Design and Implementation of Web Surveys

online course

This online course introduces students to the design and implementation of online survey data collection instruments. The course is both hands-on and conceptual. It begins by discussing what is unique about web surveys and when their use is most appropriate, followed by an introduction to survey errors that can affect the quality of web survey data. Small groups of students will each develop a research problem and a questionnaire to address their problem, designed for online administration. They will pretest the question wording, program the questionnaire using a web survey development platform (no programming experience is required), and assess users' (respondents') experience while interacting with the web-based instrument. Students will also develop basic plans for data collection. Finally, each group will present its problem, online questionnaire, evaluation, and plans to the rest of the class.

Course leader

Asst. Prof. Dr. Christopher Antoun, JPSM, University of Maryland, USA,
Research Prof. Dr. Frederick G. Conrad, University of Michiagan, USA,
Prof. Dr. Florian Keusch, University of Mannheim and Adjunct Asst. Prof., University of Maryland, USA.

Target group

Anyone (whether in government, business, academia, or non-profit organizations) who wants to collect survey data online can benefit from this course. This includes people who are new to web surveys but also people who have used web surveys in the past but fell that they need to improve the design of their surveys.

Prerequisites:
- Some familiarity with survey research.
- Plans to use a web survey in a project is helpful but certainly not essential.

Course aim

By the end of the course participants will:
- have implemented a functioning web survey instrument
- be able to evaluate survey questions and their usability in an online questionnaire

Credits info

4 EC
- Certificate of attendance issued upon completion.
Optional bookings:
- 4 ECTS credit points via the University of Mannheim for regular attendance and satisfactory work on daily assignments and for submitting a paper of about 5000 words to the lecturer(s) up to 4 weeks after the end of the summer school (50 EUR administration fee).

Fee info

EUR 500: Student/PhD student rate.
EUR 750: Academic/non-profit rate.
The rates include the tuition fee and the course materials.

Scholarships

Scholarships are available from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the European Survey Research Association (ESRA)