SUBMITTING A QUESTIONNAIRE TO ASGO FOR POSSIBLE DISTRIBUTION

Click here to download these guidelines as a PDF

The ASGO Research Committee will consider submissions of research surveys for distribution, which may come from ASGO members and fellows, or from other recognised national and international clinical and research partners. The Committee will review the submission and make a recommendation to the ASGO Executive to accept for distribution, reject, or invite the authors to revise and resubmit.

Submissions can be made via asgo@yrd.com.au at any time. Submissions should include the following.

  • Details of the submitting author, and a supporting ASGO member if the author is an ASGO fellow

  • A cover letter with a brief summary of the project

  • A copy of the research protocol

  • A copy of the questionnaire

  • A copy of the project ethics approval

The committee provides the following guidelines:

An acceptable questionnaire should be valid, reliable, clear, succinct, and interesting. If you can use a previously validated survey, even better.

Key aspects to remember regarding survey design:

  • Clarity and Relevance: Questions should be simple, direct, and easy for respondents to understand. They should also be directly related to the research objectives. 

  • Avoiding Bias: Questions should be unbiased and avoid leading respondents to a particular answer. 

  • Data Accuracy: Quality checks during the survey process can help identify and correct potential errors or inconsistencies in responses. 

  • Respondent Experience: A well-designed survey should be engaging and easy to complete, which can improve response rates and data quality. 

  • Usability: The survey platform should be user-friendly, and the survey should be designed to be accessible to all participants. 

  • Pilot Testing: Conducting a pilot test of the survey with a small group can help identify potential issues and areas for improvement. 

  • Expert Review: Having experts or subject matter experts review the survey questions can help ensure that they are relevant and appropriate. 

Here is a website that may help you with design of your questionnaire: https://aifs.gov.au/resources/practice-guides/how-write-survey-questionnaire-evaluation-guide-beginners

An additional resource is the EQUATOR network A Consensus -Based Checklist for Reporting of Survey Studies (CROSS), which can be found here.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-021-06737-1

In assessing the submitted questionnaires, the ASGO research committee will assess the following:

Study Design

  • Is there a clear research question?

  • Are the aims of the study clearly stated?

  • Are the survey questions clear and unambiguous?

  • Is there an absence of bias in question wording?

  • Is there an absence of doubling up of questions, which would affect analysis?

  • Are all options stated and/or free text allowed?

  • Have filter questions been used to exclude respondents who are not eligible to participate.

  • Has this questionnaire been pilot tested for clarity and time needed?

  • If yes, on how many respondents?

Topic

  • Is this a topic relevant to the ASGO community? Was this stated?

  • Does this project have ethics approval?

  • Is this an international (outside AUS/NZ) study?

  • Who has had input into the design and content of this study (other than the PI)?

Following a submission to ASGO, a member of YRD will ensure that the submission includes the five required documents outlined above. The submission will then be shared with the chair of the ASGO research committee. The submission will be reviewed independently by two members of the committee, and a decision from the committee will be based on consensus, with the chair holding the deciding vote in the event of no consensus. Decisions will be submitted to the ASGO executive. The time from submission to decision will be a maximum of four weeks.