Asking Survey Questions

Block course at Kyiv University

Sandra Walzenbach

September 25-29th 2017, 9am-12:30pm

Monday

BASICS OF SURVEY RESEARCH

  1. doing research with survey data: the research process
  2. modes of data collection and sampling procedures
  3. Survey designs from an error perspective:  representation errors vs. measurement errors

Literature: Groves

Tuesday

RESPONDENT BEHAVIOUR AND SOCIAL DESIRABILITY BIAS

  1. lessons learnt from cognitive psychology: heuristics, satisficing
  2. respondent behaviour from a rational choice perspective: sensitive questions and social desirability bias

Wednesday

QUESTION FORMATS TO REDUCE SOCIAL DESIRABILITY BIAS

  1. Randomized Response Techniques
  2. Crosswise Model
  3. Factorial Surveys

Thursday

ASKING QUESTIONS

  1. recommendations for designing questionnaires
  2. discussion of concrete examples
  3. designing own question module

Friday

PROGRAMMING QUESTIONS IN LIME SURVEY

  1. introduction to Lime Survey
  2. programming own questions

Recommended preparatory reading

Groves, Robert M., Floyd J. Fowler, Jr., Mick P. Couper, James M. Lepkowski, Eleanor Singer, Roger Tourangeau (2009): Survey Methodology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Chapter 2: Inference And Error in Surveys.

Tourangeau,  Roger  and  Ting  Yan  (2007):  Sensitive  Questions  in  Surveys.  Psychological Bulletin 133(5): 859–83.