The following is a step-by-step guide on how to write the NIH DMP:

Understanding the NIH Data Sharing Policy:

Familiarize yourself with the specific data sharing requirements and policies outlined in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) or the agency-specific guidelines. Each NIH institute may have slightly different expectations for data sharing, so be sure to tailor your plan accordingly.

Starting early:

Begin working on your DMP early in the grant writing process. This detailed document requires thoughtful consideration, and rushing through it could lead to oversight or errors.

Types of data to be collected:

Clearly outline the different types of data that will be generated in your research project. This can include experimental results, survey responses, clinical data, genomic data, imaging data, etc.

Data collection procedures:

Explain how you will collect and generate the data. Describe the instruments, protocols, and methodologies you will use. Address issues like data quality control and validation.

Data organization and documentation:

Detail how you will organize and document your data during the research project. This can involve establishing a standardized naming convention, using metadata, and creating data dictionaries or codebooks.

Data storage and backup:

Describe how you will store your data securely during the project. This may involve using institutional servers, cloud-based storage, or other dedicated data repositories. Include information on data backup procedures to prevent data loss.

Data sharing:

Clearly state your intentions regarding data sharing. If you plan to share data, specify the timing and conditions under which the data will be made available to other researchers and through which platforms or repositories.

Data access controls and restrictions:

Address any sensitive or confidential data and explain how you will protect the privacy and confidentiality of human subjects, as well as any intellectual property considerations.

Data preservation:

Outline your plan for the long-term preservation of the data beyond the project’s duration. Identify suitable data archives or repositories for depositing the data and explain how you will provide access to the data after the project ends.

Data sharing agreement (if applicable):

If data sharing involves collaborations with other institutions or researchers, mention any data sharing agreements that will be established.

Roles and responsibilities:

Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of team members regarding data management. This includes data ownership, access permissions, and data custodianship.

Compliance and ethical considerations:

Address any compliance requirements related to data management, such as data use agreements or Institutional Review Board (IRB) approvals.

Budget:

If data management activities require additional funding, ensure that you include a well-justified budget for these expenses.

The DMP should ultimately be a comprehensive plan along with a timeline that identifies the data types and resources that will be generated, where they will be stored, and who will have access to them. Given the innovative and sensitive nature of the research that agencies such as the NIH and the NSF fund, this is a closely scrutinized part of the proposal.

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1. Begin early – In many cases this could mean starting about nine months before the submission deadline. There are many phases prior to the final proposal submission, and it is difficult to assess ahead of time how long each of these will take. Therefore, it is wise to allow extra time for completion of the proposal.

2. Understand that grant writing is a team effort – Getting buy-in from all who will be involved in the various phases of the proposal is the very first step that needs to be taken. An initial meeting to determine the commitment, expertise, and division of labor will start the process. Once the overall structure is delineated, systematic follow-up sessions should occur.

3. Research the situation that requires an intervention – A thorough literature review of the existing problem is necessary in order to understand the intervention that will be the ultimate purpose of the grant. Once the specifics on what is working and what is not in the field are laid out, the need for the proposal becomes very clear.

4. Address the innovation gap – In almost all cases, donors are looking for innovative approaches that will solve an existing problem or contribute to advancement in the field. Innovative models that will improve the field emerge from preliminary data, pilot studies, and extensive research.

5. Comprehend that simplicity equals complexity understood – A grant is a business plan that is linear and methodically developed. The more the grant requester understands what he/she is asking of the donor, the easier it will be to write the proposal in a way that can be easily understood by the reviewers.

6. Know the culture and language of the donor – Speaking the language of the donor and navigating their culture with ease will win the confidence of the reviewers by ensuring that the proposal addresses what they want to fund and how the request aligns with their mission and vision.

7. Take their audience with them – Understanding who will review the proposal is a key characteristic of every successful grant writer. Thus, they write for their audience – the reviewers. It also goes without saying that the review criteria used to score proposals must be understood. If writing to a foundation, this approach may not be possible in all cases; however, speaking with the donor’s program officer will provide useful insight.

Upon submission, the components of a winning grant proposal will be: an excellent idea that needs to be implemented for change to occur, focusing or narrowing the request to what is realistic and doable, innovation, extensive preliminary work, and strong teams.

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Rigor

Rigor encompasses a whole host of practices. In research, it’s the belief that your field demands constant improvement by closing existing gaps in knowledge, which may exist because of inaccurate methods and measurements, or completely non-existing ones. In order to fill these voids, a commitment to addressing all aspects of the research and careful attention to detail will be required. Rigor also implies that your methodology is conducted systematically, and that your research design addresses your questions, hypotheses, variables, and data collection methods.

Focus

One of the most common mistakes is an overly ambitious proposal. For example, a proposal to research the general effects of obesity in the entire population would be unrealistic and, needless to say, impossible. In contrast, a proposal to examine health related improvements of severely obese men and women between the ages of 45 – 55, who begin a three times per week exercise regiment, would be a much more focused study. You should assure that your hypothesis is precise and that your specific aims can be accomplished in the amount of time allotted for the grant.

Preliminary Data

One of the surest ways to kill a promising proposal is with a lack of preliminary data. Once you have identified the problem you wish to address, you will need to have preliminary data to support your hypothesis and aims. The more preliminary data you have, the more you will be considered a serious investigator, who has taken the time to develop a hypothesis that is well rooted. Research grants of course vary, and some are geared for new investigators and therefore may not require extensive preliminary studies and data. Nevertheless, for any investigator, the more preliminary data you have to support your research, the better.

Communication

As a proposal writer, your audience (reviewers) will want to find candidates who are the most likely to succeed. Walk them through your plan and how it will be implemented (activities/methodology) and demonstrate that your outcomes will match their measures for success (evaluation criteria). Your goal should always be to write about the importance of your intervention in a way that moves the readers and makes them want to fund your project. The difference between a good story and a superficial one is that the latter provides too easy a solution. To avoid this, your interventions should be innovative, and should make a real and tangible difference in your field. Your story should convey the overall impact of resolving difficult problems.

Persistence

It is important to remember that the success rate for many research grants can be in the teens. Thus, some lucky people will get funded the first time, but chances are that it will not happen so easily. If your proposal is rejected the first time, you should take the comments from the reviewers seriously and address them appropriately and politely in your next submission. If the reviewers thought that your idea was strong, but that there were flaws in other areas, your chances for success in the second submission are excellent. At the end of the day, your persistence will pay off.

Believing in your idea, a specific hypothesis constructed via your preliminary data, and outlining an innovative and transformative approach will get you eighty percent of the way to being funded. You will also need to tell the story in a persuasive way that highlights the need for and importance of your idea in the field and for the people who will be served.

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Why do you want to do this? The immediate answer should be because you care about the idea, which will serve either a specific population in need or fill an important knowledge gap in the field. Another important reason for your desire to do this is your passion for the subject. This is a key element in grant writing that should be expressed in an honest and convincing manner. Unfortunately, this is a major pitfall for many investigators who have been taught to write manuscripts, which require a dispassionate writing style that utilizes a passive voice.

Why does it need to be done? Your own hunch is the first step in answering this question. You probably have worked in the field and noticed over and over again that something is missing and needs to be corrected. The next step is a thorough review of the literature that will address what is absent in solving the problem that you propose to tackle. It might also be that you have made a thorough investigation of what your population needs via questionnaires, observations, and discussion. Their answers will lead to the intervention and the reason you are about to apply for a grant. At this point, you will need to address the significance of your project in an innovative and transformative way.

Why should we believe that you can do it? If your project is feasible, focused and persuasive, the next step will be to convince your donor that the project is worth doing and that you are the best person to do it. The single most persuasive item that you can provide is evidence of your credibility via your extensive experience in the field, your academic training, publications, synergistic activities, and if the donor requires, letters of support from colleagues, supervisors, partners and mentors. The same would apply to your team and organization. In other words, is your team credible, and is your organization supportive?

How are you going to do it? This will be your business plan, which will be logically written in the prescribed format that the donor requests. The “how” requirements can vary from grant to grant. For project grants, it will include the goal and the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) objectives. For a research grant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it will include your hypothesis, specific aims and methodology. For others such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), your intellectual merit and broader impacts will delineate how you will do it. This section will require specificity, creativity and a keen understanding that there may be obstacles along the way, but that you are prepared to address and solve them when you encounter them.

Where have you gone for the information? The steps you have taken to understand the need for your project will be shown by the literature review and the preliminary data. For example, have you thoroughly researched the problem? Did you address the “so what” question? Did you seek evidence-based information? An example of the latter might be the best evidence for diagnosis, treatment and prevention options for health disorders that are tailored to the characteristics and context of the individual patient and the resources of the provider.

What distinguishes winning proposals are the answers to the above questions, which ultimately translate to your thorough understanding of the problem and your passion and fervor in undertaking the project. Your credibility as the director of the project and the credibility of your institution will also be key contributors to a successful proposal. At the end of the day, the pathway to being funded will depend on clear writing, a thorough literature review and a detailed and focused business plan that walks the donor through the actions that you will take to succeed.

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1. Not allowing sufficient time to write: Allowing enough time to do the research, effectively writing the proposal, and ensuring that all the letters of recommendation and forms requested are appropriately completed are key components to success. It has been demonstrated that those who submit their proposals three or more days prior to the deadline have a 37% greater chance of getting funded than those who submit at the last minute.
2. Not paying attention to instructions: It is extremely frustrating to be rejected for something as simple as margin width or font size, yet this is a common occurrence. 50% of the proposals that are submitted to various federal agencies are immediately eliminated because directions were not followed.
3. Poor writing: Grammatical errors are not the only sign of poor writing. There are many more, such as the use of acronyms and jargon, wordy sentences, long paragraphs, and making readers fish for the main reason the request is being made.
4. Failure to edit the application: This problem can easily be remedied if a prospective grantee gives his/her proposal to a qualified editor to proofread before submission. Although reviewers are not charged to score an application for grammar, poor writing reflects sloppy work and lack of attention to detail.
5. Failure to convey to the reviewers that your research is interesting: The Principal Investigator (PI) should be enthusiastic about the project. Lack of enthusiasm is contagious; reviewers will feel it and will lose interest in your project.
6. Lack of preliminary data or research: If you are writing a research grant, preliminary data is essential in proving that your hunch or hypothesis is plausible. If you are writing a project grant, thorough research of your subject matter is what makes your proposal credible.
7. Project that is too ambitious: Lack of focus is clearly reflected both in the scope, as well as the writing. Your preliminary data and research will be a good guide for how to narrow the focus of your proposal and do what is possible within the allotted time. Another good restrictive measurement is the budget.
8. Lack of experience in the field: The credibility of your proposal depends on those who will implement it. Thus, you must include the most qualified personnel. Reviewers are looking for project directors or principal investigators who are trained in their field, have succeeded with similar projects in the past, are recognized for their contributions, and have a proven record of efficiently working in a team.
9. Selecting a project that will have limited impact: A project that will have broad impact demonstrates that the money awarded will serve a large population that needs the intervention. Limited impact on the other hand, can be costly, not sustainable, and restricted to a small population.
10. Limited support from your institution: Institutional support demonstrates that your project is part of the institutional mission, and that it will be sustained in the future. Furthermore, projects that your institution financially and philosophically supports have a much greater chance of success.

Many of the aforementioned mistakes can easily be committed if you are in a rush. Knowing who you are, what you wish to accomplish, and delineating how you will accomplish your tasks is extremely important. Ultimately, professionalism, attention to detail, and enthusiasm will be the characteristics that will advance your proposal to the top of the competition.

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1. What is the goal of your project?

This will be stated in your introductory paragraph. The goal will address the gap that your research will undertake to fill. You will also address the importance of your research via the “so what question”.

Example:

The development of the mammalian immune system is typically thought to occur in a linear fashion, from immaturity to maturity as a function of antigen exposure. Previous findings in birds and in mice, however, indicate that this view is oversimplified. Thus, in these species, the developing immune system appears to be “layered” in a manner that is independent of antigen exposure, beginning as a multilineage fetal system that is replaced by an anatomically and biologically distinct multilineage system after birth. If so, then developmentally ordered and unique hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) could give rise to distinct lymphocyte lineages at different stages of development.

2. What data or advances are you bringing to the table?

Your preliminary data will set the stage for your credibility, which helps convince reviewers that you are able to undertake this proposal. The more preliminary results of previous findings you have, the more convincing your case will be.

Example:

In ongoing experiments, we have found that such immune system “layering” occurs in humans. Our preliminary data show that: (1) the human fetus can mount a vigorous immune response to exogenous antigens;⁴ (2) the human fetal immune response to exogenous antigens can be actively suppressed by antigen-specific Tregs;^4,5 (3) fetal Tregs are derived from a fetal-specific lineage of T cells; (4) fetal and adult HSPCs give rise to distinct populations of T cells; and (5) fetal HSPC-derived T cells show an enhanced ability to generate

Tregs during thymic maturation and upon exposure to foreign antigens in vitro.⁶ These data suggest that the human immune system is comprised of two distinct waves: one generated from a “fetal” HSPC that exists in utero in the fetal liver and bone marrow, and another generated from a superseding “adult” HSPC that resides in the bone marrow at later time points. The former gives rise to an immune system that is prone to deliver a tolerogenic response to foregin antigens. The latter gives rise to an immune system that is more likely to generate an immunoreactive responses (e.g., one including cytotoxic T cells and neutralizing antibodies).

3. What is your central hypothesis?

Your hypothesis embodies the critical need for your research and is the central part of your proposal. It is the solution that solves the problem. Your hypothesis is the reason for your project and must be specific.

Example:

Given these findings, we hypothesize that physiologic layering of immune system ontogeny leads to a normal range in the ratio of fetal- to adult-type T cells at birth, with some neonates exhibiting a higher fraction of fetal T cells than others; and that those with a high ratio of fetal/adult T cells will generate predominant Th2 responses to routine childhood immunizations.

4. What are your specific aims?

Your aims will test the hypothesis and need to be detailed. They should result in something that you can measure. In other words, they are exactly what its name implies – specific. They should also be independent of each other, and should not be overly ambitious. The above hypothesis will be tested via the following specific aims, which are specific and independent of one another:

Example:

Specific Aim 1. To determine the normal range of fetal to adult T cells in the umbilical cord blood of the full term neonate.

Specific Aim 2. To determine whether those full-term neonates with a high ratio of fetal/adult T cells are more likely to generate a Th2-polarized immune response to routine childhood immunizations.

5. What will be the ultimate results of your study?

The Specific Aims page will end with the benefits that are expected from your study. It is the outcome section of your proposal and the major reason you received the funding to undertake your study.

Example:

We anticipate that this study will reveal normal variation in the ratio of fetal to adult T cells at birth and that such variability in this ratio will be directly related to – and possibly causal of – a Th2 skew that results in a poor response to childhood vaccines and a heightened predisposition to childhood infections and to atopic disorders. If so, these modalities aimed at changing this ratio more towards the adult lineage at birth may provide benefit to a substantial number of newborns.

Your goal, data, hypothesis and specific aims will be the central focal points for your entire proposal. These are the most difficult to write, and you will probably revise them many times before you settle on the final submission. Ultimately, this is the page that will determine the fate of your proposal because it demonstrates how all the pieces will fit together to develop a paradigm shift in the field.

Examples excerpted from:

McCune, Joseph. “Human immune system layering and the neonatal response to vaccines.” National Institute of Allergies and Diseases Sample Grant Application. 14 Jun 2010. Web. 2 Jul 2015.

Full text of the sample proposal by Joseph McCune of The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco, posted online by the National Institute of Allergies and Diseases is available at: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/grant/Documents/McCunefull.pdf

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Example 1

• Objective: To initiate a 4-hour per week tutoring program over a 6-month period for 25 seventh graders to increase their reading skills, as measured by the state standard achievement test for reading.
• Outcome: 70% of the target group will increase their reading skills to meet the state standards. An additional outcome might be that half of the target group will increase their grades by 35%.

Example 2

• Objective: Reduce violent behavior of 50 adolescents via 8 negotiation skills mentoring programs per month, over a 4-month period.
• Outcome: Given that the baseline for this proposal is that problem solving only happens through violent behavior, the short-term outcome will be that after the first month, 80% are able to solve problems by raising their voices at each other. After 8 more mentoring sessions, 70% can talk out a problem. At the end of 4 months – which coincides with the end of the grant – 65% of the adolescents can negotiate a problem in a calm manner.

The above outcomes are concrete statements about what each of the programs will accomplish. Effective outcomes will succinctly answer the five questions below.

1. What will change?

The success rates must parallel the corresponding objectives of your proposal. These will need to be carefully measured throughout the period of the grant via incremental evaluations. Doing so ensures that what has been promised in the objectives will be aligned with the outcomes.

2. How many will change?

You can easily identify the number or percentage of variation that will take place in the examples above. In the first example, 70% of the target group will increase their reading skills. In the second example, 65% of the adolescents will be able to handle a problem without resorting to violence.

3. What is the magnitude of change?

In the second outcome example, a baseline for the problem is established. Then, the expected degree of change that will be taking place along the way is demonstrated with short-, mid-, and long-term outcomes. Including that baseline will give context to the modifications described in your outcomes.

4. What type of change will take place?

The development that will take place is inherent in the objectives in each example above. Donors understand that you probably will not be able to create a 100% change. Further, only a good estimate should be given, which is based on the literature and research related to your project.

5. When will the change take place?

The time period of the grant will mirror that of the outcomes. Establishing a realistic time frame will depend on the research and experience of those in charge of the proposal. Several project planning tools exist which may be useful for you, particularly Gantt charts.

Outcomes are benefits for participants during or after their involvement with a program. They may pertain to knowledge, skills, attitudes, or behavior concerning a specific topic, depending on the project or research. As noted above, outcomes can have a variety of levels. Focus is on the specification and achievement of outcomes, which reveals more about how effective programs are in achieving real development on the ground. Since donors are increasingly focused on accountability, these are now critical to success. Before they award grants, donors want to know what the benefits of their funding will be as well as the expected success rates. To learn more about outcomes and the planning process – and to gain a valuable planning tool – check out the Logic Model!

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Our objective is to transform eight different communication courses over a period of one year via the integration of a two-week instructional module on negotiating skills, to be included in each course.

The process is as follows:

Questions

What do you want to know to determine if your objective was realized? For the example above, you would want to know if:

• criteria for course transformations were met
• subject matter was appropriate for the module
• criteria for negotiating skills are achievable and being met
• measurable outcomes are accomplished along the way

Indicators and Evidence

How will you know that the above questions are being answered? Examples include, but are not limited to:

• pre- and post-project tests
• surveys, observations, interviews, and other methods that gather qualitative information
• quantitative data collection such as: number of students, instructors involved, course transformations, tests, and grades
• Involvement in and success rates of mock negotiations

Timing

When should you collect this data? Your project will determine the timing; however, gather your data incrementally according to the percentage of change for established baselines of your proposal. A timeline demonstrating each of the changes as they are measured and happening is an extremely valuable tool.

Data Collection

The data-collection process assists the evaluation team in revising the design of the program and methods based on resources – both financial and human. The team can also examine how the evaluation process is received by participants and other people from whom information is collected. Assessment of the usefulness of the information collected is another factor the team can determine. This will include:

• Sources: Who has the information? What are the measurable criteria and expected outcomes for each of the objectives? In our example above, sources may be the evaluator, the faculty, the course transformation experts, a committee of experts who will evaluate each module, and of course, the students.
• Methods: How and when will the information be gathered? Your approach might be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed method research. Very often an evaluation consultant is included to ensure the statistical design and methodology are well-developed and logical.
• Sample: From whom will the data be collected?In large studies, a stratified random sample may be obtained by separating the population into mutually exclusive sets, or strata, and then drawing random samples from each stratum. Since the population for our example objective is not very large, chances are that the data will be collected from everyone involved in the project.
• Instruments: What tools will be used in gathering the data? These can range from quite simple to extremely complicated. Developing the instruments may be a lengthily process and relate directly to what needs to be known about each objective. Some examples may include attitudinal instruments, surveys, and pre- and post-tests. Once again, you may require the assistance of an evaluation consultant.

An evaluation plan is a written document that states the objectives of a project and the questions that will be used to determine its success. It also includes the information that will be collected and the timeframe of data collection. You can think of the evaluation plan as the instructions which will guide you through each step of the process. It is the key to demonstrating accountability to the donor.

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Federal Sources

Citations from federal studies have an inherent authenticity that appeals to many donors. Regardless of discipline, most researchers and writers can make use of the following sites:

• USA.gov is the most authoritative statistical portal. You can search for and find statistics spanning all topics.
• Data.gov contains data and statistics on several topics pulled from federal agencies, state and local governments, and several major institutions of higher education.
• The Bureau of Labor and Statistics is the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of work economics and statistics.
• The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics is the nation’s leading data source for science and engineering studies.
• The Department of Education has a large collection of statistical information pertaining to education.
• PubMed is a research warehouse for nearly all medical studies conducted within the U.S.
• All of the 26 federal funding agencies, such as the Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture, hold a wealth of data within their individual websites.
• The National Archives and Records Administration provides access to archives and historical records. Historians and librarians will greatly benefit from this site.

Multilateral Organizations

Multilateral organizations are a great source of information on national and international areas such as in health, economics, geosciences and education. The following sites are just a few of the major resources:

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) houses a comprehensive collection of research and statistics with publications in multiple digital formats. The IMF eLibrary is an excellent resource for global statistics and information.
• The World Bank provides data on multiple global-scale topics, such as poverty, education, and technology.
• The World Health Organization is an excellent resource on world health data and statistics.
• The Asian Development Bank and African Development Bank have country-specific economic and business performance measurements, data, and statistics.
• The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has an array of data on culture and education gathered from global studies.
• The Organization for Economic Co-Operation Development (OECD) iLibrary, although not a multi-lateral organization, can be a great resource for international data for many disciplines.

Medical and Scientific Research

The most authoritative place to begin looking for data and resources for medical research is the National Institute of Health (NIH) site. For scientific research, it is the National Science Foundation (NSF). In addition, the following resources provide further statistics for some disciplines:

• Nature.com’s Statistics for Biologists focuses on data and resources in biology.
• The American Physical Society houses resources and guides for physics research.
• The American Cancer Society focuses on data for cancer research.

Social Sciences Research

Social scientists should make use of mixed method research. Both qualitative and quantitative data can be found at the following sites:

• The American Fact Finder pulls statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau data.
• The American Psychological Association provides resources and data for psychological research.
• The American Sociological Association supplies information and links for sociological research.

To have any chance of being funded you must always start with an important idea. Once you have that, citing authoritative previous research and data to demonstrate the completeness, legitimacy, and accuracy of your idea will greatly increase that chance. The resources listed above are only the some of the countless available, but they should provide an excellent start while writing your proposal.

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• Is the group being surveyed representative of your population?
• Is your sample size appropriate?
• Has the sample been randomly selected?
• How have you validated your questionnaire?

The Question and Objectives of Your Proposal

All proposals must address the problem, the idea, and the question. Your survey will depend on the question of your research. For example, what are the eating habits of adolescents who are obese and diabetic, and what is the intake of sugar and fat consumed by this population? The objectives that parallel these questions are: 1) determine the meals eaten per adolescent, per day, during a one-month period; 2) assess the average intake of sugar and fat per meal per day, over a one-month period; and 3) identify food preferences via an attitudinal questionnaire, issued once per week over a one-month period.

Sample Population

To ensure that the survey instrument you develop is appropriate for your audience, you must specify who you are measuring at the beginning of your study. Are you testing all adolescents or a specific group in one area with a high incidence of obesity and diabetes? Either way, you will need to field-test your questionnaire with a group similar to your population before distributing it among your sample. Language barriers, cultural bias, dialects, and regional differences are all factors you should take into consideration.

Collection Methods

How will you administer your questionnaire? Choosing a uniform approach for collecting data will reduce errors. Mail, telephone, email, and face-to-face interviews could each give different results, depending on the population to be interviewed. Some of the factors to consider are the optimal time of day, the neutrality of the location, and maintaining a consistent interview approach.

Measurement

The method of measurement will depend on your specific objectives, evaluation, outcomes, and impact. You must consider the factors you want to measure. A mixed research method of quantitative and qualitative data collection will best ensure a broad validity of your study. For example, your quantitative measures will be the number of meals and the amount of sugar and fat consumed by a group of obese adolescents with a high incidence of diabetes in a specific area. Meanwhile, attitudes, habits, feelings, and/or family influence will comprise the qualitative data.

Best Practices

• Instructions should be simple and direct
• Your language should be as precise and plain as possible
• Ask one question at a time
• Target what you want or need to know, and stay focused on answering those questions
• Focus on your most important questions first, so that you capture the responses that are vital for your study before the respondent becomes fatigued

Developing an effective survey is both an art and a science that will provide the data that supports your research. To be successful, you will need to ask uniform and non-leading questions to measure exactly what you want to know. Most importantly, a mixed methods approach is the best option to tackle your study from every relevant angle.

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