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Application process
Permission from SSEC is required for all University wide surveys and all College surveys.
The committee also grants permission for surveys conducted on EUSA properties, although additional permission is required from EUSA. Surveys to be conducted within a School require permission from the Head of School - SSEC is not involved
How to apply
Each applicant requesting permission to carry out a survey must provide electronically:
- a copy of their survey which enables direct access to the questions. The Committee will not consider requests which require them to complete the questionnaire in order to review the survey. The Secretary will return to applicants any surveys provided in this format.
- a covering explanation outlining the rationale behind the survey
- an outline of the way in which those to be surveyed will be recruited
- confirmation that medical surveys have received ethical approval prior to application to the Committee
When to apply
As early as possible! Applicants are encouraged to contact the Student Survey Ethics Committee well in advance of the date they wish to conduct the survey.
The Committee will normally respond to survey requests within three working weeks of receipt of the application.
Surveys scheduled during the Registration, Consolidation and Examination period of the University (indicated on the semester dates ) and during the NSS will not normally be approved. No other undergraduate surveys will be considered unless they are targeted at non final years.
Student requests
To avoid over-loading the student body no student, regardless of their home institution, will be granted permission to conduct University-wide surveys or surveys which extend beyond one School for the purposes of dissertation or assignment research.
Psychology
At the University of Edinburgh, Psychology has its own procedures for ensuring that surveys conducted by students meet standard ethical guidelines.
For final year projects students must submit their project proposal for approval to the Psychology Ethics Committee. Before submitting their proposals to the Ethics Committee, students are normally expected to have consulted standard ethical guidelines such as those produced by the British Psychological Society.
This article was published on Jul 20, 2010