Dear all
Apologies for cross-posting - please see details below of a special short course on 4th May at Essex.
Essex Short Courses in Social Research in association with Methodology Institute LSE & Ipsos MORI
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Adventures in Survey Research: A Workshop on the Dangers of
Trying to Make the World a Better Place Through Social Science
Professor Jon A. Krosnick, Stanford University
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Wednesday 4th May, 10.00am-4.30pm
Large Seminar Room (2N2.4.16)
Social Science Research Centre, University of Essex
In this workshop, Professor Krosnick will tell a series of stories, each supported by data, about his experiences trying to conduct rigorous social science research devoted to helping to improve people's quality of life, to helping non-science professionals do their work effectively, and to enhancing scientific understanding of survey research methods and social phenomena. In each case, the research led to remarkable backlashes and public outcries - congressional hearings, ethics investigations, allegations of corruption, and allegations of scientific misconduct. Each story brings with it lessons about the challenges of doing social science that has social relevance.
One story involves survey research conducted by NASA and funded by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration seeking to document the frequency of safety-compromising events during commercial air travel. The project was an extremely well-funded enterprise with the goal of doing top-quality measurement to prevent accidents and deaths. Innovative techniques were used to develop the measurement tools to be used, and thousands of interviews were conducted over a period of years. When the results began to appear behind the scenes, the project was shut down, and efforts were made to destroy all the data. The behind-the-scenes workings of government and industry were revealed as the saga unfolded.
Another story involves surveys of American public opinion on global warming. For over a decade, numerous natural scientists have expressed frustration with American politicians for not taking action to address the threat of climate change, and these scientists blamed the public for not accepting scientific findings and pressing government to become engaged. Survey researchers have measured U.S. public opinion on the issue for 15 years, and the findings of different surveys stand in sharp contrast to one another - different survey organizations have painted very different portraits of what the public believes and wants. Nonetheless, there is a widespread perception among American policy-makers that the public has turned away from this issue and no longer believes it is a threat worthy of attention. Professor Krosnick took a careful look at the available survey research, has made very different arguments about how survey methods shaped apparent conclusions, and has received death threats as a result.
A third story involves the core methodology of psychological research around the world: laboratory experiments with college student participants. A huge edifice of findings has been generated using these methods, and these findings paint a portrait of human nature that has generated a great deal of popular discussion, disseminated widely by books such as "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell and "The Social Animal" by David Brooks. Yet at the core of this story are assertions that vastly over-generalize beyond the actual scientific findings on which they are based. In a program of research, Professor Krosnick has put these assertions to the test and has turned up findings suggesting a radical revision of the portrait of human nature that psychology has been promulgating and considerably more humility in describing the implications of empirical findings of social science studies.
A fourth story involves the fast-changing methodologies of survey research around the world. At the core of survey research is the notion that scientific sampling from a population allows researchers to describe that population while collecting data from only a tiny fraction of it. Governments, businesses, and academics across the globe have endorsed that notion - billions of dollars are spent every year conducting surveys, and the results have tremendous impact on policy-making, investment, new product development, and the evolution of scholarly theories of human cognition and action. Yet remarkably little research has explored the accuracy of surveys - indeed, surveys are usually conducted to measure phenomena that cannot be gauged in any other way. If other metrics were available, of course, there would be no need for a survey. But in the corners of the academic literature is a wide array of studies evaluating the accuracy of survey measurements (both the accuracy of individuals describing themselves and the accuracy of aggregations of self-reports in describing populations). Professor Krosnick has gathered and reviewed this literature and explored methodological decisions that researchers can make to increase or compromise the accuracy of their surveys. Some of his findings have elicited outcries of outrage from commercial organizations whose products have not fared well in competitions gauging accuracy.
Taken together, these stories paint a portrait of how important social science is in contemporary society, how much impact we can have outside of academia if we choose to, and how to be prepare if one chooses to stick a toe outside the tent.
The course is aimed at anyone with an interest in the role of social science research in public life and those interested in survey methodology.
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Course fee
**Free for University of Essex students and staff**
Commercial, local and central government organisations: £240
UK Higher Education staff or registered charities: £120
UK-registered PhD students: £60
Book a place here www.essex.ac.uk/sociology/short_courses/Default.aspx?title=Adventures-in-Survey-Research&date=04-05-2011 (***Essex students/staff please ignore fee/deposit information on this page, as it does not apply to this course***)
Contact Ms Fay Wilson, Department of Sociology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ. E-mail: [log in to unmask] Tel: +44 (0)1206 874892. Fax: +44 (0)1206 873410
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