Reed College
Reed College

From Evidence to Scholarship

Transforming Undergraduate Student Research in the Digital Age

Student Survey

All Reed sophomores and juniors were invited via email to participate in the student survey. Survey responses were collected anonymously in a Google Form. 

Survey Questions and Answer Sets

Student Research Needs Survey 

CIS and the Library, working in partnership with faculty, are working to improve support for all facets of student research at Reed, especially for sophomores and juniors. We are interested in learning more about how you approach research assignments in your courses, and your perspectives on what tools and services would help you be successful.

The research needs survey will take about 10-15 minutes to complete. At the end of the survey you will receive a link to enter the drawing for an iPad mini. Your name and contact information will not be associated with your responses to the survey.

Please respond by April ____ to be entered into a drawing for an iPad mini.

 

I. About Yourself

1. What is your major?

  • value list of Reed majors

2. What is your year in school?

  • sophomore
  • junior

3. Do you own any of these devices? check all that apply

Laptop computer

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • None
  • Other

Desktop computer

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • None
  • Other

Smartphone

  • iOS (iPhone)
  • Android
  • Windows
  • Blackberry
  • None
  • Other

Tablet

  • iOS (iPad)
  • Android
  • Windows
  • BlackBerry
  • None
  • Other

Dedicated e-reader

  • Kindle
  • Nook
  • Sony Reader
  • None
  • Other dedicated e-reader

4. Compared to my peers, I’d rate my technology skills as

  • Far superior: I’m the one that friends seek out for tech assistance and advice
  • Somewhat better than most
  • About the same as most
  • Not as good as most
  • Help! I’m the one who often asks my friends for tech assistance

 

II. About your research assignments 

1.Thinking about some of your recent classes, which of the following types of written research projects were assigned? check all that apply

  • Literature review
  • Research proposal
  • Annotated bibliography
  • Lab report
  • Argument about an issue or topic
  • Historical analysis of an event
  • “Close reading” or interpretation of a text
  • Case study analysis
  • Oral presentation
  • Poster
  • Analysis exercises (e.g., problem sets)
  • Multimedia project (e.g., Web site, video)
  • Other (describe)

2. What types of data have you used for your research assignments? check all that apply

  • Quantitative data I collected in a lab
  • Quantitative data I gathered in the field
  • Quantitative data I collected with a survey
  • Quantitative data retrieved from a database (e.g., Census, GenBank)
  • Quantitative data provided by my professor
  • Qualitative data from ethnographic research (e.g., interviews, observations)
  • Network data (nodes and ties)
  • Images collected in a lab (e.g., microscope images)
  • Images collected in the field
  • Spatial data (e.g., GIS)
  • Social networking data (e.g., Twitter)
  • Other (describe)

III. Getting started - choosing and defining a topic

1. When you first begin a research assignment, how often do you use these research strategies to identify your topic?

  • Pick from suggestions in my research assignment
  • Review course readings to identify research questions
  • Browse the course and subject guides on the library website
  • Browse the library stacks in my topic area
  • Search Google Scholar to see what’s available
  • Search library databases (eg, JSTOR, EBSCO) to see what’s available
  • Read articles to get broad background information
  • Consult with my professor to discuss my topic
  • Discuss ideas with my friends
  • Develop a research plan to guide my process
  • Other (describe)                                                                                            
    • Usually
    • Sometimes
    • Never
    • Donʼt Know

2. What do you think your professor is looking for in a successful research assignment? check all that apply

  • Interesting thesis
  • Clear argument
  • Innovative ideas
  • Good writing
  • A research question that builds on previous research in the field
  • A certain number of sources
  • The number of sources doesn’t matter as long as they are scholarly
  • A reasonable amount of effort
  • I have no idea
  • Other (describe)

3. What would help you with the process of getting started on a research assignment? check all that apply

  • Topic suggestions from my professor
  • Topic review by my professor
  • Discuss topic ideas in class
  • Samples of successful past assignments
  • A rubric detailing the components of the assignment
  • Assistance exploring library resources
  • Assistance with research design
  • Other (describe)

  

IV. Information Seeking - finding information & data 

1. Once you pick a topic, how important are the following factors in determining where you will look for resources?

  • Resources are available in the library
  • Resources are available through Summit or ILL
  • Full-text is available electronically
  • Resources are available for no cost
  • Resources are likely to be high quality
  • Resources are recommended by my professor
  • The system is easy to use
  • Other (describe)
    • Important
    • Neutral
    • Not important
    • Don’t know

2. How often do you consult these resources for your research assignments?

  • Course readings
  • Search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo!)
  • Google Scholar
  • Wikipedia
  • Library databases (e.g., EBSCO, JSTOR, PubMed)
  • Library catalog
  • Government Web sites (.gov sites)
  • Blogs
  • My personal collection (materials I already own or buy)
  • Faculty
  • Librarians
  • Other (describe)
    • Usually
    • Sometimes
    • Never
    • Donʼt Know

3. When you find a source for your research project, how often do you consider the following criteria?

  • How current the source is
  • An author's credentials
  • Whether the source has a bibliography
  • Whether charts and graphs have meaningful data
  • Who published the source
  • Whether a librarian mentioned using the source
  • Whether I have ever heard of the source before
  • Whether I have used the source before
  • Other (describe)
    • Usually
    • Sometimes
    • Never
    • Donʼt Know

4. How often do you use each of these research practices during the information and data gathering stages of your research assignments?      

  • I discover and refine search terms
  • I look for citations in articles that I have read
  • I use general-purpose software to organize resources as I collect them (e.g., Google Docs, Dropbox)
  • I use citation and document management software to organize resources as I collect them (e.g., EndNote, Zotero)
  • I develop a plan for managing my data
  • Other (describe)
    • Usually
    • Sometimes
    • Never
    • Donʼt Know

5. When you need to locate data, how often do you use the following sources? 

  • Social science repositories (e.g., ICPSR)
  • Science data repositories (e.g., Protein Data Bank, National Space Science Data Center)
  • Economic data repositories (e.g., NBER, OECD iLibrary)
  • Government repositories (e.g., Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census)
  • Spatial data repositories (e.g., ESRI, Metro/RLIS)
  • Data repository aggregator (e.g., DataBib, re3data)
  • Other (describe)
    • Usually
    • Sometimes
    • Never
    • Donʼt Know

6. Where do you store data that you have collected? check all that apply

  • Computer that I own
  • Computer in a research lab
  • Reed’s AFS file server
  • Google Drive / Google Docs
  • Dropbox
  • External device (e.g. hard drive, flash drive)
  • Other (describe)

7. What would help you with the process of locating information and data for your research assignments? check all that apply

  • Assistance defining search terms relevant to my topic
  • Guidance on which library databases to use for my topic
  • Guidance on how to sift through too many resources
  • Easier to use the library web site
  • Easier to use library databases
  • Easier to use data repositories
  • More print materials in the Library
  • More e-Books through the Library
  • More full-text journal articles through the Library
  • Other (describe)

V. Research process - evaluating and analyzing information & data

1. How do you work with texts as you develop ideas for your assignment? check all that apply

  • Read several sources first and then formulate a thesis
  • Develop my thesis and then look for sources that support it
  • Gather as many sources as possible so I know I’ll have something to support my argument
  • Read as many sources as possible so I understand all facets of the debate
  • Focus on a few sources from key scholars or classic works
  • Look for sources that contradict my thesis so I can address them
  • As my analysis evolves I look for new sources
  • Other (describe)

2. How do you work with data as you develop ideas for your assignment? check all that apply

  • Review data collection methods to get ideas for my own project
  • Look at how data is used in other disciplines to get ideas for my project
  • Develop a story that I want to tell through data
  • Evaluate research results presented in data tables
  • Evaluate research results presented in data visualizations (e.g., charts, graphs)
  • Compare results from multiple published studies
  • Compare my results to published studies
  • Other (describe)

3. How often do you use the following information formats in your research?

  • PDF of an article from a scholarly database
  • PDF of an article from Summit or Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
  • Printed book from the library
  • Printed book from Summit or ILL
  • Printed book that I own
  • Printed journals in the library
  • e-Book on reserve in the library
  • e-Book I found through the Library
  • e-Book I purchased or rented
  • Other (describe)
    • Usually
    • Sometimes
    • Never
    • Donʼt Know

4. If you have used e-Books from the Library, how important are the following features for you?

  • I can get access whenever I want
  • I can download the e-Book
  • I can print the e-Book
  • I can save my annotations
  • It is in a format that is compatible with my tablet or e-reader (e.g., iPad)
  • Other (describe)
    • Important
    • Neutral
    • Not important
    • Don’t know

5. What is your favorite way to read materials for your research assignments? choose one

  • On paper
  • On a computer
  • On a tablet (e.g. iPad)
  • On a dedicated eReader (e.g. Kindle)
  • Other (describe)

6. How often do you use the following methods to annotate your readings?

  • Print a document and write on it
  • Write in a book
  • Annotate on my computer
  • Annotate on my iPad or tablet
  • Write in a digital note-taking app (e.g., Evernote)
  • Other (describe)
    • Usually
    • Sometimes
    • Never
    • Donʼt Know

8. Which of these programs have you used for analyzing data? check all that apply

  • Spreadsheet software (e.g., Excel, Numbers)
  • Statistical software (e.g., Stata, R, SPSS, JMP/SAS)
  • Computational software (e.g., Mathematica, MATLAB, Sage)
  • Geospatial software (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS)
  • Qualitative analysis software (e.g., Dedoose, NVivo)
  • Graphics software (e.g., Photoshop)
  • Other (describe)

9. What would help you with the process of analyzing sources and data for your research assignments?

  • Tools for managing my documents
  • Tools for annotating documents
  • Tools for managing my notes
  • Tools for managing my data
  • Assistance understanding my data
  • Assistance understanding what analysis to conduct
  • Tools that help me organize my ideas and related sources
  • Other

  

VI. Research outcomes - writing, visualization, presentations, and citations

1. Which of these programs have you used for producing research papers? check all that apply

  • Word
  • Pages
  • Google Docs / Google Drive
  • Open source office apps (e.g., LibreOffice, OpenOffice)
  • LaTeX
  • Citation software (e.g., BibTeX, EndNote, Zotero)
  • Other (describe)

2. Which of these programs have you used for producing presentations? check all that apply

  • Powerpoint
  • Keynote
  • Prezi
  • Other (describe)

3. Which of these programs have you used for visualizing and presenting data? check all that apply

  • Statistical software (e.g., Stata, R, JMP/SAS)
  • Computational software (e.g., Mathematica, MATLAB, Sage)
  • Geospatial software (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS)
  • Qualitative analysis software (e.g., Dedoose, NVivo)
  • Software for data visualization (e.g., Tableau)
  • Programming tools for data visualization (e.g., D3.js)
  • Graphics software (e.g., Photoshop, GIMP)
  • Vector graphics software (e.g., Illustrator, Sketch)
  • Visualization tools specific to a laboratory instrument
  • Other (describe)

4. What would help you with the process of producing your research assignment? check all that apply

  • Document templates
  • Presentation templates
  • Help using word processing software
  • Help using visualization software
  • Help using presentation software
  • Help with appropriate quotes
  • Help with appropriate citations
  • Help citing sources other than texts (e.g., images, audio, video, maps)
  • Other (describe)

 

VII. Reflection - what is hard, what would help

When you think about the entire research process--from the moment you get the assignment until you turn in your research paper--what is challenging for you?

How often do you find the following research activities challenging? 

  • Defining a topic
  • Coming up with search terms
  • Finding articles in the library’s research databases (e.g., EBSCO, JSTOR)
  • Sorting through all the irrelevant results to find what I need
  • Evaluating the sources I've found
  • Finding useful data
  • Reading through the material
  • Taking notes and annotations
  • Integrating different sources from my research into my assignment
  • The writing part
  • Having enough time
  • Knowing when I should cite a source
  • Knowing how to cite a source in the right format
  • Deciding whether or not "I'm done"
  • Knowing whether or not I've done a good job
    • Usually
    • Sometimes
    • Never
    • Don’t know

2. When you think about a successful research assignment, what made it great?

3. What could your faculty do to help you with research assignments?

4. What services and support would help you on research assignments?

5. How likely would you be to use services and support provided in the following ways?

  • Training built into my academic class
  • Training offered outside my academic class
  • Training on the web
  • General purpose help pages provided by Reed
  • Discipline specific help pages provided by Reed
  • Course specific help pages integrated with my class
  • A person in the Library I can ask for help
  • A person in CIS I can ask for help
  • A person in the tutoring center I can ask for help
  • Other
    • Sure!
    • Maybe
    • Probably not
    • Donʼt Know

6. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your research needs?

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