The Survey Research Laboratory is offering six intermediate webinars on survey research methodology during the Spring 2015 semester. The webinars are free to University faculty, staff and students. A basic knowledge of survey research is recommended. All webinars begin at 12:00 p.m.

Pre registration is required. Register at http://www.srl.uic.edu/SEMINARS/Spring15Seminars.htm

You will receive a reminder about the webinar shortly before the date. Webinar notes will be available at the following link shortly before the webinar: http://www.srl.uic.edu/SEMINARS/semnotes.htm

The six featured webinars are:

Cognitive Pretesting of Questionnaires (February 11 at 12pm)
This webinar will provide an overview of methods used to pretest questionnaires that are based on a cognitive model of the process by which respondents answer survey questions. These methods include think-aloud and more structured cognitive interviews and behavior coding.

Sampling Hard-to-Reach Populations (February 18 at 12pm)
This seminar will provide an overview of available strategies for the survey sampling of hard-to-reach populations. Topics to be discussed include types of populations, probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling techniques, and sample frame development and availability.

Nonresponse Bias Assessment (February 25 at 12pm)
This webinar will provide an overview of survey nonresponse. Specific topics covered will include the calculation and reporting of survey response rates, the definition and consequences of non-response bias, some commonly used strategies for assessing the degree of non-response bias, and a summary of correlates of survey non-response.

Ethics in Survey Research (March 4 at 12pm)
This workshop will provide an overview of ethical considerations in the conduct of survey research. Some of the topics to be discussed include informed consent, confidentiality, interviewer training & oversight, and secondary research subjects. Students, faculty and staff on the Urbana/Champaign and Chicago campuses may be able to receive IRB continuing education credit for taking this webinar.

Questionnaire Design Clinic (March 11 at 12pm)
This webinar is questionnaire design by example. Participants are encouraged to submit questions or questionnaires to be used to highlight principles of questionnaire construction. After registering, submit questions or questionnaires by March 4 to Allyson Holbrook at allyson@uic.edu. If you do not have a questionnaire to submit for review, your attendance is still welcome. Depending on the number of questionnaires received, not all of those received may be used as examples in the workshop.

Agree-Disagree Response Formats: Problems and Alternatives (March 18 at 12pm)
This webinar will cover issues related to the use of agree-disagree questions in which survey respondents are asked if or how much they agree or disagree with a statement. Specifically, the webinar will discuss possible reasons why agree-disagree questions are often used, ways in which these questions negatively affect the quality of the survey data collected and possible alternatives to such items.