Conducting a survey involves a number of steps that need to be carefully planned and executed to ensure accurate and reliable results. Below are general considerations you should review prior to reaching out to the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment to determine whether or not conducting a survey is appropriate.
- What is your research question? What is it that you want to know more about? How will you use the survey results to inform decision-making, improve processes, or make changes to products or services as necessary?
- Determine whether you really need to conduct a survey. We suggest that you look at existing Carleton data and the relevant literature (e.g., academic journals, books, government reports, prior research at Carleton or in your office) related to the topic of interest. Reviewing the existing literature will help ensure that your study is well-informed, well-designed, relevant, and positioned to make meaningful contributions to the existing body of knowledge (internal or external to Carleton).
- Use the survey results to inform decision-making, improve processes, or make changes to products or services as necessary. It is important to know what you will do with the results.
- If a survey still seems like the best way to gather information, begin by clearly defining the objectives and goals of the survey. What information are you trying to collect? Who is your target audience? From what group will you be gathering information? What decisions will be made based on the survey results?
- Work with IRA to determine the most appropriate survey methods (online, phone, QR code, mailed, in-person, or a combination of methods).
- Develop a list of survey questions that are clear, concise, and relevant to your objectives. Write these questions in Word or Google Docs before copying into the survey software. Qualtrics and other survey tools have poor editing features. Ensure that questions are not biased and do not lead respondents to a particular answer. Consider using open-ended questions to allow respondents to elaborate on their answers. Too many open-ended questions can frustrate survey takers.
- Develop all communications with potential survey participants, including the initial survey invitation, reminders, thank you messages, etc. These communications should reflect your voice and should be tailored to the survey respondents.
- Pretest the survey: Before launching the survey, test it with a small group of people in your office who can provide feedback on usability. This will help you identify any problems with the survey questions or flow.
- Coordinate survey launch with IRA in an effort to avoid overlapping surveys.
- Work with IRA to determine how the survey data will be analyzed, summarized, interpreted, and reported.
- Use the survey results to inform decision-making, improve processes, or make changes to products or services as necessary.
- After the survey is complete, follow up with respondents to thank them for their participation and provide them with any relevant information or results of the survey.