During the last twenty years survey data are increasingly collected through computer assisted modes. As a result, a new class of data – so called paradata - is now available to survey methodologists. Typical examples of paradata are key-stroke files, capturing the navigation through the questionnaire, and time stamps, providing information such as date and time of each call attempt or the length of a question-answer sequence. Other examples are interviewer observations about a sampled household or neighborhood, recordings of vocal properties of the interviewer and respondent, information about interviewers and interviewing strategies. While specific paradata vary by mode of data collection, all paradata share one feature; they are a by-product of the data collection process capturing information about that process.

The topic of this course is the potential use of paradata for social survey research. It will give an introduction to the methodological issues involved in the collection and analysis of paradata. We will discuss several research examples including but not limited to the use of paradata to monitor fieldwork activity, guide intervention decisions during data collection (responsive design), address measurement error issues, and to decrease nonresponse bias. Using the ESS as example, we will be pay particular attention to cross-national challenges in collecting comparable paradata in a timely manner.

The objective is to provide the participants with an overview of the latest findings on the use of paradata, and to develop research ideas on how to push the field even further. The course will help participants gain an understanding of the role of paradata in increasing survey quality and reducing total survey error. Research articles and a power-point handout will be provided to all participants.

Lecturer: Dr Frauke Kreuter, Ass. Professor in the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA.

Frauke Kreuter is assistant professor in the Joint Program in Survey Methodology (JPSM). She obtained her Ph.D in survey methodology at the University of Konstanz, and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Statistics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Prof. Kreuter is associate editor of the Journal of Official Statistics, Survey Research Methods and The Stata Journal. She has published many articles in international scientific journals including Public Opinion Quarterly and the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. She co-authored a textbook on Data Analysis using Stata that is now in its 3rd edition. Her most recent publications focus on the use of paradata for nonresponse adjustment, mode comparisons and latent variable models. She has taught specialized courses on survey methodology both in Europe and the USA. More information is available at http://www.jpsm.umd.edu/jpsm/?people/faculty/fkreuter.htm