Founded in 1948, the Summer Institute in Survey Research Techniques is designed specifically to meet the needs of professionals and graduate students seeking to deepen their expertise in survey methodology and data collection. Offered through the Michigan Program in Survey and Data Science within the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, the program provides a rigorous and flexible curriculum that blends theoretical foundations with practical application — entirely online.

Classes are open for registration.
You do not have to be affiliated with the University to attend.
Registration and payment are required a minimum of two weeks prior to the start of the class.

July 13-17, 2026 (M-F)
1:00pm-4:00pm
Designing and Writing Questions for Surveys: Guidelines and Recommendations
Presented by Jennifer (Jen) Dykema
Course Fee: $1,200

This workshop distills research about survey questions to principles that can be applied to write survey questions that are clear and obtain reliable answers. The workshop provides students with tools to use in diagnosing problems in survey questions and in writing their own survey questions. Sessions combine lectures with group exercises & discussion. The lecture provides guidelines for writing and revising survey questions and illustrates how to revise troubled questions. Sessions consider both questions about events and behaviors and questions about subjective phenomena (such as attitudes, evaluations, and internal states).

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Introduce a structural analysis of parts of a survey question. Describe guidelines for diagnosing problems in survey questions and writing new survey questions. Focus on the structure and wording of survey questions, whether for interviewer-administered or self-administered instruments. Provide an opportunity to apply the guidelines and principles during in-class exercises. Focus on improving individual questions and sets of questions. Summarize research that underlies key decisions in writing survey questions. Introduce cognitive interviewing as a method for testing survey questions.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Individuals who will be writing or reviewing survey questions or survey instruments or analyzing survey data. This course gives practical guidance to those who have written survey questions but who are not familiar with the research on question design, those who are just beginning to design survey instruments, and those who use survey data but do not themselves design survey instruments.

INSTRUCTOR

Jennifer (Jen) Dykema s an Professor of Sociology and the Faculty Director of the University of Wisconsin Survey Center (UWSC). Jen’s research focuses on survey methodology, identifying sources of errors produced in the process of gathering standardized measurements and developing and implementing methods to reduce those errors. This work examines three main areas of inquiry: questionnaire design, methods to increase response rates, and interviewer-respondent interaction. As Faculty Director, Jen oversees a program of methodological research that incorporates experiments and evaluations in ongoing projects. Her research has appeared in a number of journals including Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology, Social Science Computer Review, and Field Methods, and edited volumes including the Handbook of Survey Research and Advances in Questionnaire Design, Development, Evaluation and Testing. She recently co-edited “Interviewer Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective (2020).” Jen served as the Conference Chair for the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) in 2017, and in 2022 she was selected as a Fellow of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research (MAPOR). Jen earned her B.A. in psychology and sociology from the University of Michigan, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.