Librarians use surveys to measure user behavior, gather information on the resources patrons are looking for, and for feedback on library services. In this presentation, survey research expert Lesley Andres, Professor, Department of Education, University of British Columbia, outlines her top tips for creating and deploying effective surveys. View the slides to see her best practices for phrasing questions, offering answer choices, and minimizing bias.

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Survey Tips for Librarians
Lesley Andres
University of British Columbia

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assumptions
• in house, practice oriented projects
• interested in finding out habits, attitudes, concerns of members of the library community
• limited resources in terms of time and money
• surveys will be delivered online

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Good Survey Design
• content area expertise
• a good grasp of sampling theory
• professional ethical and political astuteness
• the ability to write clear questions
• skill in crafting a sound budget and realistic schedule
• the skill to conduct statistical and/or qualitative analyses of the data and prepare
reports

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Identifying the Problem and Related Questions
“Is survey methodology the right method for the topic at hand?”
•description, behaviour, attitudes, and opinions
•intended to generalize or be transferred in some way beyond the original sample
Typical research questions
What are university students’ attitudes toward the opening hours of the library?
•description (e.g., age, gender, income, educational level, family composition)
•behaviour (e.g., visiting the library)
•attitudes and opinions (e.g., views about what constitutes reasonable access)
• combinations of the above

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Anticipating the Audience
• the party who commissions the research (Head of the library; senate)
• faculty
• undergraduate students
• graduate students
• alumni
• the general public
• intended and unintended audiences

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Research and Politics
• the nature of the questions
• gaining access to the research participants
• securing funding
• choosing the type of survey method
• sharing the results of the research
• ethics
• surveys by committee – NIGHTMARE!

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Specifying the Preliminary Sampling Frame
“Who can best answer the research questions posed in this study?”
Begin by identifying the “universe” of interest
•first year university students
•faculty members
Narrow down sample by
•location (e.g., a specific faculty)
•demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, full-time/part-time students)
•any other relevant criteria
•from “ideal” to real

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What are university students’ attitudes toward the opening hours of the library?
What are full-time Arts undergraduate university students’ attitudes toward the
opening hours of the main library?

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Specifying the Type(s) of Survey Instrument(s) to be Employed
• Who is the sample?
• How many people will be included in the study?
• Do they have access to the internet (or a telephone)?
• Are they inclined to respond to an internet survey?
• What is the nature of the questions to be answered?
• Are the questions close-ended or is the purpose of the survey to also seek more in depth information
through open-ended questions?
• What is the desired length of the survey?
• How important is the presence of an interviewer who can clarify questions or probe for more detailed
information?
• What is the budget and timeline for the project?

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Designing the Survey Instrument(s)
• borrow from other surveys
• modify existing items
• copyright
• writing questions from scratch
• audience
• pre-contact information (e.g., letters of introduction, reminder emails)

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Specifying the Sample and Its Size
• random (probabilistic), non-random (non-probabilistic), or both?
• final determination of the sample size
Final choice depends on
• availability
• accuracy
• time
• costs

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Devising a “Doable” Schedule and Budget
• schedule or timeline
• know the sample
• map out the entire range of survey research activity
Budget
• detailed
• realistic

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Piloting the Instruments and Training Assistants
Purpose
•to ensure that the level of language used in the questions is appropriate and understandable to the audience
•to assess that the questions are understood as intended
•to test different versions of a question
•to determine that the order of questions is logical and that skip instructions are correct
Methods
•pilot with experts
•focus groups
•those similar to the intended sample
•coding scheme for data entry
•train interviewers

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Administering the Survey
• detailed plan
• ensure that it is followed
• confidentiality of the sample must be maintained
• ethics requirements
• record-keeping

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Anticipating Data Coding and Clean-up
• coding scheme
• a plan for cleaning up the data
• a plan for analyzing open ended questions or interview data

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Preparing for Analysis
• determine whether you possess the skills needed to complete the report
 if not, who does?
 students; faculty, IR office
• build in adequate time for report completion

18. Thank you!