SRA Training

Cognitive Methods for Testing Survey Questions
Summary:	This course is designed to familiarise participants with a powerful and efficient method of testing survey questions called Cognitive Interviewing. Cognitive interviewing itself encompasses a range of methods. The most popular ones include think-alouds, probing, and observation. Other techniques include paraphrasing, rating tasks, response latency measurement and card sort classification tasks. Each of these methods will be discussed in the course as well as current trends and issues in cognitive interviewing methodology. The course will include practical information on how to implement the various methods as well as “hands-on” sessions where participants will have the chance to practice the major methods.
Objectives:	By the end of the workshop, delegates will: Have an understanding of the range of techniques which make up a cognitive interview Have increased their own ability to do cognitive interviewing Have a better awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of different aspects of cognitive interviewing Have insight into the issues of analysing cognitive data and selecting and recruiting respondents
Topics:	Content includes: Problems with the standard field pilot Background to cognitive interviewing Cognitive interviewing techniques Workshop for practicing cognitive interviewing techniques Analysis and reporting of cognitive data Selecting and recruiting respondents Current issues in cognitive interviewing
Who will benefit?	People new to cognitive interviewing as well as those who have experience in cognitive interviewing, but would like to brush up on their knowledge and skills. The course is particularly appropriate for those who anticipate conducting a survey who wish to learn this powerful tool for piloting their questionnaires.
Learning outcomes:	Participants will achieve an awareness of the critical issues and techniques in conducting a cognitive interview and have increased their own ability to do cognitive interviewing.
Course tutor:	Dr. Pamela Campanelli is a Survey Methods Consultant and U.K. Chartered Statistician. She received her Ph.D. in statistics from the London School of Economics, and an M.A. in applied social research and B.A. in psychology from the University of Michigan. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, she was a Research Associate at the at the University of Michigan, a Survey Statistician at the U.S. Bureau of the Census, a Chief Research Officer at the UK Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, and a Research Director at the Survey Methods Centre at the National Centre for Social Research, London. Her main interests and publications are in the study of survey error and data quality issues, with special emphasis on questionnaire design, question testing strategies, interviewing techniques, survey nonresponse, and survey sampling. In addition to her consultancy work, she regularly teaches short courses for the SRA, CASS, the CCSR, the RSS, for Central government departments, for survey research companies, for UK universities, for the University of Michigan Summer Institute (linked to the Joint Programme in Survey Methodology, and for the University of Hong Kong, as well as for various other institutions and businesses (see www.thesurveycoach.com).
Date & Location:	6th May 2010, 09:00 - 9.30 to 17:00 Location: Manchester
Programme	Download Programme to follow and booking form (doc)