Rilievo e Metodo Scientifico / Survey and Scientific Method

This paper investigates the relationship between Survey and Scientific Method. The survey consists of three phases, namely Data Acquisition, Selection and Interpretation. Each phase is analysed according to the falsifiability criterion proposed by Popper. In this framework the Data Acquisition phase can meet the demarcation criterion only if the standard procedures accepted by the scientific community are adhered to. This apparently simple condition ensures that the subsequent Data Selection and Interpretation phases have an equal chance of being considered scientific.