Bridging Data and Ethics: A Qualtrics Journey in Regional Graduate Research

Ankit Beniwal and Zuocheng Zhang | 5th September 2024

How international graduates from Australian universities manage the social and cultural challenges they face when transitioning to regional workplaces in Australia?

This is the central question driving the research by Dr. Zuocheng Zhang, a Senior Lecturer in English, Literacies, and Language Education at the University of New England (UNE). His study, titled Choosing to Stay: International Graduates’ Transition to Australia’s Regional Workplaces, seeks to unravel these complexities, offering fresh insights into the experiences of skilled migrants who are crucial to regional labour markets.

Dr. Zhang’s research faced significant challenges in reliably and ethically documenting the nuanced experiences of international graduates. Creating a Qualtrics survey that could effectively gather data while maintaining participant consent, anonymity, and adherence to strict ethical standards required a meticulous approach. The survey needed to seamlessly integrate the Information Sheet for Participants and the Consent Form at the beginning, and include a yes/no question to determine if participants wished to be contacted in the future, along with their contact details. Ensuring the anonymity of responses while collecting essential data added another layer of complexity. These technical and ethical demands presented substantial hurdles, necessitating careful attention to survey design, particularly in integrating consent forms and managing participant data.

To navigate these challenges, Dr. Zhang turned to Dr. Ankit Beniwal, Intersect’s Digital Research Analyst at UNE, for specialised guidance. Leveraging Intersect’s expertise, Dr. Beniwal collaborated closely with Dr. Zhang to address the unique technical and ethical complexities of the survey setup. Dr. Beniwal provided targeted support, guiding him through the intricacies of the Qualtrics platform. This included integrating consent forms, setting up participant information sheets, incorporating a yes/no question for participant consent, and ensuring accurate procedures for exporting and printing survey reports.

To further enhance the survey’s functionality and compliance, Dr. Beniwal facilitated the implementation of advanced display and skip logic features within Qualtrics, which was crucial for managing complex survey paths. The survey was finalised in an in-person session  after importing the information sheet, applying the necessary skip logics, and creating a second survey for participants who wished to be contacted in the future. 

Reflecting on the collaboration, Dr. Zhang remarked,

“Ankit’s help with Qualtrics is invaluable. His expertise and patience are both greatly appreciated. By setting up two surveys which are linked without allowing information from the first survey to be linked to that from the second, one satisfies a key ethics requirement.”

The collaborative efforts led to the successful setup of a robust Qualtrics survey solution that moved the research towards the data collection stage. This setup ensured compliance with ethical standards and alignment with the specific needs of Dr. Zhang’s study. 

Following ethics approval, Dr. Zhang tested the surveys with three volunteers, confirming that responses were recorded correctly and providing assurance that the system was functioning as intended. Although there were minor issues with the Results dashboard in Qualtrics, the primary objective of accurate response recording was achieved. With the initial tests finished, Dr. Zhang has now launched the survey and begun the data collection phase.

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