Duration: 40 hours (5 days)

Number of Participants: 15-20

Pre-requisite: Master’s degree in social science or any other relevant discipline. Background in social science research will be an asset.

Instructors:

Dr. Dirgha Ghimire, Research Associate Professor, University of Michigan  

Mr. Bishnu Adhikari, Data Manager, ISER-N

Ms. Indra Chaudhary, Study Manager, ISER-N

Course Description

The goal of this course is to provide theoretical background and practical understanding of designing survey questions and questionnaires used in social research. The topics include: general principles of writing questions; techniques for measuring the occurrence of past behaviors and events; the effects of question wording, response formats, and question sequence on responses; an introduction to psychometric perspectives in multi-item scale design; combining individual questions into a meaningful questionnaire; mode selection and questionnaire design; and strategies for obtaining sensitive or personal information. This course will also focus on pre-testing and steps in questionnaire finalization.

This inter active course uses a combination of lecture, in-class exercises, group exercises and individual participation. Individual consultation will be provided to assist participants with the assignments leading to a grant proposal. Assignments throughout the week should be emailed or handed in as hard copy the day they are due. Feedback will be provided in a timely manner to aid in future assignments.

Upon completion of this course, participants will:

• Able to write different types of survey questions.
• Understand the effect of question and section order, option category, non-response error.