Designing and Conducting Public Health Surveys

Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness
UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Syllabus for PH 298, Section 22 CC# 76673
Spring 2005, Modified 05/04/2005

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FACILITATOR/INSTRUCTOR

Wayne Enanoria, PhD, MPH
Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness
UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Tel: 510-643-4934, Fax: 510-643-4926
Email: enanoria@berkeley.edu, URL: http://www.idready.org

GUEST LECTURERS

James Dayton, MBA
Vice President and Director of Project Management, ORC Macro
Officer-in-Charge, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

Jennifer Mann, PhD, MPH
Department of Epidemiology
UC Berkeley School of Public Health

Sona R. Saha, MPH, PhD Candidate
Department of Epidemiology
UC Berkeley School of Public Health

GRADUATE STUDENT INSTRUCTOR

Michelle Lee Kirian, MPH Candidate
Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness
UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Email: cazadora@berkeley.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This is a one-semester introduction to the design and conduct of public health surveys. The emphasis will be on the effective principles and approaches for creating quality surveys for public health projects. The participants of this course will also have the opportunity to apply these principles and approaches to the development of their own surveys as part of this course.

TARGET AUDIENCES: This course is intended for public health practitioners with limited training or experience in survey design and conduct and might include epidemiologists, public health nurses, communicable disease investigators, bioterrorism coordinators, emergency medical specialists, and environmental health specialists.

COURSE PREREQUISITES: None

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe how to conduct surveys in the real world.

• Evaluate the quality of survey results.

• Understand the importance of good survey methodology in order to understand how error arises in survey statistics.

• Minimize error in survey statistics.

• Describe the issues of survey methodology:

  • target populations, sampling frames, and coverage error

  • sample design and sampling error

  • methods of data collection

  • nonresponse in sample surveys and their implications

  • formulating questions and answers in surveys

  • evaluating survey questions

  • survey interviewing

  • data collection and management

  • communication of survey results

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture and discussion

COURSE ENROLLMENT & FEE: To enroll in this course just show up to the first day of class. This course is FREE to public health practitioners (except for books and materials). CIDP follows the UC Berkeley academic calendar. For the complete Academic Calendar, go to http://opa.vcbf.berkeley.edu/AcademicCalendar/calendar.cfm. Registered UC Berkeley students are welcome and encouraged to enroll in these classes (be sure to meet the usual semester registration deadlines even for courses that are offered in 2nd half semester). Non-registered students who want to receive academic credit will need to register and pay the UC Extension fee (see http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/info/concur.html).

COURSE CREDIT/GRADING: Units: 2; Grading: P/NP
[Group Study; Instructor of Record: Tomas Aragon]

COURSE LOCATION & SCHEDULE: Tuesdays, 9:00am-10:30am, 1918 University Avenue, 4th Floor.

COURSE BOOKS:

1. Groves RM, et al. Survey Methodology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004, 1^st Edition

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION:

1. Class attendance and participation.

2. Complete assigned readings.

3. Complete 3 assignments on survey design to be handed in (see workshops below).

COURSE SCHEDULE OUTLINE

STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS:

1. Complete assignments at the end of each chapter.

2. Complete workshop exercises.

3. Give a class presentation on the development of a survey.

GRADING ASSIGNMENT:

Satisfactory completion of the course requires (1) , (2) , and (3) including class attendance.

ADDITIONAL READINGS & RESOURCES:

1. Additional readings and/or assignments will be announced and distributed electronically or in-class one week in advance.