Campanelli
Survey Research Methods
Dr. Pamela Campanelli is a Survey Methods Consultant and U.K. Chartered Statistician. She received her Ph.D. in statistics from the London School of Economics, and an M.A. in applied social research and B.A. in psychology from the University of Michigan. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, she has been involved with a variety of surveys at the University of Michigan, the Center for Survey Methods Research at the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the UK Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, and the Survey Methods Centre at the National Centre for Social Research, London. Her main interests and publications are in the study of survey error and data quality issues, with a special emphasis on questionnaire design, question testing strategies, interviewing techniques, and survey non-response. She regularly teaches short courses in these subjects at Essex and City Universities and other institutions and private businesses in the UK as well as at summer schools in Switzerland, the University of Hong Kong, and the University of Michigan.
Workshop Contents and Objectives
This course introduces students to the principles and procedures of survey research, It focuses on the design and collection phases. Topics include:
- An introduction to survey sampling
- Questionnaire design
- Cognitive guidelines for question construction
- Techniques for measuring the occurrence of past behaviours and events
- The effects of question wording, response formats,
and question sequence on responses
- Strategies for obtaining sensitive or personal information
- Etc.
- Techniques for testing survey questions
- Selecting a survey data collection mode (e.g., face-to-face,
telephone, or postal)
- The role of the interviewer and how to do quantitative interviewing
- Special guidelines for self-completion surveys versus interview surveys
- Strategies for minimising nonresponse before it happens
- Processing the questionnaire material so that it is ready for data analysis
- Using survey data
- Other topics, depending on time
The course will have two strands. The first will consist of formal lectures with respect to the survey literature and the theoretical underpinnings of survey research. The second will be to examine survey research from a more informal and practical perspective. It will involve group discussions, class exercises and a 'hands on' approach. The focus of this second strand will be on those aspects of survey implementation that are often not taught in formal courses.
Course Objectives
To raise participants' awareness of all the different aspects involved in the creation and implementation of a quantitative social survey.
To facilitate participants to become "discerning consumers" of survey research who are able to recognise the advantages and limitations of survey data when reading about survey results, conducting secondary analysis on survey data or commissioning a survey.
To facilitate participants to be able to conduct their own high quality survey.
Bibliography
Basic text/overview
Other references which are particularly useful
Dillman, D. (2000), Mail and Internet Surveys:
The Tailored Design Method, New York: Wiley.
Prerequisites
There are no statistical prerequisites for this course, although participants will find it helpful to have a basic knowledge of statistics for the discussion on sampling.
Participants will find it helpful to have knowledge of Windows and SPSS for Windows.