Objectives
To train candidates
- to understand logic and process of conducting surveys
- to critically evaluate surveys as a research tool in the health sciences
- to design and evaluate various types of sampling strategies
- to plan and undertake their own surveys
Content
- The scope of survey research
- Surveys in health research
- Formalising the survey process
- Survey error
- Target population, study population and sampling
- Sampling strategies
- Power, precision and sample size
- Quantifying theoretical constructs
- Designing data collection tools
- Modes of administration
- Beyond questionnaires: biomarkers/observation/direct measurements
- Qualitative methods in survey research
- Ethical aspects and protection of personal information
- Fieldwork
- Data management
- Principles of data analysis & reporting
Format
The course will be offered online, with weekly contact sessions, individual engagement with the reading material provided, and online interaction with the SurveyLab virtual environment. The latter includes a simulated human population of 40000 individuals which can be surveyed and analysed and allows the students to experiment with the concepts and techniques taught in the course, by designing virtual surveys, sampling the population according to their plan, and conducting virtual interviews to collect the data of interest that they can then analyse and interpret.
Example course materials:
Info
The course is offered by the Division of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, as an elective for students enrolled in the MPhil in Health Systems.
It can be also accessed by external students as a short course.
For more information and to secure your place, contact Ms Tracey Pietersen (traceyp@sun.ac.za).