Chi Sigma Iota

Policy on Research and Surveys

For CSI officers, committees, and grant recipients to access CSI members and chapters for research, including surveys of members’ satisfaction and needs, the following procedures apply:

Institutional Review Process

Only CSI members may conduct research using the CSI member data base. Those wishing to conduct research with CSI members shall develop a detailed plan for their study which will be approved in advance through CSI Headquarters. The specifics of the plan will include:

Purpose of the survey.
Participants and sampling procedure.
Methodology, including planned E-mail for recruiting participants.
Intended outcomes and products.
Plan for dissemination of results.
Timeline of major activities.
Ethical considerations (e.g., privacy, potential risks) and plan for addressing; specifically how confidentiality will be protected and any plans for follow up studies, interviews, etc. and how confidentiality of data will be maintained.

We anticipate that research will be oriented to services and satisfaction, therefore protection of human subjects and procedures associated with such protection do not apply. Informed consent of participants is not necessary for such surveys. CSI does reserve the right to determine when protection of human subjects and associated procedures are necessary. In those cases, the methodology will include procedures for insuring informed consent.

Survey Development Process and Administration

Surveys will be developed following standard survey research guidelines and with reviews as follows:

All electronic surveys will be administered through CSI HQ using surveymonkey or a comparable software.
For surveys that will be mailed, CSI will provide mailing labels based on an approved sampling procedure and all mailings will be processed by CSI Headquarters. If such mailings are grant-funded, the grant must include costs for personnel to manage the mailing. Such costs will be negotiated in advance with CSI Headqarters.
All survey data are the property of CSI and no publications shall be pursued without CSI review and endorsement.
All publications will include the statement: “This research was supported in part by Chi Sigma Iota, International.”
Prepare outline of key concepts and content of survey.
Submit concepts for review by HQ and appropriate experts.
Develop survey items and instructions.
Submit survey and instructions for review by HQ and appropriate experts.
Conduct a field test of the survey with a small sample potential respondents and request feedback on format, instructions, and items.
Revise survey for final administration.
Submit final survey and instructions for distribution to HQ for electronic surveys.
When complete, a summary of the results will be provided to CSI in an electronic format for uploading to the CSI web site.