UCSF Case Study

Survey Software Solutions for University Research Studies at UCSF

“UCSF Department of Urology Client Alan W. Shindel MD, Clinical Instructor and Fellow in Andrology in the Department of Urology at the University of California, San Francisco”

“QuestionPro combines powerful analysis software with an intuitive user interface. When coupled with their outstanding customer service, QuestionPro.com becomes a very useful tool for survey-based human subject public health research.

UCSF Challenges

The client needed a flexible and easy to use Internet software service to conduct a research study on stress, sexuality, and sexual dysfunction in American medical students. Given the sensitivity of the topic and the variety of questions that were being explored, a professional look and easy interface were going to be critical in getting people to take and complete the survey. There were also concerns about confidentiality; it was absolutely essential to reassure the study population that their responses would be safe and anonymous.

UCSF Solutions

QuestionPro was the ideal service to meet all of the project needs. The survey generation system was easy to use: uploaded word documents containing the surveys were ready to go with very little additional formatting. The range of different looks and methods in which questions may be presented ensured just the look the project needed. The powerful branching logic made it possible to arrange the survey such that the appropriate subjects were given the appropriate survey instruments. Most importantly, QuestionPro’s tight security mechanisms ensured that subject data was kept safe via RAA functionality. After the initial phase of data collection, the investigators were able to sort through responses based on specific search criteria. The data were automatically organized into several ready to use MS PowerPoint graphs and charts. This combination made it simple to quickly survey the data to detect important trends and associations. After getting a sense for the general trends and areas in need of further investigation, the data were easy to export in both MS Excel and SPSS for more complex statistical analysis.

UCSF Result

The client has been very pleased with the functionality of QuestionPro and will use it again for future studies. The service was helpful and responsive to his inquiries to facilitate the smooth operation of the survey.