Subject Area: Social Research and Policy

The ability to conduct high quality social surveys is a valuable skill for social scientists and applied social researchers. This course offers students a detailed introduction to social survey methodology and the quantitative data analysis involved in survey research. The first part of the course elaborates on major themes in survey design (question writing skills, sampling, delivery mode) and common survey problems (non-response, response bias). The second part introduces students to data analysis techniques commonly used by applied social researchers. We cover: basic descriptive statistics; sampling and distributions; comparisons of means including ANOVA; analysis of contingency tables and categorical association; non-parametric measures for categorical data; scale building; bivariate and multiple linear regression modelling; and, the logistic regression model. Strategies for presenting quantitative social research data are emphasised throughout the course. Survey data used in this course includes examples of interest to students studying criminology, social science, and political science.