Abstract: The research value of survey data is measured by its utility, which is driven by researchers' ability to evaluate survey quality. The proliferation of polls combined with new and emerging technologies for data collection and analysis have made it more difficult for researchers, journal editors, journalists and the general public to evaluate survey quality and reliability. In a time of innovation and ever-changing technologies the very definition of "disclosure" is fluid, further hampering efforts to evaluate survey quality. This paper provides a review of the benefits and challenges of full methodological disclosure from various vantage points, and a detailed assessment…of efforts to codify disclosure requirements and recommendations from four leading professional organizations in opinion research. By examining major sources of opinion data, focusing on the unique role of data archives and their historical interest in documenting and preserving research data, we propose a proactive extension of the archives' role to support several on-going efforts to provide clear and consistent disclosure of survey methods.
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Keywords: Methodology, disclosure, research methods, metadata