After you have your research questions, you can create survey questions that will generate the best data to address what you want to know. Remember that people are busy, and most do not want to spend too much time answering surveys.
Decide the format you want to use and distribute your survey - an online survey program, through personal emails, social media, in-person, telephone, etc.
Proofread the survey throughout its construction
Once you have a preliminary list of questions, have colleagues review them for clarity. Conduct a focus group comprised of a sample from your target population and/or conduct a pilot study and ask for their feedback on the questions. Incorporate relevant ideas and refine your questionnaire accordingly. You will also get an early idea of the kinds of data you can expect to gather.
Most surveys use a combination of open and closed-ended questions.
Closed-ended questions include multiple choice, true/false, matrix, ranking, and Likert-style. Ranking and Likert-style (e.g., "Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree" ) are often used to capture attitudes and behaviors. Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, LibWizard, etc., will amalgamate your data and provide descriptive information from closed-ended questions, including converting them to spreadsheets and visual charts. You must invest time constructing your survey questions, but the first level of analysis is a snap.
Open-ended questions are more easily constructed but are more time-consuming at the analysis stage. Comments and open responses provided by the subjects can be rich in nuances and information beyond the numbers, adding depth and greater understanding to their whole experience.
Do not combine conditions. Example: "Do you wake up early and get all your tasks done before noon?" addresses two conditions: waking up early and getting tasks done. Maybe the person likes to wake up early but only begins their tasks after noon.
Define your terms, even terms that may seem evident. E.g., What is early? - Before sunrise? Before 10 a.m.? Are you asking about everyday behaviors? Every weekday? Most weekdays? What are tasks in this context?
Balance the tone of your questions to avoid any subtle bias, real or imaginary. For example, don't include an imbalance of negative or positive attitude statements ("I can never find what I need in the library." "The library staff is unhelpful," "People are too noisy in the library"). Mix up the order of your questions. Many researchers like to ask essentially the same question in different ways: E.g., "I know how to locate library material by myself"..." I don't understand the order in which the books are arranged in the library." This helps ensure that respondents are thinking about each question which lessens response bias and helps increase the statistical reliability of the survey and your data.
Demographic questions can be open, e.g., "What is your major?" However, be prepared for a variety of responses to what may seem like simple questions, e.g., "bio, biology, bioengineering, biochem, nursing, premed, bio, and physics."...It can make analysis more challenging and time-consuming. Depending on the variety of your sample population (all students? science students?), consider constructing closed questions with relevant categories: "Which best describes your academic major or field of study? Check more than one answer if you are studying for a double major or in a cross-disciplinary field: Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences," etc.
Word the sensitive questions carefully and always add an open "other" or "decline to answer" category. "With which gender do you identify most? Male, Female, non-binary, prefer not to say." Request potentially sensitive questions (e.g., "What is your current GPA?" "Are you a legal resident of the US?") only if essential to your study, and ensure strict confidentiality (see below for more info).
For a different perspective on constructing assessment questions, see https://guides.library.ucla.edu/assessment/assessmentquestions
You must acquire your respondents' consent and agreement to answer your survey. A brief explanation of the study, its purposes, and how long it should take to complete must be stated before beginning the survey. Respondents must understand that this is entirely voluntary, and they will not be penalized (e.g., grades, monetarily) if they choose not to complete it. It would help if you also guaranteed respondents Anonymity (respondents cannot be identified by name or their responses) and/or Confidentiality (the researcher does not reveal respondents' replies). In-person studies require a signed consent with two copies, one for the respondent and one for the researcher. Online consent is usually implied if the respondent continues to complete the survey.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval must be obtained for any study using human subjects in which results will be published or presented to the public. Surveys for pedagogical assessment or internal reports do not need IRB. If you are a UCLA Librarian or library staff member, a Library administrator must agree to be the PI, or you must request an exception to be the PI. All PIs must pass CITI certification...[put links to sites] https://ohrpp.research.ucla.edu/getting-started/
Distribution plans should be considered early on in the study construction process.
Good idea! Why?
See Data Management for the Sciences - A guide to best practices for research data management, including links to data services from the University of California.
Data collected under a protocol that has been certified exempt from UCLA IRB review must be maintained, stored, accessed, and archived as described in the application that the OPRS/IRB reviewed. If the data will be kept in an archive for library staff to improve library products and services, the protocol should indicate such. Suppose an investigator wanted to modify the procedures for maintaining, storing, accessing, or archiving the research data collected under an exempt protocol. In that case, the investigator should submit an amendment to the OPRS for review. The investigator should consider what the subjects were told in the consent document about the procedures for maintaining the confidentiality of the data when proposing to modify the confidentiality procedures for a project.
UCLA Dataverse is a platform for sharing various research outputs, including data, text, software, scripts, and data visualizations, from projects at UCLA. This makes them accessible, easily discoverable, linked, and ultimately reusable by the public. Designed with a modular structure, UCLA Dataverse enables the creation of multiple sub-Dataverses for different campus entities like schools, centers, departments, journals, and library data collections.
When data is published on UCLA Dataverse, it is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), ensuring a stable reference and standard data citation. The data is stored in a secure environment that adheres to numerous funder and publisher requirements.