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| Semester | spring semester 2020 |
| Course frequency | Every spring sem. |
| Lecturers | Aya Kachi (aya.kachi@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course is part of the full module “Colloquium: Survey Research Methodology (6KP)”. In order to master fully the entire research process involving a survey and a survey experiment, it is strongly recommended that you sign up for the 6KP full module. In case you sign up for this 3KP module, the following will more or less what you will learn. The course is intended as an applied method colloquium taught at the master’s level. The course welcomes motivated students who are willing to complete required readings beforehand, and discuss and participate actively in class with your peer. Creativity in thinking is always a little bit of a plus for survey- and survey-experiment oriented research. This partial module aims to prepare you for understanding good research involving a survey and a survey experiment. The course covers three major areas: (1) the nature of the survey response, including the typical psychology of attitude expressions and social desirability pressures; (2) general issues around quantitative survey research, including random and systematic measurement errors, and the logic of causal analysis; and (3) analyzing and interpreting treatment effects (for survey experiments) using an existing (but not your own) survey experiment data. The topical area covered in this colloquium is mostly within the realm of climate- and energy-related policy issues; however, this should not prevent you from learning survey research methodology, even if your research interests were in other topical areas such as marketing and international trade. We will use R for quantitative analyses. Energy and Climate Policy—Citizens’ Perspectives (VV-Nr: 43030) is not a strict requirement but highly recommended before taking this course. Basic knowledge of sampling and statistics would be useful. The final grade will be based on active participation, homework assignments and a final examination. The largest difference from the full (6KP) version “Colloquium: Survey Research Methodology” is the following. In the full module, during the latter half of the colloquium, we, collectively as a class, will draft an original survey experiment together, and field it with a convenience sample (i.e. “real people”). In doing so, in the full module, we will learn and use Qualtrics as a survey software (which we will explore together in the course). Instead of the final examination, in the full module, each of us will write a short research note based on our original survey data, analyzing “real” results. Therefore, the full module would take a more thorough learning-by-doing style, including technical implementation of a survey, as well as thorough discussions on decisions regarding survey wording etc. Needless to say, one would also learn (by doing), what to illustrate in the final report. |
| Learning objectives | 1. learn survey and survey experiment methods from an applied, practical point of view, 2. learn how to use them in research. |
| Bibliography | Required readings will be available on ADAM |
| Comments | The digital version of the lecture and exercises are available at www.ayakachi.org/survmeth. Those who joined the course recently should email the professor to receive the password for the course material page. |
| Admission requirements | Energy and Climate Policy—Citizens’ Perspectives (VV-Nr: 43030) is not a strict requirement but highly recommended before taking this course. Alternatively, some experience (courses) and knowledge about public opinion or survey-based market research can be helpful. Basic knowledge of sampling and statistics would be useful. Basic knowledge of R is also useful. |
| Course application | Registration: Please enrol in MOnA. EUCOR-Students and students of other Swiss Universities have to enrol at the students administration office (studseksupport1@unibas.ch) within the official enrolment period. Enrolment = Registration for the exam! |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Module: Interdisciplinary Research in Sustainability (Master's Studies: Sustainable Development) |
| Assessment format | end-of-semester examination |
| Assessment details | (1)Occasional individual or group assignments related to survey design. (2) Active participation in class. (3) Final examination. The final grade will be the sum of all these activities. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Registration: course registration |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,1 |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Business and Economics , studiendekanat-wwz@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Faculty of Business and Economics |