This publication is primarily designed for educational practitioners who possess little or no training in conducting mail surveys or have not kept current on the present state of the art of survey methods and techniques. It is also intended to be a checking and comparing aid to ensure that important research considerations are taken into account. The guide begins with an overview followed by a section on survey planning that discusses purposes of a survey and steps in designing and executing one. Further chapters discuss sample selection, instrument (questionnaire) construction, and item (individual question) production. Other topics discussed are how to estimate costs and ways of dealing with the problems of nonresponse. The final chapter on reporting the results advises researchers that the plan of analysis should be formed before the data are collected. This includes a format for tabulating and classifying the data to be collected and a well-thought-out plan for the statistical treatment of the data. Techniques for data presentation, with guides for table construction, are offered with the admonition that if the report cannot be easily understood by the targeted audience, the whole project can be considered a waste of time. (Author/MLF)