Conference Agenda

Duration of the workshop: 2.5 h

Target groups: people involved in conducting surveys

Is the workshop geared at an exclusively German or an international audience?
international

Workshop language: English

Description of the content of the workshop:
The release of the first iPhone was now more than a decade ago and smartphones have since become a mainstream device. In many countries, smartphones are replacing traditional PCs and laptops as the primary device to browse the Internet and to use social media. In the last couple of years, researchers have experimented with smartphones as a method of data collection. This short course focuses on recent studies that have aimed to study how smartphones can be used. 1. As a device to administer surveys and 2. to acquire additional behavioral data using sensors.

Goals of the workshop:
Understand why you should want to do research using smartphones; learn how to make web surveys mobile-friendly, understand issues around the collection of smartphone sensor data

Necessary prior knowledge of participants:
No previous knowledge is required, although an understanding of survey methods (the TSE framework, questionnaire design) will be helpful.

Literature that participants need to read prior to participation: none

Recommended additional literature: none

Information about the instructor:

Vera Toepoel is an assistant professor in survey methodology at the Department of Methods and Statistics at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Her research interest lie in everything related to survey methodology and online surveys in particular: from recruiting respondents, designing the survey instrument, correcting for bias etc. Current topics include data chunking (a.k.a. modular survey design), sensor data (and consent) and mobile survey design. Vera is the President for RC33 (Methods and Logistics) of the International Sociological Association. She is a member of the Scientific Quality Assurance Board of the GESIS Online Panel in Germany. Vera is the author of the book “Doing Surveys Online” published by Sage (2016), has authored several chapters in handbooks for methodology, and has published numerous journal papers amongst others in Public Opinion Quarterly, Sociological Methods and Research, Survey Research Methods, Social Science Computer Review, Survey Practice etc.

Anne Elevelt is a PhD student at the Department of Methods and Statistics at Utrecht University. Her PhD thesis focuses on smartphone surveys and sensor data.

Maximum number of participants: no

Will participants need to bring their own devices in order to be able to access the Internet? Will they need to bring anything else to the workshop? no