[Forum SIS] Summer School on Survey Methodology, RECSM, Barcelona

[ARPINO, BRUNO]

Dear all,

Greetings from the *Research and Expertise Centre for Survey Methodology
(RECSM), Universitat Pompeu Fabra*.

It is a pleasure for us to announce that registration for the *First Summer
School on Survey Methodology* is now open. *The courses will be held at the
Campus de la Ciutadella of Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), on July
7-11, 2014*. The language of instruction for the courses will be
English. *Deadline
for registration is June 20, 2014.* Brief information on the courses is
outlined below; for complete information, please see our website
http://www.upf.edu/survey/Summer_School/.


*OBJECTIVES*

Provide the participants the knowledge about the main issues related to the
implementation of survey studies and the best way to deal with them.
Understand and apply sophisticated statistical techniques to survey data.



*TARGET GROUP:*
Business professionals who develop their work in survey methodology and/or
statistical methods, teachers, researchers and students.



*PROGRAM*


7 July

8 July

9 July

10 July

11 July

9:00
11:00

Survey nonresponse

Designing and Conducting Business Surveys

11:15
13:15

Spatial data  analysis

Multilevel Modelling

14:15
16:15

Survey nonresponse

Designing and Conducting Business Surveys

16:30
18:30

Spatial data  analysis

Multilevel Modelling


*Survey nonresponse*
*Instructor:** Ineke Stoop*, European Social Survey, The Netherlands
Institute for Social Research/SCP



Nonresponse is a major concern of survey sponsors, survey agencies, and
data users. Because of the decreasing response rates in many European
countries survey costs increase and fieldwork periods lengthen, survey
agencies have to enhance efforts to reach target persons and obtain their
participation, and data users worry about the representativeness of the
outcomes of their analyses and the accuracy of their estimates.

Surveys researchers worldwide work on improving survey designs, experiment
with modes and incentives, and investigate how balanced response rates can
be achieved, i.e. equal response rates from men and women, the rich and the
poor, and people who like or dislike politics. They also try to collect
auxiliary variables that both correlate with key outcomes of the survey and
response propensities, to assess the presence of nonresponse bias and to
adjust for this, if necessary and possible.

The course will present the nonresponse problem from a general survey
quality perspective. It will delve into causes and correlates of
nonresponse, describe measures to enhance response rates, such as
interviewer training, incentives and advance letters, show how nonresponse
bias can be assessed, and present some ways to adjust for nonresponse.
Special attention will be paid to survey design aspects that exclude
specific groups (e.g., the illiterate), the use of mixed mode designs, and
nonresponse in a comparative perspective. The course will focus on
nonresponse on surveys among individuals and households, rather than
businesses. The emphasis is on unit nonresponse rather than item
nonresponse.

The course will be useful for those who conduct their own surveys, who wish
to evaluate the quality of data collected by a survey, and who wish to
assess the possible effects of nonresponse on their analyses. A hands-on
approach will be used, which means that input from the participants is
planned in every phase of the course.

Some general knowledge on survey methodology is required.

____________________



*Designing and Conducting Business Surveys*
*. **Instructors: *Jacqui Jones, Deputy Director of the Business Indicators
and Balance of Payments Division in the UK Office of National Statistics
(ONS) and Diane Willimack,  Chief of the Response Improvement Research
Staff at the Economic Programs Directorate of the U.S. Census Bureau



Business surveys differ in important ways from social surveys, for example:

·         Business entities are dynamic.

·         Target populations are often skewed requiring certainty selection
of large businesses in survey samples.

·         Businesses are likely to be in more than one survey and in
recurring surveys to support official statistics.

·         The response process is complex and often involves more than one
person.

·         Business records may provide a source for requested survey data.

·         Surveys rely heavily on self-completion data collection modes.

·         Businesses can be classified into industrial classifications
based on economic rules, which may seem arbitrary from the business
perspective.

·         Businesses may be re-contacted post-collection, e.g. during
editing, to clarify reported data.

Because of these and other differences, practical issues emerge that have
implications for survey design decisions at all stages in the survey
process.

Using a process-quality perspective, derived from the Generic Statistical
Business Process Model (GSBPM) and grounded in the Total Survey Error
framework (Groves et al., 2009), this course provides an overview of
methodological issues associated with the use of surveys to collect data
from businesses.  We will:

Identify key differences between household surveys and business surveys,
emphasizing organizational behaviors and attributes that affect survey
response.

Demonstrate an approach to survey planning and design that utilizes
understanding and consideration of this business context when developing,
adapting, and implementing data collection instruments and procedures.

Look at process quality measures throughout the business survey process to
help effectively monitor and manage surveys.

This course will also include topics related to survey communication and
response improvement strategies, managing and monitoring data collection
processes, along with post-collection procedures such as editing, analysis
and dissemination.

This integrated approach to surveys of businesses is the subject of the
2013 book published in the Wiley Series in Survey Methodology, entitled
Designing and Conducting Business Surveys, written by Ger Snijkers, Gustav
Haraldsen, Jacqui Jones, and Diane K. Willimack.

____________________




*Spatial data analysis.**Instructors: **Albert Esteve*, Research Scientist
and Deputy Director, Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED)and *Antonio López
Gay*, Research Scientist (CED)



This course provides an introduction to spatial data analysis for social
scientists. The increasing availability of spatial data (both at the
aggregated and at the individual level) has expanded the range of
methodological tools to explore the spatial dimension of social phenomena
and explain variation among areas. In this course, the student will learn
how to manipulate and analyze spatial data. We will present basic
techniques of Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA), the concepts of
local and global Spatial Autocorrelation, and introduce spatial (Lag and
Error) regression models. Theoretical explanations will be accompanied by
three lab exercises using GEODA (freeware). GEODA is a user-friendly
software developed by Luc Anselin, the leading scholar in spatial
econometrics, which enables beginners to quickly immerse in the world of
spatial analysis.

 ____________________




*Multivel Modelling**Instructor: **Leonardo Grilli*, Associate Professor in
Statistics , University of Florence



The course introduces the concepts of multilevel analysis, whose main aim
is to model the relationships between and within groups. Typical situations
include individuals clustered into families, schools, firms, geographical
areas. The course focuses on the two-level linear model as a template to
illustrate issues of specification, estimation and inference. The main
ideas are illustrated by means of a couple of case studies. The second part
of the course is devoted to special topics, such as the design effect and
the required sample size, and to extensions, such as the logistic
multilevel model for binary responses.

____________________



*FEE FOR EACH COURSE:*

400 EURO professionals |   300 EURO teachers and researchers  |   150 EURO students

A certificate of attendance will be provided.



*INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION:*

RECSM
www.upf.edu/survey
recsm a upf.edu

 * ********************

Best regards,

Research and Expertise Centre for Survey Methodology - RECSM
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
www.upf.edu/survey

-- 

*Bruno Arpino*

Department of Political and Social Sciences
Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Carrer Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27 | 08005 - Barcelona
[Tel.] +34 93 542 2366 [Fax.] +34 93 542 2372
bruno.arpino a upf.edu
https://sites.google.com/site/brunoarpino/

[image: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona]
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