Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Before You Send Out that Survey: The Nuts and Bolts of Implementing a Medical Student Survey Study

  • Column: "Down to Earth" Academic Skills
  • Published:
Academic Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  1. Artino AR, La Rochelle JS, Dezee KJ, Gehlbach H. Developing questionnaires for educational research: AMEE guide no. 87. Medical Teacher. 2014;36(6):463–74.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Gallup 2012 Presidential election polling review [press release]. Gallup, inc.; 2013.

  3. Fowler FJ. Survey research methods. Fifth ed. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications; 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Kalton G. Introduction to survey sampling. Newbury Park: SAGE Publications; 1983.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  5. Aquilino WS, Losciuto LA. Effects of interview on self-reported drug use. Public Opinion Quarterly. 1990;54:362–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Phillips AW, Reddy S, Durning SJ. Improving response rates and evaluating nonresponse bias in surveys: Amee guide no. 102. Med Teach. 2016;38:217–28.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Groves RM. Nonresponse rates and nonresponse bias in household surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly. 2006;70:646–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Totten VY, Panacek EA, Price D. Basics of research (part 14). Survey research methodology: designing the survey instrument. Air Med J. 1999;18:26–34.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Fowler FJ. Improving survey questions: design and evaluation. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications; 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Willis G. Developing and testing survey quesitons 2014 [Last accessed]. Available from: https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/research/DER/BSSRB/PowerPointPresentations/DevelopingTestingSurveyQuestions.htm. Last accessed on January 30, 2017.

  11. Groves RM. Three eras of survey research. Public Opinion Quarterly. 2011;75:861–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Alwin DF, Beattie BA. The kiss principle in survey design: question length and data quality. Sociological methodology. 2016 1–32.

  13. Dijkstra W, Smit J. Persuading reluctant recipients in telephone surveys. In: Groves RM, Dillman DA, Eltinge JL, Little RJ, editors. Survey nonresponse. 1st ed. New York: Wiley; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Mavletova A. Data quality in pc and mobile web surveys. Soc Sci Comput Rev. 2013;31:725–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Jepson C, Asch DA, Hershey JC, Ubel PA. In a mailed physician survey, questionnaire length had a threshold effect on response rate. J Clin Epidemiol. 2005;58:103–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Preston CC, Colman AM. Optimal number of response categories in rating scales: reliability, validity, discriminating power, and respondent preferences. Acta Psychol. 2000;104:1–15.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Etchegaray JM, Fischer WG. Understanding evidence-based research methods: pilot testing surveys. HERD. 2011;4:143–7.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Presser S, Couper MP, Lessler JT, et al. Methods for testing and evaluating survey questions. Public Opinion Quarterly. 2004;68:109–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Jeffrey J. Rakofsky

  2. University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA

    Gary L. Beck Dallaghan

Authors
  1. Jeffrey J. Rakofsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gary L. Beck Dallaghan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeffrey J. Rakofsky.

Ethics declarations

Disclosures

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding Information

None of the authors received direct support for this project or for authoring this manuscript.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rakofsky, J.J., Beck Dallaghan, G.L. Before You Send Out that Survey: The Nuts and Bolts of Implementing a Medical Student Survey Study. Acad Psychiatry 41, 391–395 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-017-0700-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-017-0700-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation