The Social Research Centre and the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA) are very proud to offer statistical training from the International Program in Survey and Data Science (IPSDS), a joint program of the University of Mannheim and the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland. Places are limited, please register early to take advantage of early bird discounts and secure a place.
About the course:
Step by Step in Survey Weighting is a statistical methods class that combines hands-on applications and general review of the theory for survey weighting giving participants the necessary tools to calculate analysis weights for various survey designs in a real-world setting. The course will focus on methods to solve practical problems while providing overview of the theory for the underlying assumptions. Weekly homework problems are included to reinforce learning and provide opportunity to apply methods in practice. Participants are encouraged to discuss their own weighting challenges and solutions during weekly online meetings.
Presenter: Anna-Carolina Haensch
Anna-Carolina has worked with the International Program in Survey and Data Science (IPSDS) team since 2019 and enjoys teaching quantitative courses to Bachelor and Master students. Anna-Carolina’s research interests include Multiple Imputation, Big Data in the Social Sciences, and Statistics and Data Science training. She has worked at GESIS Institute, University of Mannheim and is also involved in the CTIS survey run by Facebook in cooperation with the University of Maryland.
Timeframe:
Course duration: February 15 – March 7, 2024
Weekly meetings: Thursdays 6 PM AEDT –7 PM AEDT.
Course objectives:
By the end of the course, participants will understand
• The role of survey weights in population inference.
• Steps in weighting, including computation of base weights for single and multi-stage designs, nonresponse adjustments, and uses of auxiliary data.
• Nonresponse adjustment alternatives, including weighting cell adjustments, formation of cells using classification algorithms, and propensity score adjustments.
• Weighting via poststratification, raking, general regression estimation, and other types of calibration to align survey estimates with known population values.
• Assessing whether the weights are necessary
Weekly Topics:
1. Basic Steps in Weighting
2. Basic Steps in Weighting (continued)
3. Calibration and Other Uses of Auxiliary Data in Weighting
4. Calibration (continued) and Replicate Weights
Software:
This course will emphasize R but some examples in SAS and Stata are also discussed. R is downloaded for free from http://cran.r-project.org/. Participants may also find https://www.rstudio.com/ a helpful interface to execute program code. For those new to R, there are many MarinStatsLectures available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqzoL9-eJTNBDdKgJgJzaQcY6OXmsXAHU
Prerequisites
As this is a statistical methods course, understanding of sampling theory and applied sampling is required. Some experience with variance estimation, statistical analysis using survey data, and the R statistical computing software will be helpful. If you are unsure whether you meet the prerequisites please email events@statsoc.org.au describing your background and experience with sampling.
Reading:
Valliant, R., Dever, J.A., and Kreuter, F. (2018). Practical Tools for Designing and Weighting Survey Samples, 2nd Edition. New York: Springer. Please note that the recorded lectures are provided as a supplement to and not a substitution for the course readings.
Grading:
• 4 Homework assignments (50% of grade)
• A take-home final exam (30% of grade)
• Class Participation (20% of grade) in discussion during the weekly online meetings and posting questions to the weekly discussion forum (deadline: 24 hours before class) demonstrating understanding of the required readings and video lectures
Early Bird Deadline:
Please book before 15 December 2023 to take advantage of the Early Bird Deadline.
Disclaimer:
Participants will receive access data for the online course, in particular to any learning platform that may be used. The rights of use connected to the access data are personally assigned to the participant. Passing on the access data is not allowed. Also, the temporary transfer to third parties is not permitted.
The right to use the transmitted access data, in particular with regard to any materials or video recordings provided, can only be exercised up to a maximum of 2 months after the program end. After expiration of this 2-months period, the access data will be deleted by Mannheim Business School (MBS). Before the expiration of this period, the participant may view the respective recorded course as often as desired and without time restriction.
If we have reasons to believe that the participant is abusing the right of use granted to him or that there is a violation of the terms of use, MBS reserves the right to change the participant’s access data as well as to partially or completely block the access or to prohibit the further use of the digital content.
Group bookings
For group bookings, please email events@statsoc.org.au with the names, email addresses, and telephone numbers of the participants in the group.
Cancellation Policy
Occasionally courses have to be cancelled due to a lack of subscription. Early registration ensures that this will not happen.
Cancellations received prior to two weeks before the event will be refunded, minus a $20 administration fee. From then onward no part of the registration fee will be refunded. However, registrations are transferable within the same organisation. Please advise any changes to events@statsoc.org.au.
For any questions, please email events@statsoc.org.au
@StatSocAus
