Phd course on Survey Methodology

Survey Methodology

General Description

This course provides an introduction to the elicitation of economic preferences and the design of surveys. We first motivate the utility and limitations of experimentally elicited preference measures, and then discuss various state-of-the-art methods to elicit risk, ambiguity, time and social preferences. In particular, we cover different elicitation tasks, the measurement of relevant primitives and the estimation of preference parameters. The second part of the course focuses on survey methods. We look at best practices to design own survey questions and modules, and discuss relevant key measures, the validation of surveys and the role of incentives using concrete examples. The course closes with practical advice on the design and implementation of own preference and survey measures, and guidance on how to link preference and survey measures to Danish register data.

Learning Goals

Students know the advantages and disadvantages of certain preference elicitation methods. They know how to implement basic elicitation tasks and how to compute key measures from these data. Students know the basics of survey design and can design their own survey questions. They know where to get more detailed information on the design and validation of survey modules.

Exam

Students who want to obtain a grade for the course will have to present a published paper using survey data or preference measures. Students are free to choose their own paper. The 20 minute presentation should critically discuss the relevant aspects of the paper related to topics covered in the course, followed by a short in-class discussion.

Preliminary program