Frequently Asked Questions
If you are considering the development of a survey to be sent to Pitt students, faculty, or staff, we recommend asking the following questions.
- Could the information I need already be available?
Pitt faculty and staff collect valuable data every year, from all campuses, to help improve student, faculty, and staff experiences.
Moreover, Pitt collaborates with external stakeholders (e.g., local, state, and federal partners as well as non-profit organizations invested in the success of higher education institutions) to collect a variety of data.
To see if data might be available to help you with a specific project or question, contact a member of the Office of Institutional Research and Analytics team.- What do you want to know?
Survey research works best with a particular goal in mind. While surveys can be designed to gather data on numerous topics, developing your survey with a guiding purpose in mind will help you gather quality data AND ensure participants understand their role in survey efforts.
Before drafting any survey questions, consider writing a statement of purpose as well as an informed consent statement to be used to help your participants understand the purpose of the survey and how their participation can contribute to that purpose.- Who are you going to survey?
Depending on the goals of your survey, you may want to survey a particular population of students or a broad population of students.
This choice should inform the design of survey questions as well as the mode of survey distribution.
The Institutional Research and Analytics team can also help you identify students who are best positioned to help you answer your survey questions.- How are you going to collect and analyze your data?
Many people think once the survey is designed, their work is done. However, having a thorough understanding of how data is collected and analyzed is just as important as the survey development.
How long will your survey be open? How will students be able to engage with your survey? Who can you partner with to improve response rates. Will this be a “one-off” survey or administered regularly? Will the data be easy to analyze once it is collected?
Having answers to these questions will help ensure your survey runs smoothly and produces the data you need.- When should I consult with the Office of Institutional Research & Analytics?
From the beginning! We are available to help you think through survey development and data collection from day one.
Best Practices in Survey Design and Administration
For those in the process of developing a survey for Pitt students, faculty, or staff, this section outlines suggested best practices and guidelines for your project.
If you have reviewed the information above and determined the development of a new survey is needed, the Institutional Research and Analytics team is happy to help with survey development.
While not a comprehensive list, here are a few best practices to consider when beginning your survey project.
- Step 1: Assign a Survey Lead
Before beginning any survey effort, it is important to know who will lead the survey process from survey design to data collection and analysis.
The lifecycle of most surveys can last months. Without an assigned lead to drive the process, survey efforts can drag on indefinitely with collected data often remaining unused.- Step 2: Create a Survey Team
Most survey efforts, particularly those focused on gathering student information, benefit from having collaborators who can provide unique perspectives and assistance throughout the process.
Before developing your survey, consider who your collaborators might be and what role they will play in the process (e.g., survey promotion, question design, analysis, etc.).
The survey team should also play a role in identifying what population will be surveyed and why.- Step 3: Draft Your Survey
Designing effective survey questions and response scales is imperative for ensuring students engage with your survey and that the data collected is useful.
Create an initial survey draft and have it reviewed by your collaborators. Ask your collaborators to review questions for things like question clarity, survey length, or if questions align with the larger purpose of the survey.
Also consider what response scales or question types are needed and why (e.g., a five-point Likert scale, rank order, or text-entry question).
You should also consider the response values used to analyze the data after survey data is collected.- Step 4: Consider Survey Timing and Distribution
Once you have drafted your survey, you should consider when the survey will be distributed and how.
Recommended considerations include whether your survey might conflict with other University surveys, how your survey will be distributed to your target population, and methods of distribution (e.g., emails, texts, etc.).- Step 5: Discuss Ethical Considerations
Your survey team should always discuss any ethical considerations of your survey before distribution.
Depending on the survey effort, common ethical considerations to discuss include, but are not limited to, the following:- Survey accessibility
- Survey consent language
- Data storage and confidentiality
- If the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is required
- Access to survey data (who can access the data and why)
- Step 6: Determine Incentives and Promotion
Even the best designed survey can be ineffective if your responses are limited.
Your survey team should discuss what incentives will be provided to participants, if any, and how they will receive incentives.
The team should also discuss ways the survey will be promoted, where, and how often.
Examples of incentive options and promotion resources available through the University of Pittsburgh include the following:- Vincent payments
- Digital screens
- Canvas course announcements
Reach out to the Institutional Research & Analytics team to discuss other ways to promote your survey
- Step 7: Pilot Your Survey
Before officially launching your survey, pilot your survey with a small group of your survey team.
Ask your team to take the survey on different devices (phone, laptop, tablet) to test how survey questions might look on different devices.
Also ask them to take notes on the amount of time it takes to complete the survey and if there are any accessibility issues with certain questions.- Step 8: Launch Your Survey!
Once your survey launches, make sure to monitor your email for student questions or difficulties students may have with accessing the survey.
You can also monitor response trends to see how and when students choose to engage with the survey.
Increasing Student Response Rates
The list below provides general best practices for increasing student survey response rates.
- Create Multiple Engagement Points
Students should be able to engage with surveys in multiple ways (emails, campus advertisements, Canvas, etc.)
- Consider Length
Prioritize quality data collection over quantity. < 20 minutes to complete a survey is recommended.
- Provide Incentives
While financial or material incentives are common, they are not the only incentive option. Friendly competitions among departments or academic incentives (e.g., OCC credit) can also incentivize survey engagement.
- Personalized communications
Make sure students know who is asking them to complete the survey and that their participation is valued!
- Collaborate
Working with the Office of the Provost, colleges/schools, departments, or campus groups reduces survey administration efforts and the number of surveys needed to collect student data. This, in turn, can reduce survey fatigue for students and survey administrators.
- Build Trust
Students receive dozens of survey requests each year, many from outside the University. Help students understand how to identify credible surveys.
At minimum, our surveys will always:- Come from an official Pitt email address and provide contact information for a staff member in our office.
- Be administered in Qualtrics with Pitt branding.
- Include confidentiality and informed consent language.
- Create Buy-In
Let students know their responses will be read and will reach Pitt leadership.
Students may feel their responses don’t matter, but they do! Student survey participation helps create new programs, inform curricular changes, and justify expansion of student services.
Consider sharing report results (in aggregate) with students and survey stakeholders when appropriate.
Student survey data can be used to help guide discussions with students in classroom or advising settings. Recruiting student groups or leaders to promote survey engagement can also build a sense of community.
Including survey links in regular departmental emails, newsletters, or meeting notes can:- Encourage student reflection about academic experiences.
- Help students consider social or academic resources
- Create a sense of shared community and purpose
Continue to Appendix A: Student Survey Governance Committee Members & Selection Process