This course presents research conducted to increase our understanding of how data collection decisions affect survey errors. This is not a “how–to-do-it” course on data collection, but instead reviews the literature on survey design decisions and data quality in order to sensitize learners to how alternative survey designs might impact the data obtained from those surveys.
The course reviews a range of survey data collection methods that are both interview-based (face-to-face and telephone) and self-administered (paper questionnaires that are mailed and those that are implemented online, i.e. as web surveys). Mixed mode designs are also covered as well as several hybrid modes for collecting sensitive information e.g., self-administering the sensitive questions in what is otherwise a face-to-face interview. The course also covers newer methods such as mobile web and SMS (text message) interviews, and examines alternative data sources such as social media. It concentrates on the impact these techniques have on the quality of survey data, including error from measurement, nonresponse, and coverage, and assesses the tradeoffs between these error sources when researchers choose a mode or survey design.
This course is part of the Survey Data Collection and Analytics Specialization
Data Collection: Online, Telephone and Face-to-face
Offered By
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
13 hours to complete
Module 1: Introduction, Classic Modes of Survey Data Collection
In this lesson, you will be introduced to some key concepts about survey data collection methods that we will rely on throughout the course. By the end of this lesson, you should be well acquainted with the major sources of survey error and how these are affected -- usually in the form of tradeoffs -- by the particular mode used to administer questions and capture responses.
12 videos (Total 134 min), 5 readings, 1 quiz
12 videos
1.2.1 Introduction to Survey Errors10m
1.2.2 Variable Error and Bias10m
1.2.3 Total Survey Error7m
1.3.1 What do we mean by “mode?”16m
1.3.2 Mode Choice (by respondent)12m
1.4.1 Mixed Mode Design8m
1.4.2 Concurrent Mixed Mode8m
1.4.3 Sequential (Follow-up) Mixed Mode11m
1.4.4 Interview with David Weir (U. Michigan) on Mixed Mode Designs15m
1.5.1 Response Rates6m
1.5.2 Nonresponse Error13m
5 readings
Module 1 Overview10m
Help us learn more about you!10m
Module 1 Required Readings10m
Module 1 Lecture Slides10m
Notice for Auditing Learners: Assignment Submission10m
1 practice exercise
Module 1: Classic Modes of Data Collection20m
Week
23 hours to complete
Module 2: Self-administration, Online Data Collection
This second lesson focuses on modes in which survey respondents self-administer questions and provide their responses directly to researchers. By the end of Lesson 2, you will understand the pros and cons of self-administered modes from the TSE perspective.
9 videos (Total 131 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
9 videos
2.1.2 ACASI continued8m
2.2.1 Coverage17m
2.2.2 Nonresponse9m
2.2.3 Measurement21m
2.3.1 Progress Indicators, Running Tallies10m
2.3.2 Online Definitions6m
2.3.3 Speeding Interventions10m
2.4 Reg Baker (MRII) about web surveys in market research36m
3 readings
Module 2 Overview10m
Module 2 Required Readings10m
Module 2 Lecture Slides10m
1 practice exercise
Quiz Two24m
Week
34 hours to complete
Module 3: Interviewers and Interviewing
In this lesson, we explore the various roles interviewers take on beside asking questions and collecting answers, as well as some of the different approaches to interviewing that have been proposed and how they affect the accuracy of responses. By the end of Lesson 3, you will appreciate the benefits and costs of collecting data in interviews and will be able to contrast them with the costs and benefits of self-administration.
9 videos (Total 173 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
9 videos
3.1.2 Respondent selection, Within Household Sampling14m
3.1.3 Proxy Responding13m
3.2.1 Standardization Debate: Wording vs. Meaning12m
3.2.2 Different approaches to standardized interviewing14m
3.2.3 Personal vs. Formal Style, I-R Rapport18m
3.3.1 Variance: Interviewer Behavior25m
3.3.2 Bias: Interviewers’ Fixed Attributes16m
3.4 Interview with Nora Cate Schaeffer (UW) about recruitment and interviewing40m
3 readings
Module 3 Overview10m
Module 3 Required Readings10m
Module 3 Lecture Slides10m
1 practice exercise
Quiz Three20m
Week
45 hours to complete
Module 4: Emerging modes, new data sources
In this lesson, we focus on some new data collection modes such as mobile web surveys and SMS text interviews, as well as alternative data sources such as sensor data, administrative data, and social media. By the end of this lesson, you will have a sense of the issues to which survey methodologists and survey researchers are devoting much of their attention these days. You will be able to weigh the pros and cons of these new methods and data sources.
12 videos (Total 194 min), 4 readings, 2 quizzes
12 videos
4.1.2 Mobile Web Surveys19m
4.1.3 Text Message Surveys11m
4.1.4 Text vs. Voice Interviews15m
4.2.1 Record linkage: statistical issues12m
4.2.2 Record linkage: Techniques18m
4.2.3 Record linkage: informed consent and ethical issues12m
4.3.1 Uses of Big Data, Sensing Technology, Social Media Content as Data17m
4.3.2 Social media applications: Measuring Mood and Depression11m
4.3.3 Social Media and Population Estimates: Successes7m
4.3.4 Why does social media content align with surveys data sometimes and not other times?13m
4.4 Interview with Aigul Mavletova (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Mosow) on mobile web surveys37m
4 readings
Module 4 Overview10m
Module 4 Required Readings10m
Module 4 Lecture Slides10m
Post-course Survey10m
2 practice exercises
Module 4: Emerging modes, new data sources20m
Final Exam40m
4.5
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Top Reviews
There is one word for this Course "Amazing". No matter if you are a undergrad student or a seasoned researcher, you'll feel that you have learned a lot from this course.
Very good summary of the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to survey data collection, including some useful context about hybrid approaches.
Instructor
Frederick Conrad, Ph.D.
Research Professor, Survey MethodologyInstitute for Social Research
About University of Michigan
The mission of the University of Michigan is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.
About the Survey Data Collection and Analytics Specialization
This specialization covers the fundamentals of surveys as used in market research, evaluation research, social science and political research, official government statistics, and many other topic domains. In six courses, you will learn the basics of questionnaire design, data collection methods, sampling design, dealing with missing values, making estimates, combining data from different sources, and the analysis of survey data. In the final Capstone Project, you’ll apply the skills learned throughout the specialization by analyzing and comparing multiple data sources.
Faculty for this specialisation comes from the Michigan Program in Survey Methodology and the Joint Program in Survey Methodology, a collaboration between the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, and the data collection firm Westat, founded by the National Science Foundation and the Interagency Consortium of Statistical Policy in the U.S. to educate the next generation of survey researchers, survey statisticians, and survey methodologists. In addition to this specialization we offer short courses, a summer school, certificates, master degrees as well as PhD programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
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Is financial aid available?
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.
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