Survey Research
SURVEY RESEARCH
The Odum Institute offers consulting on all aspects of survey methodology. Pending availability, our staff may be hired to program Qualtrics surveys/forms and/or collect your survey data for you, by being bid as personnel on grant-funded projects or hired through the Odum Institute recharge center.
We also manage and provide user support for the university hosting of Qualtrics, a powerful web-survey tool available free-of-charge to the UNC community.
Survey Research Consultations
Brief consultations are offered at no charge to the UNC–Chapel Hill community. We offer survey review and consultation to UNC faculty and staff, and to students working on dissertations, theses, or other research projects. We do not provide consultation on class projects or assignments. We are happy to consult with researchers writing funding proposals that include survey data collection.
For extended consultation, our time may be purchased on an hourly basis (by advance arrangement) through the Odum Institute recharge center.
To request a consultation, please email to set up an appointment.
| Consultation Topic | Consultant |
|---|---|
| Questionnaire Design | Jessica Grant |
| Data Collection Modes and Methods | Jessica Grant |
| Pretesting and Cognitive Interviewing | Jessica Grant |
| Applying for IRB Approval | Jessica Grant |
| Sample Design and Power Calculations | Chris Wiesen |
| Analysis and Weighting | Chris Wiesen |
| Qualtrics | Michelle Temple |
Survey Data Collection
If you are looking for someone to conduct your survey, members of our survey group are available on a cost-reimbursement basis. As their time permits, our staff can help develop your survey, program it, conduct data collection, and provide a data file in your choice of format.
In addition to technical capabilities, our staff will offer consultation on questionnaire design and question wording, strategies for maximizing response rate and data quality, and other best practices for conducting a high-quality web survey.
For more information about our data collection services or to obtain a cost estimate for your project, please contact Jessica Grant at jgrant1@unc.edu.
Resources
Below is a collection of resources that may be helpful to those seeking guidance in planning a survey to collect quantitative data.
BOOKS:
- Improving survey questions: design and evaluation by Floyd J. Fowler, Jr., Sage Publications, 1995
- Designing and Constructing Instruments for Social Research and Evaluation by David Colton and Robert Covert, John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
- The Complete Guide to Writing Questionnaires: How to Get Better Information for Better Decisions by David F. Harris, I&M Press, 2014.
- Internet, phone, mail, and mixed-mode surveys : the tailored design method by Don A. Dillman, Wiley, 2014.
VIDEOS:
- Pew Research Center: Methods 101: Survey Question Writing
- Elon University: 7 Tips for Good Survey Questions
BOOKS:
- Cognitive Interviewing: a Tool for Improving Questionnaire Design by Gordon B. Willis, Sage Publications, 2005.
- Methods for Testing and Evaluating Survey Questionnaires by Stanley Presser et al., eds. Wiley, 2004.
BOOKS:
- Survey Methodology by Robert M. Groves et al., eds. Wiley, 2009.
- Survey Research Methods by Floyd J. Fowler, Jr., Sage Publications, 2009.
VIDEOS:
- Elon University: Methods of Collecting Survey Data
- Pew Research Center: Methods 101: Mode Effects
- Elon University: A Survey in 10 Steps
ONLINE:
VIDEOS:
- Pew Research Center: Methods 101: Random Sampling
- Pew Research Center: Methods 101: Non-probability surveys
- Elon University: Breaking Down Probability Sampling
Qualtrics User Support
Qualtrics is a powerful web-survey tool that the Odum Institute survey research team brought to campus in 2006. It is browser-based, allowing researchers to access it from anywhere with an Internet connection, and allows users to build complex surveys, distribute them, and analyze the responses all from one place.
Any member of the UNC community can access and use Qualtrics free of charge by signing up through the UNC Qualtrics Portal.
Qualtrics consulting hours
Michelle Temple is our Qualtrics consultant and will be available in-person or virtually three days a week for drop-in consulting hours.
Weekly hours (note: consultations are not available when the University is closed):
- Tuesdays: 10AM – 12PM
- Wednesdays: 10AM – 12PM
- Thursdays: 10AM-12PM and 1PM – 3PM
- Consultation hours are offered both in-person and via Zoom for all hours
- To request an appointment outside these hours, please email Qualtrics
In-person consultations are held in Davis Library Room 228-D
For virtual, access via Zoom here: https://go.unc.edu/Qconsult
- Drop-in hours will be held via Zoom only on Wed 4/24 10am-12pm
- Drop-in hours will not be held from Thur 5/16 through Thur 5/30
For Qualtrics support during this time, log in to your account at qualtrics.unc.edu, click on the ? icon at the top right of your screen, and select “Contact Support”.
For ownership transfers, group creation/management, or login issues, you can submit a service request through ITS here: https://help.unc.edu/.
Qualtrics consulting is for technical software questions only. For guidance on survey construction, question wording, and other methodological topics, please contact Jessica Grant at jgrant1@unc.edu for an appointment.
Tips and Tricks 2023 (PDF)
Sharing Access to Qualtrics Surveys at UNC 2023 (PDF)
Qualtrics Programming Services
As availability allows, our staff may be hired to program Qualtrics surveys for UNC projects. For pricing, please contact Jessica Grant at jgrant1@unc.edu.