This course gives an overview of the design and implementation of surveys from the initial planning phase to the data preparation as a final step. Topics include survey mode assessment and selection, sampling frames and designs, nonresponse, interviewer effects, questionnaire design, cognitive pretesting, assessing measurement errors and data editing. The course is taught through from a Survey Error perspective weighing up data quality at each step of the process against associated costs. The course includes formal lectures in which the theoretical foundation in the literature is discussed, less formal presentations and discussions of survey design in existing survey research as well as personal tutorial meetings that give participants the opportunity to discuss exercises and their own survey designs. Each day will comprise a specific topic which will focus on one or more aspects of survey design within the Total Survey Error framework. First, the choice for the survey mode and how different ways to sample respondents follow from that choice will be discussed. On the second day, the issue of survey nonresponse is treated: how to prevent, analyse and correct for it. On the third and fourth day, the actual survey content is discussed: how to write survey questions, make sure they measure what they intent to measure, test them, and finally, how to assess whether survey data are of good quality. On the final day, we focus on asessing measurement error after data collection. We conclude with an overview perspective of all survey errors and their interaction with survey costs. The course will be applicable to surveys of individuals, households and organisations.

Course leader
Asst. Prof. Dr. Peter Lugtig, Prof. Annelies Blom, PhD

Target group
Participants will find the course useful if they:- are thinking about conducting a quantitative survey themselves;- use survey data and wish to understand its potential errors;- are Master and PhD students preparing their own survey;- are researchers who collaborate within a survey research project.- The course is tailored to those relatively new to the area of survey methodology possibly planning to later follow more advanced and specialised courses at the GESIS Summer School.Prerequisites:- No previous experience in survey research is needed, however, some practical experience in conducting surveys and analysing data will be beneficial.- A basic understanding of statistics is assumed, at the level of the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression.- During one practical, students who are familiar with either Stata or SPSS can work on an exercise. If you have no knowledge of these software package, there is an alternative exercise.- All students need to send a brief summary of their experience with surveys (about 0.5 page) and the questions they have about how to design surveys before the start of the course to the instructors, at the latest by August 7.

Course aim
By the end of the course participants will:- have a good grasp of the complexities of interacting survey errors;- be able to design a survey project themselves taking these into account. The course prepares the participants for more specialized courses at the GESIS Summer School including "Design and Implementation of Longitudinal Surveys," "Mixed-Mode and Mixed-Device Surveys," and "Planning and Monitoring Survey Fieldwork: Balancing survey errors."



Credits info
4 ECTS - Certificate of attendance issued upon completion.Optional bookings:- 2 ECTS points via the University of Mannheim for regular attendance and satisfactory work on daily assignments (EUR 20).- 4 ECTS points via the University of Mannheim for regular attendance and satisfactory work on daily assignments and for submitting a paper/report of about 5000 words to the lecturer(s) up to 4 weeks after the end of the summer school (EUR 50).

Fee info
EUR 250: Student/PhD student rate. EUR 350: Academic/non profit rate.Early bird discount: EUR 50 for applicants who book and pay by April 30.The rates include the tuition fee, course materials, the academic program, access to library and IT facilities, coffee/tea, and a number of social activities.

Scholarships
10 DAAD scholarships are available via the Center for Doctoral Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences (CDSS) at the University of Mannheim.

GESIS-Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
Address: Knowledge Transfer, Unter Sachsenhausen 6-8 Cologne
Postal code: 50667
City: Cologne
Country: Germany
Website: http://www.gesis.org/summerschool
E-mail: summerschool@gesis.org
Phone: +49-221-476940