A review of free online survey tools for undergraduate students

Farmer, R., Oakman, P. and Rice, P. (2016) A review of free online survey tools for undergraduate students. MSOR Connections. 15(1), pp. 71-78. 2051-4220.

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Item Type:	Article
Abstract:	Undergraduate students are often required to collect survey data as part of their studies, but they rarely receive any detailed guidance on choosing an appropriate free online survey tool. In addition, many universities do not provide undergraduate students with an institutionally supported and managed online survey tool. Because there are so many online survey services available, the lack of an institutionally managed survey tool coupled with a lack of proper guidance on their selection and use can cause a great deal of stress and possible expense to students. In order to alleviate this problem, ten prominent free online survey services were reviewed in order to give students, particularly undergraduate students in higher education, some guidance in this matter. Three essential criteria were borne in mind when evaluating the tools: ease of use; ability to export data, and; UK Data Protection Act compliance. Although this paper is predominantly focused on UK students undertaking surveys which collect data that could personally identify a respondent, conclusions are generalised to include recommendations for surveys collecting non-personally identifiable data, and for students studying outside of the UK. Based on the findings of the review, students needing to use a free online survey tool are recommended to use eSurv for all surveys, unless they are given alternative directions by academic staff or others at their institution. In addition, we further recommend that both eSurv and Quick Surveys are appropriate for surveys collecting non-personally identifiable data.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Online survey, questionnaire, survey, market research, eSurv
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA273 Probabilities. Mathematical statistics L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education > LB2395.7 Internet in higher education. Web-based instruction. Educational technology
Creators:	Farmer, Robert, Oakman, Phil and Rice, Paul
Publisher:	University of Greenwich
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:	University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > University Departments > Library and Learning Services
Date:	1 September 2016
Date Type:	Publication
Page Range:	pp. 71-78
Journal or Publication Title:	MSOR Connections
Volume:	15
Number:	1
Language:	English
ISSN:	2051-4220
Status:	Published / Disseminated
Refereed:	Yes
Related URLs:	Publisher Full text
References:	Bell, J. and Waters, S. (2014) Doing Your Research Project, 6th edition. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill Education. BOS. (2016) BOS. BOS [online]. Available from: https://www.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/ [Accessed 18th May 2016]. Opinion of Advocate General Bot (2015) Case C–362/14: Maximillian Schrems v Data Protection Commissioner. InfoCuria - Case-law of the Court of Justice [online]. Available from: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=168421&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=401385 [Accessed 25th September 2015]. Court of Justice of the European Union (2015) Press Release No. 117/15: Judgment in Case C-362/14 Maximillian Schrems v Data Protection Commissioner. Politico [online]. Available from: http://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/schrems-judgment.pdf [Accessed 6th October 2015]. eSurv (2015) About eSurv. eSurv [online]. Available from: http://esurv.org/?p=about [Accessed 18th May 2016]. eSurv (2016a) Data Protection. eSurv [online]. Available from: http://esurv.org/docs/?Security_Statement___Data_Protection [Accessed 18th May 2016]. eSurv (2016b) Features Overview. eSurv [online]. http://esurv.org/docs/?Features_Overview [Accessed 18th May 2016]. Export.gov (2015) Safe Harbor. Export.gov [online]. Available from: http://export.gov/safeharbor/ [Accessed 25th September]. ICO (2016) Key definitions of the Data Protection Act: What is personal data? Information Commissioners Office [online]. Available from: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/key-definitions/#personal-data [Accessed 18th May 2016]. Rosa, R., Bressan, G., and Toledo, G. (2012) Analysis of online survey services for Marketing Research. International Journal of Electronic Commerce Studies 3(1), 135-144.
URI:	http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/8537

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