This policy is designed to balance the demand for survey information with the burden surveys impose on students, faculty, and staff. To achieve this, The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness oversees a review process that helps to manage the timing and number of surveys that members of the Mount Holyoke community are invited to take.
Scope/Responsibilities
This policy encourages coordinated efforts and suggests best practices in survey research. The ultimate goal is to facilitate the acquisition of quality data, create opportunities for cross-collaboration and information-sharing, and promote best practices in information security and privacy.
The process prioritizes surveys that benefit the broader interests and goals of the college as well as maximizes their effectiveness. It also attempts to reduce unnecessary survey proliferation. Further, it promotes best methodological practices in survey design, sampling, and administration, as well as ensures that surveys comply with FERPA and other guidelines. Thus, confirming surveys are conducted ethically and in a way that respects our community. Please note that participating in this survey review process does NOT exempt the survey from Institutional Review Board approval. Please consult the IRB website to determine if IRB approval is required.
Policy
Any survey that meets at least one of the following criteria must undergo the Mount Holyoke Survey Review Process.
- A sample size of at least 50 students, alums, faculty, and/or staff
- A random sampling of Mount Holyoke students, faculty, or staff populations for purposes of generalizing to the broader Mount Holyoke population of students, faculty, or staff
- Targets specific subpopulations based on characteristics such as enrollment status, gender, ethnicity, etc. for purposes of generalizing to the broader Mount Holyoke population of students, faculty, or staff
- Used for institutional measures and improvement.
The following surveys are excluded from the Mount Holyoke Survey Review Process. However, the primary survey administrator should consult the Mount Holyoke survey calendar on the Institutional Research webpage to avoid conflicts even if the survey does not qualify for the Survey Review Process. Note: The College does not release email distribution lists to researchers (including students, faculty, or alums) for use in distributing survey projects. Administrative email lists are maintained for College communications. If you have questions regarding access to email distribution lists for survey projects, please contact the Office of Institutional Research for assistance.
- Faculty research (approved by the IRB)
- Course evaluations
- Surveys conducted by students in courses solely to fulfill the requirements of a course, thesis, or degree program (survey must be limited to 50 or fewer students)
- Participants' event evaluations or event planning
- Polls that involve voting
- Feedback collected at point-of-service
- Forms used to collect information for administrative purposes
- Assessments or surveys sent by departments (academic or administrative), program leaders, or student group/organization leaders to members within that department, program or group/organization for evaluation or assessment of that department, program, or group/organization (for example, a registered student organization may freely survey its own members)
Violations of college policies are adjudicated according to procedures outlined in the Student Handbook and the Staff Handbook, with disciplinary consequences imposed by the adjudicating authority up to and including dismissal. Some offenses are punishable under state and federal laws.
Mount Holyoke College faculty, students, and staff can request Qualtrics accounts to create their own online surveys and polls. The accounts can be used for research or to gather information for academic, extracurricular, and administrative purposes. The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness administers online survey accounts.
Eight Steps to Creating and Sending an Online Survey at Mount Holyoke College
1. Sign in to create your Qualtrics account
2. Learn about the Qualtrics Survey Software
There is extensive instruction on the Qualtrics website. Start by navigating through Support to Projects Basic Overview. Work your way through the webpages to learn how to design a Qualtrics Survey.
3. Get approval as required:
- Institutional Research and Effectiveness – see above guidelines and fill out Survey Approval Form
- Institutional Review Board – see website to determine eligibility and apply for approval if necessary
- Faculty or staff advisor – if a student you must have a faculty or staff advisor and obtain approval
4. Create a Design and Timeline for your Survey Project
- Students should discuss survey design, timeline, and analysis plan with their faculty or staff advisor.
- Faculty and staff can discuss survey design, timeline, and analysis plan with Institutional Research and Effectiveness.
5. Creating a Survey Instrument
- Login to your account and click the Create Survey tab to start building your survey.
- Important information for building surveys:
- All participants must be notified that their participation is voluntary.
- Participants must be notified if data collected will not be anonymous.
- If collecting anonymously but a login is required for survey access (e.g., email address), login information cannot be collected and stored in a way that it is possible to connect it to survey results.
- If not anonymous it must be noted who will have access to their responses, if the information will be maintained confidentially, and how data will be reported.
- Personally identifiable information must be volunteered and should only be collected as required for the expressly stated purpose of the survey.
- If your survey or data analysis will include academic, demographic, or contact information for MHC students, you may be subject to Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations. You are responsible for understanding your responsibility with this information.
- A good question is clear, neutral (i.e. not leading), non-ambiguous, knowable, and asks only one thing per question.
- Survey questions and procedures should be designed to be unbiased, equitable, and respectful of diversity.
- Ensure that your survey instrument meets web accessibility standards. Note that certain only question type options are accessibility compatible. Qualtrics provides a feature to check survey accessibility. This Check survey Accessibility feature diagnoses your survey, indicates which questions are inaccessible, and gives other recommendations for increased accessibility. For more information on designing web accessible surveys visit the Qualtrics support page.
- Test your survey with several sample respondents.
- View results to ensure your data from sample respondents address your research question(s).
- Refine your questions if necessary.
- Clear the data collected from your sample respondents from the Qualtrics
View Results tab. (Select All and Delete)
6. Complete this Checklist Before Seeking Final Approval to Distribute a Survey:
- When necessary, have received approval from Institutional Research and Effectiveness.
- When necessary, Mount Holyoke IRB has approved the project or deemed it exempt from review.
- Student researchers: Has your advisor approved your survey?
- Survey questions have been tested and reviewed by potential participants.
- Have you prepared the welcome messages, reminder emails, etc.?
- Previewed survey and ensured that all questions/items are working and displaying properly.
Once you have completed the checklist, submit the survey for approval by selecting “request approval” from the dropdown on your list of survey projects. You will be asked to select the appropriate approver. If you submitted an IRB, IRB will review and approve. If you are in a class (and IRB approval is not part of the class), select your faculty member for approval. If neither of these apply then select the Office of Institutional Research. Approval may take several days.
7. Distribute the Survey and Gather Data
- Write a brief message to appeal for time and attention. Include a deadline.
- Put together an accurate contact list for your survey participants. Note: The College does not release email distribution lists to researchers (including students, faculty, or alums) for use in distributing survey projects. Administrative email lists are maintained for College communications. If you have questions regarding access to email distribution lists for survey projects, please contact the Office of Institutional Research for assistance.
- If an open survey link will be used, determine which websites, listservs, or social media platforms are appropriate to reach your population.
- Monitor responses, and use Qualtrics to send additional reminders to non-respondents.
- Close the survey. A predetermined expiration date is advised.
8. Analyze the Results
- Create charts of results within Qualtrics, or
- Download data for analysis with other software.
Email any questions to iresearch@mtholyoke.edu
Other Resources: Rights and Privacy Related to Education Records (FERPA)