APSTI WORKSHOPS - Alabama Public Service Training Initiative

Description:

This course is designed for anyone who is interested in designing surveys but may not know where to start. This course will provide an overview of the types of question and response options that can be included in surveys and why some options may be better than others. The course will briefly overview surveys and when to use them (or not), but it will mostly focus on how to design effective questions. Those who want to learn more about survey design or who have an idea for a survey but need more information will benefit from this course. Those interested in analyzing survey results should take "Building a Survey Codebook: Strategies for Organized Data Management" and/or "Making Sense of Open-Ended Responses: Intro to Text Analysis in Survey" workshop(s).

Requirements:

Recipients must successfully complete the workshop, including 1-hour of preparatory work, 2-hour training, and successfully pass an evaluated assessment.

Description:

Participants will understand and develop a survey codebook for data management. Whether you intend to develop your own surveys, oversee contracted survey work, or use existing survey data, this workshop provides essential strategies for creating and interpreting codebooks that support effective, organized data collection and documentation. A well-constructed codebook serves as the bridge between raw data and meaningful analysis. This workshop is ideal for professionals involved in designing surveys, managing datasets, or preparing data for analysis, particularly in public or nonprofit settings where data accuracy is critical. No advanced technical skills are required, though a basic familiarity with Excel or spreadsheets will be helpful.

Requirements:

Recipients must successfully complete the workshop, including 1-hour of preparatory work, 2-hour training, and successfully pass an evaluated assessment.

Description:

Participants will learn how to analyze open-ended survey questions. This course is designed for public and nonprofit sector professionals who want to move beyond basic survey statistics to better understand the stories, sentiments, and insights hidden in open-ended responses. Whether you’re involved in program evaluation, community needs assessments, policy development, or stakeholder engagement, this course will help you make sense of qualitative data in a systematic, practical way. No prior experience with text analysis is required, just curiosity and a desire to make data more human-centered and actionable.

Requirements:

Recipients must successfully complete the workshop, including 1-hour of preparatory work, 2-hour training, and successfully pass an evaluated assessment.

Description:

Participants will learn how to select the right type of data visualization tool. This workshop is ideal for anyone who wants to improve how they communicate data insights visually, whether in reports, presentations, or dashboards. It's especially valuable for public and nonprofit sector professionals who need to make complex information more accessible. No advanced technical skills are required, though a basic familiarity with Excel will be helpful.

Requirements:

Recipients must successfully complete the workshop, including 1-hour of preparatory work, 2-hour training, and successfully pass an evaluated assessment.

Description:

Participants will learn one tool (Piktochart) for creating infographics as a communications tool for data. This workshop is ideal for public and nonprofit professionals who need to communicate complex data and ideas to broad audiences in clear and compelling ways. Participants should have basic digital literacy (i.e., experience using web-based tools), but no prior design or data visualization experience is required. 

Requirements:

Recipients must successfully complete the workshop, including 1-hour of preparatory work, 2-hour training, and successfully pass an evaluated assessment.