Curriculum Vitae

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Areas of Specialization

• Survey Methodology
• Questionnaire Design (including Visual Design)
• Measurement Error and Data Quality
• Nonresponse Error
• Mixed-Mode Surveys
• Gender

Current Research

I maintain research interests in survey methodology and gender. My survey methodology interests are driven by an unwavering belief in the importance of high quality data as a basis for science, decision-making, and policy. Thus, my research focuses on how contemporary data collection practices affect data quality and how we can improve those methods to increase data quality. My work covers various aspects of data collection, including questionnaire design in interviewer-, self-administered, and mixed mode surveys; questionnaire design for mobile web surveys; visual design in mail and web surveys; within-household selection in self-administered surveys; survey recruitment; and interviewer/respondent interactions in telephone surveys. I use many methods in my research, including experimentation, eye tracking, cognitive interviews, and behavior coding. I also maintain an interest in the sociology of gender, especially in how to measure gender (in addition to traditional binary measures of sex) in large-scale national surveys.

Student Opportunities

I enjoy working with students who are interested in furthering our understanding of and improving research methods and who are looking to learn and develop their own research skills and experiences. The type of research I do is useful for students who are seeking either academic or applied positions. I welcome a conversation with interested undergraduate and graduate students about my work and potential ways to get involved.

I am open to advising undergraduate honor’s theses as well as UCARE (Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience) and USTAR (Undergraduate Sociology Teaching and Research) research projects.

Current Teaching

I teach Gender in Contemporary Society (SOCI 200), Introduction to Social Research Methods (SOCI 201), Ethics and the Responsible Conduct of Research (SOCI 362) and a graduate seminar focused on  Survey Questionnaire Design (SOCI 947).

Selected Publications

Olson, Kristen, Jolene D. Smyth, Jennifer Dykema, Allyson Holbrook, Frauke Kreuter, and Brady T. West. 2020. Interviewer Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective. CRC Press. https://www.routledge.com/Interviewer-Effects-from-a-Total-Survey-Error-Perspective/Olson-Smyth-Dykema-Holbrook-Kreuter-West/p/book/9780367896317

Dillman, Don A., Jolene D. Smyth, and Leah Melani Christian. 2014. Internet, Phone, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Internet%2C+Phone%2C+Mail%2C+and+Mixed+Mode+Surveys%3A+The+Tailored+Design+Method%2C+4th+Edition-p-9781118921302

Smyth, Jolene D., and Kristen Olson. 2020 “How Well Do Interviewers Record Responses to Numeric, Interviewer Field-Code, and Open-Ended Narrative Questions in Telephone Surveys?” Field Methods. 32(1):89-104.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X19888707

Smyth, Jolene D. and Kristen Olson. 2019 “The Effects of Mismatches between Survey Question Stems and Response Options on Data Quality and Responses.” Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology. 7(1):34-65.  https://doi.org/10.1093/jssam/smy005

Smyth, Jolene D., Alexis Swendener, and Emily Kazyak. 2018. “Women’s Work? The Relationship between Farm Work and Gender Self-Perception” Rural Sociology. 83(3): 654-676. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12207.

Smyth, Jolene D., Don A. Dillman, Leah Melani Christian, and Michael J. Stern. 2006. “Comparing Check-All and Forced-Choice Question Formats in Web Surveys.” Public Opinion Quarterly. 70(1):66-77. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfj007

* indicates graduate student co-author