Fall 2023 Mondays 3:35pm-6:05pm Eaton Humanities Bldg 1B80 University of Colorado Boulder
Instructor: Lecia Barker, Department of Information Science
Survey design and administration is presented through a communicative lens: designing a survey requires being able to take the perspective of one’s audience and persuading potential respondents to take and finish it. Through hands-on design, students will develop and/or increase their competency for designing and administering a survey to build a data set as part of an authentic research project. Several past projects have resulted in publications.
Students will learn the theoretical underpinnings of survey research, improving their ability to appreciate and assess the quality, validity, and credibility of their own and others’ survey research.
Students who take the course have three choices:
1) They may design their own survey that is part of an existing project or to answer a new research question.
2) They can collaborate with one or more other students pursuing answers to a research question.
3) They can collaborate with a class-based survey project.
Students who have IRB approval for an interview- or observation-based study may be able to amend their study mid-semester and actually administer their surveys. It may be possible to seek and receive IRB approval for a new study also. Regardless, the hope is that students can develop competence for future research or build a component of a research project that can be used for their research goals.
What You’ll Learn:
– Research-based techniques for planning, designing, and administering a survey
– Theoretical underpinnings of survey research
How You’ll Learn:
– Authentic research project (pre- and in-class preparation of project components; write-ups demonstrating understanding; project presentation; final report)
– Read Dillman (2014). Internet, phone, mail, and mixed-mode surveys: The tailored design method (Fourth edition).
– Present informally on a topic
Lecia Barker 