The FORS Guides offer support to researchers and students in the social sciences who intend to collect data, as well as to teachers at university level, who want to teach their students the basics of survey methods and data management. Written by experts from inside and outside of FORS, the FORS Guides are descriptive papers that summarise practical knowledge concerning survey methods and data management. They give a general overview without claiming to be exhaustive. Considering the Swiss context, the FORS Guides can be especially helpful for researchers working in Switzerland or with Swiss data. The FORS Guides are an ongoing publication series, additional guides will follow soon.

FORS Guides to survey methods

If you want to collect your own data or just better understand the decisions behind data collection processes, these guides will give you interesting insights into measurement concepts, the development of questionnaires, survey modes, field organisation and monitoring and a lot of other topics regarding the collection and processing of data.

Mobile web surveys (FORS Guide N°01), Jessica M.E. Herzing

Measurement of income in surveys (FORS Guide N°02), Ursina Kuhn

Refusal conversion (FORS Guide N°04), Marieke Voorpostel

Surveying national minorities (FORS Guide N°06), Jessica M.E. Herzing, Guy Elcheroth, Oliver Lipps, Brian Kleiner

Incentives in surveys (FORS Guide N°08), Oliver Lipps, Jessica M.E. Herzing, Nicolas Pekari, Michèle Ernst Stähli, Alexandre Pollien, Gisana Riedo, Maud Reveilhac

Measurement of social position in surveys (FORS Guide N°10), Robin Tillmann

Measuring party affiliation (FORS Guide N°12), Georg Lutz, Lukas Lauener

Preparation of survey data (FORS Guide N°13), Alexandre Pollien, Jessica M. E. Herzing, Erika Antal

Panel surveys: advantages and disadvantages compared with repeated cross-sectional surveys (FORS Guide N°14), Oliver Lipps

Representativeness of surveys and its analysis (FORS Guide N°15), Michael Ochsner

Data Linkage (FORS Guide N°18), Giannina Vaccaro, Elfie Swerts

Measuring psychological constructs (FORS Guide N°22), Valérie-Anne Ryser

FORS Guides to data management

The correct, fast and easy handling of data is a major concern of all researchers collecting and processing data. The guides provide you with useful knowledge around your data management, from the planning to its implementation, the consideration of ethical issues and data protection until the final archiving and sharing of your data.

Ethics in the era of open research data: some points of reference (FORS Guide N°03), Pablo Diaz

The informed consent as legal and ethical basis of research data production (FORS Guide N°05), Sybil Krügel

How to draft a DMP from the perspective of the social sciences, using the SNSF template (FORS Guide N°07), Pablo Diaz, Alexandra Stam

Pre-registration and registered reports (FORS Guide N°09), Marieke Heers

Data anonymisation: legal, ethical, and strategic considerations (FORS Guide N°11), Alexandra Stam, Brian Kleiner

Replication in the social sciences (FORS Guide N°16), Marieke Heers

Data protection: legal considerations for research in Switzerland (FORS Guide N°17), Pablo Diaz

Data Citation: How and Why Citing (Your Own) Data (FORS Guide N°19), Christina Bornatici, Nicolas Fedrigo

Qualitative data anonymisation: theoretical and practical considerations for anonymising interview transcripts (FORS Guide N°20), Alexandra Stam, Pablo Diaz

Data Sharing in the Social Sciences (FORS Guide N°21), Marieke Heers

Quantitative data anonymisation: practical guidance for anonymising social science data (FORS Guide N°23), Brian Kleiner, Marieke Heers