This course is an introduction to the basic concepts for weighting. It begins by defining the goals of weighting including weighting as a correction for differential selection probabilities, non-response and non-coverage. The course covers the process of developing weights for stratified two-stage sampling including computing design weights and methods for nonresponse adjustments and frame coverage error adjustments. Additional topics may include the effect of weighting on variance of the estimates and extreme weights.

Instructor: Paul Biemer

Paul Biemer holds a joint appointment with the Odum Institute and RTI International, where he is a Distinguished Fellow. He also holds adjunct faculty appointments in the University of Maryland Joint Program for Survey Research and in the University of Michigan Survey Research Center. Biemer has more than 35 years of experience in survey methods and statistics. He specializes in evaluating survey quality and is a leading expert on statistical modeling, analysis, and interpretation of survey results. Biemer has a Ph.D. in statistics from Texas A&M University. His research interests include: Measurement error in surveys; nonsampling error modeling and estimation; general survey methodology and statistical methods. Biemer teaches several short courses for the program including: Introduction to Survey Quality, An Overview of Methods for Evaluating Survey Error, and Techniques for Modeling Survey Measurement Error.

This course will count as 4.0 CPSM short course credit hours.