Courses in Applied Social Surveys (CASS) is a programme of short courses in applied social surveys run by the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute (SSRI) at the University of Southampton.

The programme is co-ordinated with the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) programme of training. From 1 April 2009 CASS became part of NCRM.

About CASS

CASS provides short courses for academic social scientists and applied researchers in government, market research and the independent and voluntary sectors.The programme covers all aspects of the quantitative survey process from survey design and implementation to data collection and analysis. The courses aim to provide guidance and workshop practice for researchers who face practical survey tasks and decisions, such as how to draw a sample, how to design a questionnaire and how to analyse a dataset.

Courses are usually two to three days and may vary from introductory and intermediate to more advanced levels. Teaching is interactive and responsive to course participants' needs - a dynamic learning environment is created through the use of mixed teaching techniques. All courses include practical sessions and computer workshops that enable participants to put the methods they have learned into practice. All our courses are taught by highly qualified staff and international experts in their fields.

One course each year will be delivered by staff from the US Joint Programme in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland. It is expected that the tradition of contributions to the programme from the National Centre for Social Research will be continued via at least one course per year.

Examples of courses include:

• Questionnaire design
• Essentials of survey design and implementation
• Survey data analysis
• Regression methods for survey data 
• Survey sampling
• Handling nonresponse in surveys  
• Longitudinal data analysis.

To register for a course

You can register for courses on the CASS website.

Course applicants who are UK registered students, UK academic staff or ESRC-funded researchers pay greatly reduced course fees. The course fee includes course materials, lunches and morning and afternoon tea.

Download the Courses in Applied Social Surveys information sheet (PDF, 192Kb) 

Further information 

• CASS organiser
  Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute, Building 58, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ
  Email: cass@southampton.ac.uk
  Telephone: +44 (0)23 8059 5376
  Fax: +44 (0)23 8059 5763 

• ESRC resources team
  Email: esrcresources@esrc.ac.uk
  Telephone: 01793 413180