"I wonder if you have time for a quick survey?"

April 29, 2010Evaluation, Research into e-learning, Researchers Standard

Yeah, I know, not the words we like to hear when we’re in the middle of a Saturday shop.

Still, what if you find yourself needing to set up a survey as part of your own research? One option is to go online, and at Loughborough we have an account with Bristol Online Surveys (BOS) based at the University of Bristol.

Surveys have Loughborough branding, are SSL encrypted, and come with a Loughborough-looking URL (www.surveys.lboro.ac.uk/yoursurveyname).

BOS is a web-based application, there’s nothing to download to your computer, and works equally well on a Mac or PC. The online help is comprehensive and usable

There are six question types:

  1. selection lists
  2. multiple choice
  3. multiple answer
  4. single line free text
  5. multiple line free text
  6. date

and it’s possible to create Likert Scales, grids, branched questions and more, so it’s a well-specified system. There are internationalisation options, although there are limitations with non-European character sets.

Screengrab of typical BOS survey

Sections and questions in BOS surveys are colour-coded to aid visual navigation.

If you wish to set up an account, need help/advice setting up a survey or just want try the BOS demo, please contact learn@lboro.ac.uk and they’ll help you on your way.

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