Short Course: DESIGN AND ADMINISTRATION OF
POSTAL AND SELF-COMPLETION SURVEYS
19-20 February 1997, in London
run by the Centre for Applied Social Surveys
Tutors: Roger Thomas, Pamela Campanelli and Peter Lynn
This is the second of two courses on design & administration of
surveys. The first course covers on Interview Surveys
and runs from 17-18 Feb 97. Information about the first course has
been sent out as a separate message.
Course Objectives
o to enable participants to develop a thorough and practical
understanding of the principles of good questionnaire design as
applied to self-administered quantitative surveys (including the
special issues related to the design of factual, non-factual and
sensitive questions).
o to establish understanding and competence in how to plan, administer
and maximise quality and response in postal and other self-completion
surveys.
Course Content
o Basic principles of questionnaire design
o Designing questions to measure behaviour, attitudes and values
o Special features of postal and self-completion surveys
o Pretesting and piloting postal surveys
o Project management and administration: planning, costing,
timetabling
o Minimising nonresponse in postal surveys
The course will include workshop sessions so that participants can
work through practical exercises. Teaching staff are present in
between sessions and on the evening of day 1, in order to discuss
questionnaire issues arising in individual participants' research.
Numbers are limited to facilitate such participant support.
Target Audience
The course is aimed at researchers who need to design and administer
self-completion surveys, especially those in the social, economic,
educational and medical sciences.
Course Materials
Participants will receive written course notes, copies of overhead
transparencies and a reading list.
The Instructors
Roger Thomas directs the Survey Methods Centre at Social & Community
Planning Research, as well as the Centre for Applied Social Surveys.
Before joining SCPR in 1993 he was an Assistant Director of the Social
Survey Division at the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys,
where he was responsible for the Methodology and Sampling Group, and
for overseeing the design and conduct of major government surveys.
Pamela Campanelli is a Research Director at the Survey Methods Centre
of SCPR. She specialises in research on survey instruments, data
collection and interviewing techniques and regularly teach in this
area. She runs a major ESRC-funded research programme on non-response
and interviewing techniques. Prior to joining SCPR she worked on
large-scale surveys at the University of Michigan, the US Bureau of
the Census and the British Household Panel Study.
Peter Lynn is Deputy Director of the Survey Methods Centre of Social
and Community Planning Research. He specialises in sampling
techniques for surveys and in postal survey methodology. He is well
known for his expertise and practical knowledge of survey sampling
issues and teaches many courses in this area.
Credit Accumulation and Transfer
Some participants may wish to transfer the academic credit gained from
this course to a university degree programme. This course is worth 4
CATS points at postgraduate level. To qualify for CATS points
participants will need to undertake assessed work. Please indicate on
the registration form if you wish to do this.
Fee
The standard fee is stlg 250. Because of ESRC support, a number of
bursaries are available which reduce the fee to stlg 60 - applicants
must be full-time students, UK academic staff or ESRC-funded
researchers.
Participants who are also attending the short course on Design and
Administration of Quantitative Standardised Interview Surveys being
held immediately prior to this course on 17-18 February should note
that on 19 February there will be some repetition of material covered
in that course, therefore they should only attend on 20 February.
There will be a consequent fee reduction for these participants.
Location
National Children's Bureau, 8 Wakely Street, London EC1V 7QE.
Duration
The course will begin with registration and coffee at 10.00 am
Wednesday 19 February and end at 5.00 pm Thursday 20 February 1997.
Background Reading
For those participants who wish to do background reading before the
course the following book list may be useful. Please note, however,
that any such reading is optional and it will not be assumed that
participants will have done any preparatory reading.
Dillman, D.A. (1978) Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design
Method. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Groves, R. (1989) Survey Errors and Survey Costs, New York: Wiley.
Bohrnstedt, G.W. (1983) Measurement, in P. Rossi, et al (eds),
Handbook of Survey Research, New York: Academic Press, 70-122.
Converse, J. and Preser, S. (1986) Survey Questions: Handcrafting the
Standardized Questionnaire, Sage Series No 63, Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Fowler, F.J. Jr (1995) Improving Survey Questions: Design and
Evaluation, Applied Social Research Methods Series Volume 38, SAGE
Publications, 1995.
Fowler, F.J. Jr (1988) Survey Research Methods, Newbury Park, CA: SAGE
Publications, Inc.
Sudman, S. and Bradburn, N.M. (1983) Asking Questions - A Practical
Guide to Questionnaire Design, San Francisco: Josey-Bass.
Accommodation
Applicants requiring accommodation are asked to contact the hotel
directly. A list of hotels can be supplied if required.
Deadlines and Refunds
Course places are limited and early completion of this form is
recommended. Payment must be made by 7 days before the course. No
refunds can be made for cancellations made later than 7 days before
the start of the course.
CASS is an ESRC Resource Centre hosted by SCPR and the University of
Southampton, with the University of Surrey
Registration Form
Design and Administration of Postal and Self-Completion Surveys
19-20 February 1997
Please return the completed form to:
Rebecca Bundock
Department of Social Statistics
University of Southampton
Southampton SO17 1BJ
(Fax: 01703 593846 Tel: 01703 593048 E-mail:
[log in to unmask])
Name: _____________ Title: ______
Affiliation: ___________________________________
Address for Correspondence: _________________
__________________________________________
E-mail: ________________ Telephone: __________
Registration fee:
Either
(1) Standard fee stlg 250__________
OR
(2) If eligible for ESRC bursary
(you must be a full time student,
UK academic staff or ESRC funded
researcher) stlg 60 __________
OR
(3) If also attending short course on
Interview Surveys 17-18 February
Standard fee stlg 125 _________
OR
(4) If also attending short course on
Interview Surveys 17-18 February and
eligible for ESRC bursary stlg 30 ___________
Please indicate either:
Cheque enclosed payable to University of Southampton
or
Send invoice to: _______________________________________
Any special dietary or other requirements: _______________
Please indicate if you wish to undertake
assessed work in order to gain CATS points yes/no
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