Jennifer Dykema

Home page

Department of Sociology

Additional information

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Jennifer Dykema is Faculty Director of the University of Wisconsin Survey Center (UWSC) and Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research focuses on survey methodology, social science measurement, and the collection of high-quality demographic and population data. Dykema’s research examines how the design and implementation of surveys influence the quality of the data they produce, with an emphasis on questionnaire design, standardized measurement, interviewer–respondent interaction, mixed-mode and probability-based surveys, and methods for reducing survey error. More recently, her research has expanded to include the use of artificial intelligence in survey research, the measurement of gender and other complex social constructs, qualitative and mixed-methods research, and the development of evidence-based best practices for collecting high-quality survey data. Dr. Dykema collaborates with investigators across the social, behavioral, and health sciences, providing methodological expertise on survey design, measurement, and data collection. Through her research, teaching, and leadership of the University of Wisconsin Survey Center, she works to advance survey methodology while helping researchers produce more reliable, valid, and actionable data. A central goal of her research is to develop empirically grounded best practices that improve the reliability, validity, and efficiency of survey-based measurement across a wide range of substantive applications.

Selected Publications:

Garbarski, Dana, Jennifer Dykema, James A. Yonker, Rosie Eungyuhl Bae, and Michael S. Topping^. 2026. “Improving the Measurement of Gender in Surveys: Effects of Select One or Select-all-that-Apply Response Format on Measurement and Data Quality Among College Students.” Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology https://doi.org/10.1093/jssam/smaf058 (online 2026)

Weeks, Fiona, Rebecca Myerson, Ronald Gangnon, Jennifer Dykema, Candi Cornelius, and Tiffany Green. 2025. “Racial Disparities in Intrapartum Care Experiences and Birth Hospital Characteristics.” Social Science & Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117720

Dykema, Jennifer, John Stevenson, Cameron P. Jones^, and Brendan Day. 2024. “Guaranteed Incentives and Prize Drawings: Effects on Participation, Data Quality, and Costs in a Web Survey of College Students on Sensitive Topics.” Social Science Computer Review 42:777-793. https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393231189853

Garbarski, Dana, Jennifer Dykema, Cameron P. Jones^, Tiffany S. Neman^, Nora Cate Schaeffer, and Dorothy Farrar Edwards. 2023. “Factors Associated with Interviewers’ Evaluations of Respondents’ Performance: Behavior, Response Quality Indicators, and Characteristics of Respondents and Interviewers.” Public Opinion Quarterly 87:480-506. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfad028

Garbarski, Dana, Jennifer Dykema, Cameron P. Jones^, Tiffany S. Neman^, Nora Cate Schaeffer, and Dorothy Farrar Edwards. 2023. “Questioning Identity: How a Diverse Set of Respondents Answer Standard Questions about Ethnicity and Race.” Field Methods 36:113-130. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X231173805

Dykema Jennifer, Cameron P. Jones^, Dana Garbarski, Mia Farias^, and Dorothy F. Edwards. 2022. “Exploring the Relationship Between Medical Research Literacy and Respondents’ Expressed Likelihood to Participate in a Clinical Trial.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19: 15168. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192215168

Dykema, Jennifer, Nora Cate Schaeffer, Dana Garbarski, Nadia Assad, and Steven Blixt. 2022. “Towards a Reconsideration of the Use of Agree-Disagree Questions in Measuring Subjective Evaluations.” Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 18:2335-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2021.06.014

^ = graduate/undergraduate student co-author at time of manuscript development.