The course in survey design takes student beyond the introductory courses offered in BA and MA programmes, and discusses the state-of-the-art of one of the most important data collection techniques: surveys. The course focuses on the methodology of how to do surveys, and the use statistical techniques to analyse and correct for some specific survey errors. It combines short 1-hour lectures with exercises on most of the topics discussed. We assume course participants are proficient in working with R.
A bit of personal news: I have recently changed jobs. I am actually still doing the same thing as before: The people at Utrecht University were so kind to appoint me as professor of data quality. I will stay at the dept. of Methods and Statistics , and will continue teaching, doing management and research. If you do not know what the department is doing, do check out the link above; I am fortunate to have been working with incredibly smart and kind colleagues over the past years, and the kinds of projects that everyone at my department are doing really matter for science, for society and for individuals.
Are you passionate about data quality? Are you an expert on survey methods, data collection and analysis? We have an opening for assistant professor! Please see the official vacancy below. Interested, but have questions?feel free to contact me informally. Deadline for applications 3 December 2023.
Peter Job description The department of Methodology and Statistics has a job opening for one assistant professor (tenured, 0.8-1 FTE) requiring you to contribute to our educational and research programmes.
I love watching videos from Richard Feynman on Youtube. Apart from being entertaining, Feynman in the video below does explain quite subtly about what constitutes a good scientific theory, and what doesn’t. He is right about the fact that good theories are precise theories.
Richard Feynman: fragment from a class on the Philosophy of science (source: Youtube)
The video also makes me jealous of natural scientists. In the social sciences, almost all processes and causal relationships are contextual, as opposed to the natural sciences.