A clear analysis of the design, potential uses and limitations of questionnaires in measuring health from the perspective of the patient. Practical examples illustrate the methodological issues and guide the reader through good and bad practice. The book will appeal to academics, postgraduates and advanced undergraduates in medical sociology, health economics, social/health psychology, public health and epidemiology. It will also be extremely helpful to social science researchers outside these areas who have an interest in the use of questionnaires in an applied field.; "Social research today" is a forthcoming series of books devoted to the illumination of significant methodological topics in the social sciences and professional social research. The structure of social inquiry combines two separate elements: empirical evidence and organizing ideas and theories. Both are necessary for successful social understanding; one without the other is barren. This series will be concerned with the means by which this structure is maintained and kept standing and upright. The books in the series are intended for undergraduates in the social sciences, postgraduate students undergoing research training, and those undertaking social research of whatever kind. Broadly conceived, research methodology refers to the general grounds for the validity of social science propositions. How do we know what we do know about the social world? More narrowly, it deals with questions such as h.; This book is intended for academics, postgraduates and advanced undergraduates within medical sociology, health economics, social/health psychology, public healthand epidemiology. Social science researchers with an interest in theuse of questionnaires in an applied field.