Solving School's Survey Request Overload

West J Nurs Res. 2021 Feb;43(2):151-155. doi: 10.1177/0193945920954781. Epub 2020 Aug 31.

Abstract

Limited information is available on strategies for managing the large number of survey requests that reach an individual nursing school. This article addresses problems identified in managing survey requests and describes the implementation and evaluation of a solution. Identified problems included the appearance of endorsing studies of varying quality and rigor, overlap and competition between external study requests and internal studies, respondent burden, and level of anonymity and confidentiality. The solution included a school-wide policy for tracking and vetting study requests before they were distributed. Evaluation data show the number of requests received (total, by month and source, by target population), their disposition (withdrawn, approved, not approved for distribution), and quality improvement data on meeting a 30-day target turnaround time. Additional considerations are also discussed.

Keywords: research burden; research curriculum; research methods; survey research.

MeSH terms

  • Cooperative Behavior*
  • Data Collection*
  • Humans
  • Quality Improvement*
  • Research Design*
  • Schools, Nursing*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*