Instructor: Gina Walejko
The objective of this course is to introduce the scientific literature on the design, testing, and evaluation of survey questionnaires. The course will explore the theoretical and experimental literature related to question and questionnaire design as well as focusing on practical issues in the design, critique, and interpretation of survey questions that are often not taught in formal courses.
Discussion will focus on the measurement of both factual and non-factual material. Topics include general principles of writing questions to ensure respondent understanding; techniques for measuring the occurrence of past behaviors and events; the effects of question wording, response formats, and question sequence on responses; an introduction to the psychometric perspectives in multi-item scale design; combining individual questions into a meaningful questionnaire; guidelines for self-completion surveys versus interview surveys; strategies for obtaining sensitive or personal information; and an introduction to techniques for testing survey questions.
The course will also provide hands on applications of the methods discussed in class. Students will be expected to draw on the material covered in the video lectures and readings in conducting a series of exercises in the development of a questionnaire.
By the end of the course, students will…
Grading will be based on
No prerequisites
Readings:
Bradburn, N., Sudman, S., & Wansink, B. (2004). Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design – For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Converse, J., & Presser, S. (1986). Survey Questions: Handcrafting the Standardized Questionnaire, Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
Weekly online meetings & assignments: