Changes in technology and society strongly influence modern survey research. This course covers the essentials of modern survey methodology, organized by the Department of Methodology and Statistics. Central to the course is survey quality and the reduction of Total Survey Error (coverage, sampling, nonresponse, including questionnaire and mode effects), while balancing logistics and survey costs. Best practice guidelines for surveys from design to implementation, analysis and reporting will be discussed.
This course covers the essentials of modern survey methodology and analysis and is organized by the Department of Methodology and Statistics. Central to the course is survey quality and the reduction of Total Survey Error (coverage, sampling, nonresponse, and measurement error, including questionnaire and mode effects), while balancing logistics and survey costs. Topics include state of the art survey design, questionnaire construction and testing, modes of and devices for data collection, data processing and survey analysis techniques, such as nonresponse analysis and scale and index construction and the design of multi-source statistics. Best practice guidelines for phases of the survey from design to implementation, analysis and reporting will be discussed. International comparative and longitudinal surveys are included.
Graduate students, academic researchers, researchers in the public and private sector, heads of departments, managers, and commissioners of research are increasingly dealing with surveys. This course is intended as an introduction at master/graduate level for those who are new to modern survey methodology and as a refresher course for those with some experience in survey methodology. Current developments will be reviewed and research literature will be discussed. After the course, participants are ready to apply the learned towards their own surveys, are able to critically assess existing surveys and survey documentation, and are able to take advanced training in survey methodology and analysis. A basic knowledge of methods and statistics (e.g. descriptive statistics) is required. In the course SPSS will be used, but specific knowledge of SPSS is not required.
Prerequisites: Participants are requested to bring their own laptop computer. Software will be available online.
A good follow up is our Summer School course ‘Survey research: Statistical analysis and estimation’ (S16).
Lecturers
Katharina Meitinger and Phillip Brenner
Target audience
Whether you are working with survey data, intend to commission a survey, or carry out a survey yourself, if you want to know more about designing modern surveys this course is for you. This course assumes minimally bachelor level knowledge of methods and statistics. In the course SPSS will be used, but specific knowledge of SPSS is not required. The course is intended for students, professionals, and managers from a variety of fields, such as social and behavioral research, marketing, business, health sciences, and official statistics, who would like to learn more about the survey process in the 21st century.
A maximum of 40 participants will be allowed in this course. Please note that the selection for this course will be done on a first-come-first-served basis.
Aim of the course
The aim of this course is to provide an overview of theory and practice of modern survey design. This course is useful for both novices in survey methodology and for more experienced students, who want to refresh their knowledge. After the course, participants are ready to apply the learned towards their own surveys, are able to critically assess existing surveys and survey documentation, and are able to take advanced training in survey methodology and analysis.
For an overview of all our summer school courses offered by the Department of Methodology and Statistics please click here.
Study load
The course consists of formal lectures, less formal presentations or case studies, and practical exercises (with feedback) that apply the tools presented in the lectures. A typical course day starts at 9.00 and ends at 17.00 with breaks for coffee, lunch and tea. At the last day (Friday) after the morning program, there is the opportunity for individual consultation. Students who want to use this opportunity are expected to prepare for this in advance.
Please note that there are no graded activities included in this course. Therefore, we are not able to provide students with a transcript of grades. You will obtain a certificate upon completion of this course.
Costs
Tuition fee for PhD students from the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences from Utrecht University will be funded by the Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences.
There are no scholarships available for this course.
Additional information
We also offer tailormade M&S courses and in-house M&S training. If you want to look the possibilities, please contact us at ms.summerschool@uu.nl
Contact details
Team M&S Summer School | E: MS.summerschool@uu.nl