Planning your survey
Surveys
Before you begin designing your survey and collecting your data, it is important to spend some time planning. A well-planned survey is more likely to result in richer and more reliable data. Use the planning checklist to support you.
Set clear and realistic objectives
Surveys work best when there is a clear objective that is specific and realistic. For example, ‘understanding barriers to healthy eating amongst families living in temporary accommodation’ is a clearer objective than ‘finding out about experiences of families living in temporary accommodation’.
You should consider how your survey aligns with the wider aims of the programme it supports. A survey should generate insights that directly feed into decisions, service improvements, or evaluation. If your survey is disconnected from the wider programme and its objectives, there is a risk of collecting data that is not useful.
It is important to collect only the data you know you will use. Collecting extra or unnecessary data is unethical and can risk low response rates as it increases the time and effort required from respondents, as well as increasing the risk of survey fatigue. Every question you ask or piece of information you collect should link to your objectives.
Refer to your protocol or Project Initiation Document (PID)
Your protocol or PID will outline the purpose of your project, as well as key aims and intended outcomes.
Writing your protocol ensures the purpose of the survey, who your target population is, your recruitment strategies, the timescales, and who is responsible for carrying out different elements of the work are clearly documented. This can help others pick up the work more easily if there are changes in project team membership.
Define your target population
It is important to be clear about who you want to collect data from. Surveys are most successful when your target population, or sample, is well-defined.
For example, ‘Camden residents aged 65+ and living alone’ is a more clearly defined population than ‘older people’. Defining a specific sample where possible can help you design a better survey with more appropriate questions.
Consider how you’ll make your survey accessible and inclusive
You should ensure that everyone in your target population is able to complete your survey. This might include offering your survey in various formats or providing translated materials.
Consider barriers to participation early on. Don’t assume everyone can take part in the same way.
Ensure your survey is ethical
Surveys must be safe and respectful. It is important that participants understand why they are being surveyed, what taking part will involve, and how their data will be used.
Think about any approvals and consider how you will store data securely. For example:
If you are collecting special category data (e.g., ethnicity, religion, health status), you may need approval from Camden’s Data Protection team.
If your survey is not anonymous (i.e. you are collecting identifiable information from respondents) ensure you separate and anonymise identifiable data (e.g., name, email address) from question responses.
If you are surveying children or young people, or vulnerable populations (e.g., individuals with a learning disability) ensure you are familiar with any relevant safeguarding and consent procedures.
Survey data should always be stored on approved, secure systems (e.g. Camden’s server) rather than personal devices.
For complex or sensitive projects, you may need to complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) before launching your survey.
Data Protection Impact Assessments
A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is a process to identify the privacy risks to individuals in the collection, use, storing, and disclosure of information. The DPIA will also identify potential problems and privacy risks and suggest ways to remove those risks, or reduce them to acceptable levels.
Ahead of collecting any survey data you must consider any data protection and/or privacy risks. If your survey will collect personal data and could pose a high risk to respondents’ privacy, or if you are not sure whether you need to do a full assessment, complete a DPIA pre-screen.
A DPIA pre-screen assessment will help determine whether you need to complete a full DPIA.
You may need to complete a full DIPA if your survey intends to:
Collect special category data (e.g., health, ethnicity, or opinions).
Collect data from vulnerable populations (e.g., children or disabled people)
Involve large-scale data collection or linkage with other datasets
May have unexpected or significant impacts on participants
For further information see the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance on examples of processing likely to result in high risk.
How much time should I allow?
For the DPIA pre-screen, ittypically takes at least one week for Camden to review and/or approve (dependent on capacity)
If a full DPIA is required, you should allow at least three to four weeks for review and approval.
You should submit your assessment for review before launching your survey. Consider this when planning your survey, as this may impact your survey design, launch and overall timeline.
Complete the DPIA with as much detail as you can and in plain English. Explain jargon or technical language if you need to use any.
Include your draft survey and any additional materials (e.g., information sheet, consent form, participant resources). Reviewers will need as much information about your project as possible.
Be clear about where and how survey responses will be collected and stored (e.g., in Microsoft Forms, a private SharePoint folder).
Visit Camden’s Essentials page for more information and guidance on the DPIA process