Survey Policy

The following document was developed by the Board of Directors in August 2004 and updated in October 2023.

Society members sometimes request that SAEM sponsor, and assist with, conducting surveys of all or selected Society members. While surveys can be a valuable research tool, the design, distribution, collection, and data analysis of surveys are very resource-intensive with regard to staff time and expense for the Society, as well as time spent by members in completing the survey. Because the Society and its members do not have unlimited resources the Board discourages such projects and therefore has developed the following policy.

• All SAEM sponsored surveys must further the mission and goals of the Society.
  
  
• SAEM does not assist with or sponsor surveys from non-SAEM organizations or individuals. 
  
  
• Only those surveys that directly address an objective specifically assigned to a committee, task force, or other official SAEM group for that particular year (current year objective) will be considered. SAEM will not sponsor surveys that fail to meet this criteria.
  
  
• A project proposal form must be submitted for all proposed surveys. The proposal should describe the goals of the survey, how these relate to the specific objectives the committee, or other official SAEM group, was charged with, the target audience, the proposed mechanism of distribution (mailing list, use of list-serv, website posting, etc) and data analysis, and must include the survey instrument itself. All project proposals must also include a budget and an estimate of staff time. The Board will review such proposals with regard to how well the survey fits the objectives of the committee or task force, the appropriateness and perceived ability of the survey tool to accomplish the stated objectives, as well as the resource requirements for implementation.
  
  
• Any survey that is approved by SAEM becomes the property of SAEM with all rights reserved. To be approved, the SAEM Board may request revisions in the survey. Changes made to the survey after approval by the Board must be re-submitted before the survey is distributed. Reports, manuscripts, etc. that result from the survey must be reviewed and approved by the SAEM Board before they can be generally distributed or published.
  
  
• A summary of the findings of all approved surveys must be submitted to the Board within 3 months of completion.
  
  
• Interest groups may utilize their list-servs to survey their own members with regard to relevant topics without submitting a proposal to the SAEM Board.