One of the sources of data for my research is a survey which attempts to measure students’ levels of information literacy. A pilot study should always be done before finalizing a survey in order to find and eliminate questions that are unclear or don’t serve their purpose. This is one way of validating a survey – checking that the survey questions actually address the research question, and that the respondents understand the answer alternatives.<\/p>\n
After working on the survey for several weeks I started collecting data yesterday. The survey is made in Qualtrics, an online survey tool that makes distributing and collecting data relatively easy. I presented my research and the survey for a class here at UiT and encouraged them to participate. I’ll be doing the same for several different classes over the next weeks. My goal is to get 250 responses, which is 5 times the number of questions in the survey – a good rule-of-thumb. So far I’ve gotten 29.<\/p>\n
When I get enough responses I’ll analyze the results to see which questions work well, and then eliminate the least useful questions, perhaps halving the total amount. It’s not a good idea to have a survey that’s too long because that discourages participation.<\/p>\n
The survey is only one of three tools that I’ll be using to measure information literacy. The other two tools will measure what students actually do<\/em> – in this case how they critically evaluate information sources and how they cite their sources in their writing.<\/p>\n And otherwise – I will start my first PhD course today! It’s called “Take control of your PhD journey – from (p)reflection to publishing.” It will be 3 days of seminars\/instruction, some reading, and a final paper. The course is given by senior academic librarians, so I’m sure it’ll be great.<\/p>\n And today is my son Daniel’s 23rd birthday! (I know that this blog is about becoming a researcher, but some exceptions must be made. \ud83d\ude09 )<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the sources of data for my research is a survey which attempts to measure students’ levels of information literacy. A pilot study should always be done before finalizing a survey in order to find and eliminate questions that are unclear or don’t serve their purpose. This is one way of validating a survey … Continue reading Collecting data<\/span>