Disseminating Survey Information in the Networked World: A UK Resource

Julie LambDepartment of Sociology

University of Surrey

http://qb.soc.surrey.ac.uk

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Aims of the presentation

• Thinking about Internet Dissemination• The Question Bank: an introduction• Brief history• The Qb site

– Surveys– Topics– Resources

• Maintaining the resource

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Knowledge Dissemination via the WWW

• “Internet use is a staple of college students’ educational experience”

(Pew Internet and American Life Project 2002)

• Internet is:– Free– Not time restricted– Great learning resource

• Qb receives around 15,000 hits per month, around 60% UK, 20% USA

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What is the Qb?

• A source of questionnaire materials for social researchers

• Established in 1996 when there were few online survey resources and questionnaires were often hard to find

• There to help:• Researchers developing new surveys• Secondary data analysts• Teachers and students of research methods

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Qb Key Aims

1. Bridge the gap of understanding between survey professionals and academic researchers;

2. Provide standardised quantitative measures of key variables;

3. Display key survey instruments; and

4. Be freely available online: http://qb.soc.surrey.ac.uk

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What material do we hold?

– Questionnaires from important social surveys– Related methodological material– Commentary on topics and concepts– Bibliographies and links to other resources– NO DATA!

• Three main areas of the site;– Surveys– Topics– Resources

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Surveys

Main Menu

Alphabetical List

Type and Coverage

Questionnaire years held

Data source

Overviews

Original source

Introduction and history

Methods

Further Info (including a link to the

data)

Resource Map

Information held

about the survey on

the Qb

Topics associated

Web Links

QUESTIONNAIRES!

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Questionnaires

• In PDF files to preserve original formats• Chunked to reduce download times• Bookmarked for easy navigation• Related material, e.g. diaries, advance letters,

leaflets for respondents• Methodological information, e.g. dates of

fieldwork, sampling procedures

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Topics

• Oppenheim 1992: “The questionnaire has a job to do: it’s function is measurement”

• 21 Key social science topic areas• Being linked to important surveys• Commentary on social measurement in those

areas (not complete yet)• Key Variables chapters

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Resources

• Bibliographies related to topic areas• Links to related resources• All about the QB! (User Guide)• CAPI explained • Harmonisation Booklets• Survey Link Scheme

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Searching the QB

• 40,000 pages,57 Surveys, 21 Topics= A lot of material !!

• Three strategies to find a question– Surveys menu (going directly to a relevant file)– Topics menu (to learn which surveys may be relevant)– The Search Engine (using key words)

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The Search Engine

• Searches PDF and HTML• Highlights keywords in results• Advanced search functions

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Maintaining the resource

• The team• Technical versus sociological knowledge• Redesign issues• Database issues• The future

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Summary

• Readily accessible bank of questions• Flat structure to make comparisons easier• Additional material to help clarify concepts• Advanced search function• Highly intensive to maintain• Working closely with the UK Data Archive

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Contacts

Martin Bulmer – Qb Director

Julie Lamb - Qb Manager

Laura Hyman – Qb Researcher

Graham Hughes – Qb Content Manager

Zoe Tenger - Qb Administrator

Jenny Rains – Qb Assistant

qb@surrey.ac.uk

+44 (0) 1483 683762