Nationwide social surveys in Iran are an important form of social and cultural research. The first national surveys after the 1979 Iranian revolution, all commissioned by government agencies, were conducted in the 1990s. Since then, the findings of these surveys have attracted the attention of social and cultural researchers, academics, government officials, and sometimes even the general public. A Critical Analysis of National Surveys in Iran is an attempt to portray and evaluate these national surveys. In this book, the author has selected 24 significant social surveys in Iran and assessed them in terms of methodology, the way government institutions and officials deal these surveys’ findings, and their impact on cultural and social policy-making in Iran. In addition, the book evaluates Iran's social scientific academe's encounter with these surveys. From the author's point of view, the structural features of the socio-cultural policy-making system in Iran has itself limited the possibility of putting the surveys’ findings to proper use. Additionally, the academe's lack of serious participation in the design, implementation, and interpretation of the surveys’ findings has limited their application in the production of knowledge. Relying on interviews with scholars and officials involved in the production of the surveys and the author's analysis, the book raises interesting points about the knowledge system, the policy-making system, cultural and social change, the dominant logic and pattern governing the policy-making institutions, and the mentality of policy-makers and cultural and social managers in Iran. The appendix brings together a few monographs written on the details of main social surveys in Iran and is a useful guide for getting acquainted with these surveys.