Presser did his doctoral work at the University of Michigan, working with Howard Schuman on a National Science Foundation grant studying question wording and attitude surveys.[1]
Presser has done basic research on various aspects of survey measurement and survey nonresponse, as well as applied research using surveys to measure the value of public goods. His research is reported in many journal articles and several books, including Questions and Answers in Attitude Surveys: Experiments on Question Form, Wording, and Context (with H. Schuman);[2]Survey Questions: Handcrafting the Standardized Questionnaire (with J. M. Converse);[3]Methods for Testing and Evaluating Survey Questionnaires (with J. Rothgeb, M. Couper, J. Lessler, E. Martin, J. Martin, and E. Singer),[4] and Valuing Oil Spill Prevention (with R. Carson, M. Conaway, M. Hanemann, J. Krosnick, and R. Mitchell).[5]