Survey Guidelines

CAUDIT members often want to find out what other universities are doing in a particular area. For example, if you are considering purchasing a new enterprise system or changing the way you provide a service, it is useful to learn about others’ experiences before you commence.

CAUDIT can assist with this by:

Providing access to SurveyMonkey as a tool for distributing your survey and analysing results Providing advice on survey design Communicating the survey link and deadline, collating results and providing a report to our members If you would like to use this service, contact CAUDIT via email to surveys@caudit.edu.au

Alternatively, you can design and conduct the survey yourself. If doing so, please ensure you provide a copy of the survey results back to CAUDIT for inclusion in the survey database and future reference by your colleagues. The following principles still apply.

Tips for a successful survey

1. Keep it short.
2. Check recent surveys and the CAUDIT Benchmarking System before conducting your survey. (See the Survey Results link.) Sometimes the answers you need are already available. If you’re not sure, ask us.
3. Think about what you are going to do with the data before you construct the survey. For each survey question, ask yourself, “How will the answer to this question help me to find out what I want to know?” Often unnecessary questions can be eliminated this way.
4. When distributing your survey, always include a PDF copy of the survey that shows all of the background information and questions. This will help members direct the survey to the person best able to answer it. If the PDF can be completed and saved, it also provides an alternative way of responding to the survey. This can be helpful if multiple people are needed to complete the survey due to the nature of the questions.
5. Details and instructions on using the CAUDIT Survey Service are outlined in Guidelines for CAUDIT Members Conducting Surveys