Getting Your Money's Worth

448 pages | Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (July 1, 2008) | English | ISBN-10: 1402215061
Newly revised, and completely updated, How to Buy a Diamond is the only book on the market to include wholesalers' secret pricing charts that you, the public, never get to see! The charts are broken down by carat, clarity and color-including the various grades of color, for the first time ever.

This valuable resource gives the information you need to get a stone that won't leave you feeling cheated.

Buying guides for gems and jewelry appear on the market with some regularity, and these two are similar in scope and content to their predecessors. Cuellar, founder and president of Diamond Cutters International, covers the standard topics of the four Cs (carat, clarity, color, cut), as well as the fifth C, cost. Various chapters focus on everything from ring settings to insurance, investment, and selling diamonds; other tidbits include carat size charts and even a list of 101 ways to be romantic. This serious yet lighthearted guide is geared to anyone looking for inside information on purchasing a diamond. Matlins's (Jewelry and Gems, LJ 5/1/94) work is equally informative yet more serious in nature. Each of the seven parts focuses on a variety of topics from the historical significance of pearls to pearl types and quality, from selection to caring for and wearing pearls. The two most important sections deal with insider tips and advice from the experts and what to ask when purchasing pearls. Other features include price guides, special charts, and a special color photograph section.

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Brain Sense: The Science of the Senses and How We Process the World Around Us

289 pages | Publisher: AMACOM (September 28, 2009) | English | ISBN-10: 0814413242 | PDF
Have you ever wondered why you remember color images and scenes so much better than those in black and white? The answer is in the way our brains interpret and process the sights, smells, tastes, and touches that make up our lives. "Brainsense" explores brain function and the senses, and offers new insight about what makes us tick. Based on new research and interviews with renowned scientists, readers will discover how the brain really works. Divided into chapters, one for each sense, "Brainsense" offers a new perspective into how we process the world around us. Both enlightening and engaging, this book will help us understand the elusive mysteries of the brain.

Review
...Brynie has a deep understanding of how science works...[she] makes even the most complex and abstruse research come alive...A delightful, informative read. R. R. Cornelius, Vassar College
--Choice:Current Reviews for Academic Libraries

“The author does a great job in relating the topic of the senses to everyday life.” – Voya magazine
“Brynie is good at making the complex understandable and entertaining…a digestible feast for the interested layman.” -- Internet Review of Books
“…written in a readable style…a good resource for a classroom or school library…included with diagrams that are easy to read.” -- NSTA Recommends
“...fascinating look at what it means to be human and conscious…exciting preview of treatments that doctors might one day achieve.” -- The Futurist
“...author makes even the most complex and abstruse research come alive and make sense....A delightful, informative read. Highly recommended.” – Choice magazine
“Well-written, down-to-earth, practical, and yet full of wonderfully interesting substance, this is a valuable book that is just plain fun to read.” -- andthensomeblogworks blog

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Why Men Die First: How to Lengthen Your Lifespan

272 pages | Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (May 27, 2008) | English | ISBN-10: 0230605176 | PDF
It is a universal fact that men die before women. But the causes of this have long remained unexplored. Why Men Die First examines the reasons that men are more susceptible to illness and explains what they need to do to live longer. Bestselling author and professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University, Dr. Marianne Legato delves into problems that both men and women care about, including:

* How men's reluctance to speak frankly to their physicians can kill them
* The hormonal shift called "andropause," the male menopause, and therapies that alleviate its painful symptoms
* Men's biological predisposition to infection and how best to protect against it
* The real causes of male depression and how to treat it
* The risks inherent to the male heart, and ways to correct coronary disease--even late in life Through her appearances on the Today Show and NBC Nightly News, Legato has launched the conversation about why men die young, and what we all can do to reverse the grim trend.

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The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers

432 pages | Publisher: Ballantine Books | English | ISBN-10: 0345465660 | PDF | 6,7 MB
THE DEFINITIVE DOSSIER ON HISTORY’S MOST HEINOUS!

Hollywood’s make-believe maniacs like Jason, Freddy, and Hannibal Lecter can’t hold a candle to real life monsters like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and scores of others who have terrorized, tortured, and terminated their way across civilization throughout the ages. Now, from the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon.

Rigorously researched and packed with the most terrifying, up-to-date information, this innovative and highly compelling compendium covers every aspect of multiple murderers—from psychology to cinema, fetishism to fan clubs, “trophies” to trading cards. Discover:

WHO THEY ARE: Those featured include Ed Gein, the homicidal mama’s boy who inspired fiction’s most famous Psycho, Norman Bates; Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, sex-crazed killer cousins better known as the Hillside Stranglers; and the Beanes, a fifteenth-century cave-dwelling clan with an insatiable appetite for human flesh

HOW THEY KILL: They shoot, stab, and strangle. Butcher, bludgeon, and burn. Drown, dismember, and devour . . . and other methods of massacre too many and monstrous to mention here.

WHY THEY DO IT: For pleasure and for profit. For celebrity and for “companionship.” For the devil and for dinner. For the thrill of it, for the hell of it, and because “such men are monsters, who live . . .
beyond the frontiers of madness.”

PLUS: in-depth case studies, classic killers’ nicknames, definitions of every kind of deviance and derangement, and much, much more.

For more than one hundred profiles of lethal loners and killer couples, Bluebeards and black widows, cannibals and copycats— this is an indispensable, spine-tingling, eye-popping investigation into the dark hearts and mad minds of that twisted breed of human whose crimes are the most frightening . . . and fascinating.

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Think of a Number

172 pages | Publisher: Taylor & Francis | English | ISBN-10: 0852741839 | PDF | 13.5 MB
How many colors are needed to color a map? Must hailstones numbers always fall to the ground? Can statistics prove anything? What is a perfect square, and who has found the ultimate one? How do numbers affect national security? What kinds of problems confront the traveling salesman? Does anyone know how best to pack balls together? What is life like in 4 (or 3 1/2) dimensions? How does a clock count, and why should we care? What number secrets do sunflowers and pine cones conceal? What is a monster doing in mathematics?

These and many other fascinating questions about familiar numbers like 1, 2, and 3 are explored in Malcolm Line's second adventure into the world of numbers. Written in a lively and readable style, Think of a Number relates the story of some of the most famous problems that have confronted the world's experts over the centuries, from the earliest interests of the ancient Greeks to the very cutting-edge of modern research involving today's most powerful computers. The book explores the relationship between numbers and nature in its broadest sense and discovers the beauty of fractals and chaos. Requiring little or no prior knowledge of mathematics, this resource will be fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in numbers and their role in the natural world.

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Is There Anything Good About Men?: How Cultures Flourish by Exploiting Men

320 pages | Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; (August 12, 2010) | English | ISBN-10: 019537410X | PDF
Have men really been engaged in a centuries-old conspiracy to exploit and oppress women? Have the essential differences between men and women really been erased? Have men now become unnecessary? Are they good for anything at all?

In Is There Anything Good About Men?, Roy Baumeister offers provocative answers to these and many other questions about the current state of manhood in America. Baumeister argues that relations between men and women are now and have always been more cooperative than antagonistic, that men and women are different in basic ways, and that successful cultures capitalize on these differences to outperform rival cultures. Amongst our ancestors---as with many other species--only the alpha males were able to reproduce, leading them to take more risks and to exhibit more aggressive and protective behaviors than women, whose evolutionary strategies required a different set of behaviors. Whereas women favor and excel at one-to-one intimate relationships, men compete with one another and build larger organizations and social networks from which culture grows. But cultures in turn exploit men by insisting that their role is to achieve and produce, to provide for others, and if necessary to sacrifice themselves. Baumeister shows that while men have greatly benefited from the culture they have created, they have also suffered because of it. Men may dominate the upper echelons of business and politics, but far more men than women die in work-related accidents, are incarcerated, or are killed in battle--facts nearly always left out of current gender debates.

Engagingly written, brilliantly argued, and based on evidence from a wide range of disciplines, Is There Anything Good About Men? offers a new and far more balanced view of gender relations.

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Terrorist Recognition Handbook: A Practitioner's Manual for Predicting and Identifying Terrorist Activities

480 pages | Publisher: CRC Press; (April 14, 2008) | English | ISBN-10: 1420071831 | PDF | 8,2 MB
Effective counterterrorism requires a non-prejudicial understanding of terrorist motives and methods. Security professionals need to identify who terrorists might be, recognize pre-incident indicators of terrorist activity, and competently analyze intelligence information. Unfortunately, most terrorist education comes in short, sketchy briefings, and reliable sources for the foundational knowledge and tools necessary to prevent or mitigate an attack are rare and incomplete at best.

The Latest Geopolitical Factors
The second edition of Nance’s bestselling Terrorist Recognition Handbook is fully updated with the latest information on geopolitical factors affecting global terrorism and regional insurgencies. A new section includes analyses of transformations within Al Qaeda, coverage of the modern insurgency, and newly active global and regional terrorist groups. Thoroughly revised, the section on terrorist tactics reveals entirely new trends and attack methods that have been previously unseen.

Learn from the Expert
Written by a 20 year veteran of the US intelligence community, this book is an invaluable training tool on how to identify an attack; how to mitigate damage from attacks; and how to recognize the stages of developing terrorist plots. It answers critical questions about who represents a threat, what opportunities are available for them to succeed, and what behaviors can be observed as they prepare for an attack?

Quick Information in a Crisis
Designed for rapid assimilation, each chapter can be read in any order. The no-nonsense style and numerous illustrations make it useful for quick identification of conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

Malcolm W. Nance, a 20 year veteran of the US intelligence community, has been deployed on anti-terrorism and intelligence operations in the Balkans, Middle East—including Iraq and Afghanistan—and sub-Saharan Africa.

The book has an accompanying website with more information.

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A PhD Is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science

Publisher: Basic Books (January 11, 2011) | English | ISBN: 0465022227 | 176 pages | PDF
A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! is required reading for anyone thinking of applying to graduate school or entering the science job market. Focusing on critical survival skills, it offers sound advice on selecting a thesis or postdoctoral adviser; choosing among research jobs in academia, government laboratories, and industry; and defining a research program. This new edition features updates throughout and a new chapter reflecting today's rapidly changing world.


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1001 Math Problems: Fast, Focused Practice that Improves Your Math Skills

LearningExpress, LLC. | English | 300 pages | PDF
Whether you are student who needs more practice than your textbook provides or a professional eager to brush up on your skills, 1001 Math Problems gives you all the practice you need to succeed. The ultimate learn-by-doing preparation guide, 1001 Math Problems will teach you how to: Prepare for important exams Develop multiple-choice test strategies Learn math rules and how to apply them to problems Overcome math anxiety through skills reinforcement and focused practice How does 1001 Math Problems build your math skills?

The experts at Learning Express have designed this book so that it: Starts each chapter with the basics and moves to more advanced questions for exponential skills building Offers a variety of question types to keep you engaged Focuses on solving math word problems and understanding the principles of distance, rate, and time Improves your ability to handle math topics like finding area, perimeter, volume, and other types of measurement Provides detailed answer explanations for every question This book also offers access to Learning Express's Online Practice Center. Use your unique access code to boost your math skills online with even more practice. You will receive immediate scoring and answer explanations for all questions, and be able to focus your study where you need it with a customized diagnostic report.

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For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter Writing

C.llins Living | English | ISBN: 0061215309 | 172 pages | PDF
Have you ever wanted to write a thank-you note and suffered writer's block? Considered penning a passionate letter to your beloved, but had no idea where to begin? Needed to send a sympathy message, but couldn't find the right words? Fear not. Professional letter writer Samara O'Shea is here to spark your creativity and answer all your letter-writing questions in this charming guide.

For the Love of Letters is an anecdotal primer on letter writing, with tips on how to write all types of notes: love letters, break-up letters, apology letters, thank-you letters, erotic letters (oh yes!), and more. It's filled with moving, funny, and embarrassing stories about letters Samara has written and received, including an apology from a guy who addressed her by the wrong name, a good-riddance e-mail to a capricious boyfriend, and multiple apology letters after getting fired from an internship at O: The Oprah Magazine. With a fresh, contemporary approach, Samara weighs in on appropriate methods for every situation—for example, when to handwrite, type, or e-mail (yes, e-mail) your letter. There is also a fascinating collection of engaging personal letters written by historical and literary icons such as Marie Antoinette, Beethoven, Edgar Allan Poe, Susan B. Anthony, and Emily Post.

For the Love of Letters will show anyone who has ever shuddered at the idea of sitting down and putting pen to paper—or fingertips to keyboard—how to craft persuasive, interesting, and memorable letters.

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Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design

Publisher: Jossey-Bass | English | ISBN: 0787970883 | PDF | 446 pages | 13,6 MB
"The best single source about the present state of knowledge of questionnaire construction."
–Choice

Since it was first published more than twenty-five years ago, Asking Questions has become a classic guide for designing questionnaires–the most widely used method for collecting information about people’s attitudes and behavior. An essential tool for market researchers advertisers, pollsters, and social scientists, this thoroughly updated and definitive work combines time-proven techniques with the most current research, findings, and methods. The book presents a cognitive approach to questionnaire design and includes timely information on the Internet and electronic resources. Comprehensive and concise, Asking Questions can be used to design questionnaires for any subject area, whether administered by telephone, online, mail, in groups, or face-to-face. The book describes the design process from start to finish and is filled with illustrative examples from actual surveys. Asking Questions guides you through how to

* Determine what information is needed
* Phrase questions to minimize bias and distortion
* Obtain successful questions from existing questionnaires
* Control the level of threat
* Order questions to encourage response
* Select the best administration method
* Adapt questions and format to specific situations
* Test and validate the completed survey
* Evaluate and revise the questionnaire for improved results

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