Effective Survey Response Guide

Researchers and administrators throughout the University depend on meaningful survey feedback to conduct their work. Your responses inform policies, programs, and experiences for future students. To provide effective data based on your thoughts and opinions, please consider the following points when responding to surveys:

• Be Honest: Your genuine appraisal of the topic asked is so important, even if it may be tricky to express. Since results are anonymous and scores are aggregated, you can be truly honest.
• Be Respectful: Avoid using offensive language, making derogatory comments, or attacking individuals or groups in survey responses.
• Provide Constructive Feedback: Negative feedback or criticism can be a very valid reaction but should be expressed constructively, focusing on specific issues rather than personal attacks.
• Respect Privacy: Everyone’s privacy is important in survey research; please keep personal and sensitive information to yourself and avoid naming individuals in your responses.
• Stay on Topic: To assure your response is properly analyzed, it must match with the intention of the question being asked; only respond directly to the prompt presented.
• Avoid Bias: Try to answer without letting your personal views sway responses, instead actively seeking to provide a fair and balanced response.
• Ask for Clarification: If you are unsure about a question or need clarification, please don’t hesitate to ask for help or further explanation from eval-admin@georgetown.edu.
• Be Courteous: Be courteous and polite in your interactions with survey administrators and other participants.
• Follow Instructions: Carefully read and follow any instructions provided in the survey, including formatting guidelines or specific response requirements.
• Report Issues: If you encounter any problems or issues with the survey, report them to the Main Campus Course Evaluation Team [eval-admin@georgetown.edu] or to your professor.