Field Topics

Suggested Field Topics

Share the challenges you’ve encountered and solutions you’ve developed from your organization’s work in the following areas:

New CATI Challenges
  • Working with cellular carrier to prevent being labeled as spam/telemarketers
Responsive and Adaptive Designs
  • Identifying and monitoring project risks
  • Novel interventions
  • Outcomes of responsive design interventions
Methods to Improve Data Collection Efficiency
  • 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
  • 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
Mixed-Mode and Multi-Mode Study Design
  • 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
Ancillary Data Collection
  • 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
Questionnaire Design
  • 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
Sample Design and Weighting
  • 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
Respondent Incentives
  • 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
IRB Considerations and Challenges
  • Sensitive survey items and ancillary measures
  • Mandatory reporting and event reporting
  • Clinical or social worker contact people for respondents and interviewers
Longitudinal Data Collection Issues
  • 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
Qualitative Data Collection
  • 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
Tailored Recruitment for Specialized Samples
  • Hard-to-reach populations
Innovations in Administering Mail Surveys
  • Testing the use of mailed materials and how it affects response
Community-Based Participatory Research
  • Collaborating with community-based organizations
  • Building and sustaining community partnerships
  • Engaging the community to participate in research
Multi-Cultural and/or Multi-Language Research
  • Survey translation
  • Cultural adaptation of survey measures
  • Working with multi-cultural data collection teams
  • Gaining community cooperation
  • Identifying appropriate sampling frames
Evaluation Research
  • Best practices in evaluating programs
  • Study design for research on interventions
  • Organizational initiatives

Diversity and Inclusivity Initiatives at Your Shop
  • 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
Interacting with the IRB
  • Current trends across IRBs
  • Educating accounting and IRB staff about incentives
  • Educating IRB’s about other best practices in survey research
Budgeting
  • Budgeting for qualitative and ancillary work
  • Using budget templates and spreadsheets
  • Recharge centers
  • Call center rates
Managing Clients and Client Satisfaction
  • 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
Managing and Sustaining Your Survey Organization
  • 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)
Working Within your Organization or University
  • 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
Interviewers
  • Traits and capabilities of successful interviewers
  • Detecting and avoiding data falsification
  • Interviewer effects
Managing Remote Interviewers
  • 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
Interviewer Quality Control
  • 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
Interviewer Training
  • Sharing recent approaches and experiences of training modalities
  • Pre-training and at-home study modules
  • Training coders, data entry workers
Interviewer Hiring and Retention
  • Background check requirements
  • Projecting and reducing interviewer attrition
  • Improving interviewer job satisfaction
  • Retention and engagement of field staff
Project Management Approach
  • 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
Federally-funded Studies
  • Role of the OMB
  • Study timeline
  • Research design issues