Duration
16h Th, 6h Pr
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The theoretical course resumes the stages of a quantitative survey. The main stages developed in the theoretical course are those concerning the principle and techniques of sampling, the preparation techniques of a questionnaire , the principles relating to interpretation of the results.
The course will also emphasize some of the cognitive mechanisms that lay under the problems of question wording. It will also develop some elements of the theory of public opinion and of the history of polls.
Practical lectures are organized for the most technical parts of the course (sampling, question wording and statistical interpretation of the results).
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The purpose of the course is double:
1 ° to give to the students the theoretical basic knowledge necessary for the realization of a quantitative survey, mainly in sampling of populations, realization of questionnaires, statistical treatment and interpretation of results.
2° To give the students the necessary tools in order to understant and interpret the surveys they could be confronted to : how to understand sampling error, how to understand various forms of figures and tables, how to assess the effect of the ways questions are asked and the potential biases they can induce, which conclusions may drawn form allowable evidence.
3° To position survey techniques in relation to other ways of gathering relevant information in social sciences.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
If possible, knowledge of elementary notions of statistics and probability
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
For each main part of the course, it will be one period of training at the end of the year.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
Ex-cathedra lessons (12 h) illustrated by transparent frames.
Trainings (6h).
After each main chapter of the course, one or two sessions of practictal training will take place.
Recommended or required readings
A pedagogical frame is provided throuh detailed powerpoint. All technical elements of the course can be found there.The oral course is dedicated to explaining and exemplifying the content of powerpoint. To attend the course is very useful to understand the various slides.
STRUCTURE OF SLIDES
CH I General questions of validity
CH II The questionnaire and problems of bias
CH III Notions of sampling
CH IV Introduction to presentation and analysis of survey results.
Mainly used books are : see French version.
Consulting the various books is not at all compulsory but may help the student to understand better or to deepen the study of some particular points.
Assessment methods and criteria
Written examination for both sessions
Written examination is composed of short open questions (usally 8 questions). The final note will take into account :
- exact response or not
- clear or obscure argumentaton : an answer with no argumentation will not be taken into account.
- relevance : the preseance of irrelevant considerations diminishes the note.
- capacity to synthesize
Students must be able to use the main notions from the courses in the context of simple problems.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Slides are not send all at once by one chapter after another.
Those slides are indeed regularly adapted to furnich examples better linked to socio-political news and evolutions.
Contacts
Teacher : Marc JACQUEMAIN, Tel: 04/366 30 72 - Fax: 04/366 45 20 e-mail : marc.jacquemain@ulg.ac.be
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session
Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning
Slides in pdf available Video podcast lessons Exercises + resolutions in video podcast
Assessment subjects
As usual
Assessment methods
The exam will be done online, with two parts (corresponding to the two parts of the course), multiple choice questions and some open questions. In all likelihood the exam will take place on June 10, online, on Ecampus. As expected, if one of the two parts is successful and not the other, you will only have to retry the part that failed in the second session.
Contacts
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session
Assessment subjects
As usual
Assessment methods
The exam will be done online, with two parts (corresponding to the two parts of the course), multiple choice questions and some open questions. In all likelihood the exam will take place on August 20, online, on Ecampus.