Survey design basics for information professionals.

• Author: Barnes, Nancy Dupre
• Position: CAREER PATH

Within a records and information management (RIM) or information governance (IG) framework, surveys can be useful information-gathering tools. They can represent a formal activity where survey results are to be used for a high-stakes response --for example, in a setting where pending regulatory or safety issues could have a global impact. Or, they can be a more informal effort where data is gathered for internal purposes--for example, to help determine the success of new procedures.

For ARMA International's Information Governance Professional (IGP) certification program, the IG DACUM chart (an educational aid available at www.arma.org/docs/igp/ dacumchart1012.pdf) lists researching, interviewing, and surveying skills in its "Managing Information Risk and Compliance" component. These three skills underpin the analytical capabilities of a well-rounded IGP.

While this article does not provide an all-inclusive discussion of surveys, it does provide a starting point. By introducing basic design concepts, it lays the foundation on which RIM and IG experts can build a framework of knowledge.

Defining Survey Terminology

Those who provide information in surveys are known as participants or respondents. The survey questionnaire, designed to solicit information for analysis, is often referred to as the survey instrument, and the individual questions or statements may be called items. In this article, these terms are used interchangeably: participant and respondent, questionnaire and instrument, and question and item.

Constructing Survey Items

Open-ended survey items urge participants to provide their own answers rather than tick a box. These can be useful in eliciting the attitudes and perspectives of the participants. One example of an open-ended question is this: "How could your vital records program be improved in 2017?" In contrast, closed-ended items ask participants to select an answer from a list.

Note: When doing in-person, interview-based surveys, it can be better to start with open-ended items to establish rapport between the interviewer and the participant.

Compiling the responses to openended items is usually more time intensive and labor intensive than closed-ended items, whose responses are limited by a standardized, restricted format.

There are two guiding principles for constructing closed-ended items:

1. Include all possible responses.

2. Construct the item so the participant will choose one response.

Regarding the latter principle...