IES Guides Help Educators Design, Administer, and Analyze Surveys

Survey data can be an effective way to gather data that informs instruction or programmatic decisions. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has released the new three-part Survey Methods for Educators guides. The guides provide clear information on how to develop and adapt surveys (part 1), select a sample of potential respondents and administer surveys (part 2), and analyze and report survey data (part 3).

Part 1 of this series, Collaborative Survey Development, outlines the following steps:

• Identify topics of interest
• Identify relevant, existing survey items
• Draft new survey items and adapt existing survey items
• Review draft survey items with stakeholders and content experts
• Refine the draft survey using cognitive interviewing

Part 2 of this series, Sampling Respondents and Survey Administration, outlines the following steps:

• Define the population
• Specify the sampling procedure
• Determine the sample size
• Select the sample
• Administer the survey

Part 3 of this series, Analysis and Reporting of Survey Data, outlines the following steps:

• Review the analysis plan
• Prepare and check data files
• Calculate response rates
• Calculate summary statistics
• Present the results in tables or figures

Download all three guides at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?projectID=4482