As of June 2008, all Forest students, faculty, staff, and administration (i.e., we have a site license that covers everyone) have the opportunity to set up an account with and use Qualtrics (an online survey/data collection tool). This will be a useful tool for students collecting data for a clinical dissertation or other scholarly project, for student organizations (e.g., STUCO, FACE, etc.) to collect data from their membership, for faculty to collect data from their courses and practicum supervision blocks, and for staff and administration to collect information related to the administration of the program. One could go on and on about the possible uses for this tool, but the challenge to each of you is to use your imagination and reflect on how you could use this tool in the roles that you play in our community!
Please go to the following website and set up an account:
http://www.qualtrics.com/forestinstitute (you may need to cut and paste the address into your browser as the hyperlink may not work). You will need to give your name, set up a password, and enter your Forest email address (you will only be allowed to set up your account under Forest's license if you use your Forest email address). Please carefully review the Q&A section below as well prior to using Qualtrics.
THERE WILL BE A TRAINING (a webinar session led by Qualtrics technical support members) on
Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 3:00PM. This training will be held in the Multimedia Room of the Academic Building. All community members are strongly encouraged to attend. Please set up your account and check things out prior to the training if possible. Write down your questions to bring to the meeting on the 24th. It is likely that there will be additional trainings in the future, but these dates and times have not been set yet. For the time being, Dr. Jaberg is the liaison between Qualtrics and the Forest community, so please share any questions, concerns, or problems that you have (related to Qualtrics) with him first.
Question: Other than figuring out how to set up an account and then learning how to use the Qualtrics software, is there anything else that I need to do before I use/send out my survey?
Answer: You need to follow any and all current procedures for collecting data:
– Any thesis, dissertation or other scholarly project (poster, presentation, publication) related to Forest Institute (that involves human or animal subjects)
requires IRB approval prior to any data collection (the same as it is for any other data collection method).
– Data collected as part of ordinary academic or administrative processes do not necessarily* require IRB approval. This would include (for example) surveys sent by Admissions; course evaluations sent by instructors, the Dean, or the office of the VPAA; or practicum evaluations sent out by the training department. (*Unless it is likely that said data will be presented in a publication, etc., in which case it would be recommended that IRB approval is sought as the purpose of data collection is extending beyond "typical" academic or administrative activities).
– It is recommended that any survey created by a student organization should be reviewed by the organization's supervisor, sponsor, or mentor prior to distribution (as a matter of good practice and oversight); this may vary depending on the constitution and bylaws of the student organization.
Question: If I have permission from the author and publisher to use a published (copyrighted) instrument, can I reproduce the items using Qualtrics so that I can collect my data online?
Answer: You need to be very specific and clear with authors and publisher regarding what you are doing with their instrument and any modifications that you might be making. Also, keep in mind that simple changes in the appearance of an instrument may have a profound effect on the psychometric properties of the instrument. This doesn't mean that you can't make changes to the appearance of an instrument—but it does mean that you need to consider any changes very seriously and consult with your committee (and preferably the Research Office) prior to making any such changes.
Question: Can I get on and use Qualtrics and see how it works (even if I am not interested in collecting data at this very moment)?
Answer: Yes…and in fact you are encouraged to do so…just don't violate the rules (i.e., policy/procedure as addressed above) for data collection. That is, you can get on and try creating and editing questions—just don't send the survey out and collect any data (unless you have IRB approval to collect data in this manner—or as otherwise excepted above).
As is the case with many of the tools that we have access to: disuse or misuse could result in the loss of access to use this tool (for the entire community). So, please be thoughtful and considerate in your use of this wonderful tool!