GESIS Summer School 2024
Syllabus for course:
“Survey Sampling and Weighting”
Lecturers: Simon Kühne
Affiliation: Bielefeld University
Email:
[email protected] Homepage: https://www.simon-kuehne.de/
Date: 05 – 09 August 2024
Time: Mo: 10:00-17:00 | Tu-Fr: 09:00-16:00
Venue: GESIS Cologne
About the lecturers
Simon Kühne is Professor of Applied Social Data Science at the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University,
Germany. His research focus is on survey methodology, computational social science, and social inequality. He is an
expert in survey sampling and weighting. Prior to his position at Bielefeld University, he worked at the Socio-
Economic Panel Study (SOEP, DIW Berlin), where he was involved in the sampling and weighting of several SOEP
subsamples.
Selected publications
▪ Kühne, S. & Z. Zindel (2020) Using Facebook and Instagram to Recruit Web Survey Participants: A Step-by-
Step Guide and Application. Survey Methods: Insights from the Field. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13094/SMIF-
2020-00017
▪ Kühne, S., Jacobsen, J. & M. Kroh, 2019: Sampling in Times of High Immigration: The Survey Process of the
IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees. In: Survey Methods: Insights from the Field.
https://surveyinsights.org/?p=11416
▪ Kroh, M., Kühne, S., Jacobsen, J. Siegert, M. & R. Siegers, 2017: Sampling, Nonresponse and Integrated
Weighting of the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees (M3/M4). SOEP Survey Papers 477: Series C. Berlin:
DIW Berlin. https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.572346.de/diw_ssp0477.pdf
Course description
This practical course will cover the process of probability sampling and weighting for (social science) survey data.
This includes a) sampling techniques, b) methods of weighting survey data including design weighting,
nonresponse weighting, and adjustment weighting, and c) methods of parameter estimation for complex sample
survey data. Please note that the course will only provide a short excursus to non-probability sampling. The
emphasis of the course is more applied than theoretical, but you are expected to be comfortable with statistics and
to have some experience with survey data analysis. For each topic, you will do exercises in Stata or R (based on your
preference) that apply the techniques learned in the lectures. Prior knowledge in how to use Stata or R for survey
data analysis is needed.
1
Keywords
survey methodology, probability sampling, weighting techniques, nonresponse, Stata, R
Course prerequisites
▪ Introductory course in statistics. No prior knowledge of sampling theory is assumed.
▪ Prior knowledge in Stata or R is required for this course.
▪ Basic understanding in survey methodology and how to handle survey data.
Target group
You will find the course useful if:
▪ you have experience conducting surveys and/or analyzing survey data but have no experience with survey
sampling and weighting,
▪ you are planning your own survey data collection and need to sample and/or weight the data.
Course and learning objectives
By the end of the course, you will:
▪ know about the most commonly used sample designs including stratified sampling, cluster sampling, and
multi-stage sampling,
▪ know how to create design weights, nonresponse weights, and apply adjustment weighting techniques,
▪ know how the sample design can affect data analysis and how to incorporate complex survey designs and
survey weights into parameter estimation.
Organizational structure of the course
A typical course day will consist of two thematic clusters. Each cluster starts with a lecture of around 1 hour. After
that lecture, you split into small groups and work on practical exercises using Stata or R. Simon will provide and
discuss a solution for each exercise in-depth afterwards. During the last half of the last course day, Simon provides
guidance for your own current sampling and weighting projects.
Software and hardware requirements
You will need to bring a laptop computer to successfully participate in this course.
You should have the following software installed on your computer before the course starts:
Stata (at least 17) packages: gsample, unique, distinct, survwgt, fre, coefplot, moremata, estout
OR
R (at least 4.3.2) packages: tidyverse, ggplot2, dplyr, haven, sampling, srvyr, survey, stratification, SamplingStrata
GESIS will provide you with short term licenses for Stata for the duration of the course if needed.
Recommended literature to look at in advance
▪ Any introductory sampling text covering hypothesis testing, standard errors, confidence intervals.
Day-to-day schedule and literature
Day Topic(s)
2
1 Introduction to Survey Sampling
▪ Key concepts
▪ Sampling frames
▪ Simple random sampling
▪ Sample size
Literature:
▪ Chapter 1, “Introduction” Lohr, S. L., 2009: Sampling: Design and Analysis. 2nd edition.
Cengage. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429298899
2 Complex Survey Sampling
▪ Stratified sampling
▪ Cluster sampling
▪ Multi-stage sampling
▪ Design effects
Literature:
▪ Chapter 3 + 5 in Lohr, S. L., 2009: Sampling: Design and Analysis. 2nd edition. Cengage.
https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429298899
3 Weighting I
▪ Design weights
▪ Nonresponse weights
Literature:
▪ Chapter 13 + 14 in: Valliant, R., Dever, J. A., & Kreuter, F. (2013) Practical Tools for
Designing and Weighting Survey Samples. Statistics for Social and Behavioral Sciences:
Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4614-6449-5
▪ Groves, R., 2006: Nonresponse Rates and Nonresponse Bias in Household Surveys,
Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 70(5): 646–675, https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfl033
4 Weighting II
▪ Adjustment weights: Post-stratification & Raking
▪ Trimming
▪ Evaluating weighting factors
Literature:
▪ Kalton, G. and I. Flores-Cervantes, 2003: Weighting Methods. Journal of Official
Statistics 19(2): 81-97.
5 Analyze Complex Sample Survey Data
▪ Applying weights
▪ Variance estimation
Literature:
▪ Eckman, S. and West, B. (2016) Analysis of Data from Stratified and Clustered Surveys in
Handbook of Survey Methodology, Wolf, C, Joye, D, Smith, T, and Fu, Y (Eds). Sage.
Additional recommended literature
▪ Eckman, S. and West, B. (2016) Analysis of Data from Stratified and Clustered Surveys in Handbook of Survey
Methodology, Wolf, C, Joye, D, Smith, T, and Fu, Y (Eds). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473957893.n31
▪ Lohr, S. L., 2009: Sampling: Design and Analysis. 2nd edition. Cengage.
https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429298899
▪ Valliant, R. and Dever, J. (2018) Survey Weights: A Step-by-Step Guide to Calculation. Stata Press.
https://www.stata-press.com/books/survey-weights/
▪ Valliant, R., Dever, J. A., & Kreuter, F. (2013) Practical Tools for Designing and Weighting Survey Samples.
Statistics for Social and Behavioral Sciences: Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-
93632-1
