Suggested Field Topics
- Working with cellular carrier to prevent being labeled as spam/telemarketers
- Identifying and monitoring project risks
- Novel interventions
- Outcomes of responsive design interventions
- Executive / 80K foot view of field work: what is important to know and do at that level
- Field locating strategies
- Contact strategies, e.g., effective quantity and types of contacts
- Optimal routing for field interviewers using GIS and other methods
- Mining interviewer observation data
- Monitoring data collection performance
- Response rates versus other measures of data quality
- Methods to improve response rates
- Approaches to refusal aversion and conversion
- Effects of social media on different populations
- Overcoming new technologies that make it difficult to make contact with respondents
- New methods of promoting studies or engaging participants
- Maximizing participation rates and representativeness of respondents
- Managing sample and contact attempts
- Blending of “tried and true” methods, mobile phone samples, and address based samples
- Sequential mixed-mode surveys
- How do online-modes and app-based surveys fare in terms of cost, quality, and effort?
- Moving from in-person data collection into a web-based mode: platforms, best practices, obstacles
- Collecting CAPI data using online video conferencing
- Biosamples and biomarkers
- Anthropometrics and physical measurements
- Wearables and Sensors
- Cognitive tests
- Collection of records waivers and linkage to administrative data
- Using administrative data/records to fill in missing data or for non-responders
- Using administrative records or other data sources to support field data collection operations
- Qualitative aspects of instrument development: deriving themes from focus groups, cognitive interviewing, and considerations when designing items for particular subcultures
- Design challenges for mixed-mode surveys
- Writing and formatting questions to improve data quality
- Pilot testing and decision-making
- Keeping pace with the changing landscape around diversity/inclusion in questionnaires
- Address-based sampling
- Adaptive design
- Targeted mail or telephone lists, e.g., small geographic or demographic groups
- Mixing random-digit dialing, cell phone lists, and email lists
- Statistical support for complex sampling and weighting needs
- Tools and tips for managing web-based samples/panels
- Targeted interventions to improve representativeness in survey data collection
- Differential incentives (why and how you use them, implications for communication to respondents, navigating institutional review boards)
- Alternatives to cash incentives;Electronic incentives, e.g., gift card codes delivered electronically
- Federal limitations on incentives
- When incentives are not an option
- Non-monetary incentives
- Success of various incentive approaches
- Sensitive survey items and ancillary measures
- Mandatory reporting and event reporting
- Clinical or social worker contact people for respondents and interviewers
- Tracking and locating challenges and innovations
- Managing complex incentive treatments
- Complex sample management including other contact persons
- Maintaining response rates over time
- Considerations when including new sample members
- Supplementing quantitative data collection with qualitative insights
- Designing and administering open-ended probes
- Using text analysis and other methods
- Focus groups
- Cognitive interviews
- Technology used to facilitate qualitative data collection
- Hard-to-reach populations
- Testing the use of mailed materials and how it affects response
- Collaborating with community-based organizations
- Building and sustaining community partnerships
- Engaging the community to participate in research
- Survey translation
- Cultural adaptation of survey measures
- Working with multi-cultural data collection teams
- Gaining community cooperation
- Identifying appropriate sampling frames
- Best practices in evaluating programs
- Study design for research on interventions
- Organizational initiatives
- Keeping pace with the changing landscape around diversity/inclusion
- Sexism, racism and disability focused surveys/issues
- DEI conversations: how to make surveys representative, create more DEI in the field itself
- Current trends across IRBs
- Educating accounting and IRB staff about incentives
- Educating IRB’s about other best practices in survey research
- Budgeting for qualitative and ancillary work
- Using budget templates and spreadsheets
- Recharge centers
- Call center rates
- Scope creep and managing client expectations
- Evaluating client satisfaction and acting on satisfaction feedback
- Re-shaping current client-center relationships
- Approaches to successfully convince clients of your expertise
- Effective approaches to developing management skills in your staff
- Tools and strategies for marketing your center
- Changing your center’s image
- Building and sustaining new client relationships
- Standardizing procedures across programs
- Outsourcing and vetting vendors
- How different survey centers function internally (especially smaller ones)
- Tips for working within your university or larger organization to educate and adapt policies to meet the needs of survey research
- Working with Human Resources on unusual or unique staffing needs
- Dealing with Purchasing to procure project materials
- Traits and capabilities of successful interviewers
- Detecting and avoiding data falsification
- Interviewer effects
- Switching to remote work and back to on-site during COVID
- Solutions to guide case assignments
- Remote training and re-training
- Remote supervision
- Build a sense of comradery, team, and connection
- Pros and cons of periodically bringing remote staff to headquarters
- Safety in the field
- Types of quality control and optimal frequency and scope
- Barriers, concerns, and application of recording interviews
- Performing quality control and providing feedback to interviewers
- Dealing with low performers
- Data quality: preventing and detecting problems early
- Detecting falsification & measuring quality
- Sharing recent approaches and experiences of training modalities
- Pre-training and at-home study modules
- Training coders, data entry workers
- Background check requirements
- Projecting and reducing interviewer attrition
- Improving interviewer job satisfaction
- Retention and engagement of field staff
- Philosophy and consequences of moving to a more formalized Project Management approach (PMI)
- Project management team models
- Dealing with the day-to-day issues
- Remote project management issues
- Dashboards to manage CATI
- Dashboards and integrated software to help field operations better monitor complex studies
- Role of the OMB
- Study timeline
- Research design issues