Chapter Checklists

As a consumer participating in a survey project, you should

1. Know who is conducting or sponsoring the survey
2. Have given your informed consent to participate
3. Know what will be done with the data collected
4. Feel comfortable participating in the survey
5. Not feel pressured or threatened in any way to participate
6. Feel free to not answer any question posed
7. Answer questions as completely and honestly as you can
8. Know how to get a copy of the results once all data are collected and interpreted

As a consumer interpreting the results of survey research, you should be able to

1. Identify the person or organizations responsible for conducting the research and/or the person or organization sponsoring the research
2. Analyze the extent to which open and closed questions were used appropriately
3. Identify when the data were collected
4. Know how to get in contact with the author of the study

As a researcher, you should be able to

1. Develop a sound survey objective
2. Select the survey format (face-to-face, telephone, mail self-report, electronic) that will best serve the purpose of the survey
3. Select or design appropriate questionnaire or survey items and response sets
4. Pretest the method of data collection
5. Collect the data in an honest and ethical manner
6. Answer questions posed by participants
7. Maintain the confidentiality of information about participants that you obtain as a result of their participation in the survey
8. Analyze the data completely and appropriately
9. Draw conclusions that do not overstate the limitations of your data or sample
10. Present the data to others in an appropriate fashion