Application Request to IOA to Distribute a Research Survey to the Membership

The IOA is dedicated to supporting orthoptists in producing high-quality research and sharing knowledge across the global community.

Research surveys are a valuable study tool. Being able to access a large number of respondents is crucial for effectively answering the study question and achieving its stated goals. Thus, many researchers request that the IOA distribute their study questionnaires to our membership.

Whilst the IOA is supportive in promoting these research endeavours, we must also take steps to ensure that the study content does not conflict our own Mission and Purpose, is relevant to our members, and that the privacy of our members is protected.

Additionally, an overabundance of survey requests to members may result in “survey burnout”, and we do not wish to create any undue burden on our National Associations to comply with these requests. To that end, we have launched an application process in order to review and catalogue research survey activity.

Important

Researchers are NOT to contact the National Association Representatives directly to request distribution of their survey questionnaires to their membership.

All researchers must submit their request to distribute survey questionnaires via this portal.

Requirements

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

Any professional or research project must comply with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
Learn more about GDPR

Ethical Review

There needs to be evidence that the survey has undergone ethical review by a local institution/board. This would include peer review of the scientific value of the survey content/questions, as well as approval by the Ethics Board with specific regards to the collection of data internationally. Submission of the reference code number or copy of ethics board approval document would be required.
Note: Quality management/service evaluation/audit surveys are not typically required to go through an ethics review board. This should be clearly stated in the applicant’s submission. However, the applicant would still need to submit a process for how they plan to safeguard data.

Survey Cover Page

Describes the research question and who the participant groups are. Includes a statement on how data will be collected/securely stored, including where and how long the data will be stored. Clearly outlines what will be done with data collected that involves participant’s names/workplaces or any other personal data, as well as any sharing of anonymized data for dissemination purposes.

Consent to Participate

Surveys should include a statement of consent to participate in the survey. This could be a basic statement such as: “By clicking on the NEXT button, you hereby consent to participate in this survey.”

Read-Only Version for Review

A read-only version of the survey questions (e.g. Word document; NOT the link to an active survey which may trigger a data collection process) should be provided for review by the IOA Education and Research Committee. This is to ensure that the content is relevant and appropriate to our membership.

What Happens After Approval?

Once approved by the IOA Education and Research Committee, the survey/link will be uploaded onto the IOA website. The Country Representatives for the National Associations will then be notified it is ready to distribute to their own memberships.

Please note

No National Association is required to comply with a survey request. Distribution is voluntary and done at the discretion of that country’s representative.

Important Information for Researchers

Direct Survey Link

A link to directly launch the survey must be included in the final uploaded document. Please do not ask participants to fill out a form that then needs to be e-mailed to your research team. Additionally, the survey link will be posted on the IOA website (Members Only section) so any individual IOA member may participate via that route.

Share Your Study Results

Researchers are encouraged to provide a brief summary of their study results in the Members Only Survey section of our website. This allows participants to follow the project to its conclusion, thus highlighting the collaborative nature of our IOA community. Note: This is not mandatory as we appreciate there are time lags from data collection to publication of research results.

Together, we can advance orthoptic research and contribute to excellence in patient care worldwide.