Survey Respondent Information
Have you been contacted by the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research & Policy (NICRP) at University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV)? If so, we may be asking for your opinion or feedback on recent experiences that will help us conduct our research! We greatly appreciate your participation in the important research projects we conduct. Please read below for answers to frequently asked questions.
What And Who Is The Nevada Institute For Children’s Research & Policy?
The Nevada Institute for Children’s Research & Policy (NICRP) is a research center within the School of Community Health Sciences at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). NICRP collects data for use by policy makers, health researchers, government officials, and others who want to make important and well-informed decisions based on the most current information that the public can provide. Visit the About Us and Research & Projects pages for additional information.
I received a letter/email, what does that mean?
If you’ve received a letter or an email from NICRP, it is likely that you are being notified in advance that a researcher would like to contact you for participation in a research study. The letter/email should identify the research project’s name, the name of the researcher responsible for the project, and explain the background of the research project and what you will be asked to do. There should be a phone number and email address that you can use to contact NICRP for more information.
I was contacted by phone, what does that mean?
If you’ve received a phone call or voice mail message from NICRP (often identifying ourselves as UNLV), we are most likely inviting you to participate in a research project or trying to conduct a survey over the phone. The research assistant calling you should have provided a brief description of the project or survey. These messages will usually not include much detail for to keep information about the study confidential. A direct phone number to reach staff associated with the project will be provided.
What if I am not sure which project I’m being contacted for?
Please contact our main office and we will be happy to help you. You can email us at nicrp@unlv.edu or call at 702-895-1040.
How did the nevada institute for children’s research & policy get my name, address, email address, or phone number?
The research projects conducted by NICRP have a variety of sources for the names of invited participants and their contact information. For instance, perhaps you participated in an earlier component of a project and the associated researcher would like to conduct a follow-up interview. On other projects, you may have been randomly selected from a phone directory, or your phone number may have been randomly generated. Or it is possible that we selected your name at random from a specialized list of people who have some unique experience or characteristic, such as a study of cardiologists or members of a particular union. Either way, your participation is very important and much appreciated.
If you have any questions about the specific project for which you were contacted, or how we received your information, feel free to ask the interviewer who contacted you, or feel free to call or email us directly at nicrp@unlv.edu or call at 702-895-1040.
What is survey research?
Survey research is a tool for collecting information from individuals about themselves. In order to make policy decisions or to understand public issues, such as public health concerns, we need to do that in an informed way. To be fully informed, we need input from individuals. Survey research using randomly-selected participants is one way to systematically collect information from people. We sometimes try to talk to you in person or we may call on the phone, send a questionnaire in the mail, or ask you to fill out a survey on the internet. The results from all participants are then compiled into group statistics that are used to inform discussions relevant to important decisions.
Why is it important that I participate?
Each address or name that is selected at random is meant to represent hundreds or thousands of others. If you choose not to participate, it could mean that people like you are less represented in the information we provide to decision-makers.
For instance, you or a family member may have participated in a program that we are working to evaluate. In this instance, we ask those who have participated to share their experience and recommendations for improvement with us in order to inform future programs and opportunities. This feedback will help ensure that the programs our community partners offer are the best fit for you and the population you represent.
Your participation is always voluntary but we encourage you to consider the important uses of the data we collect. Your information will be combined with other participants in the form of statistical data and your identity will never be connected to your responses.
But I put my number on the do not call registry…
Survey research is not included in the Do Not Call law, as we are not “commercial speech” — that is, we do not sell anything and we do not ask for money. We respect your right not to participate in our surveys, but we encourage you to learn more about why your participation is important, how the data are used, how the data are protected, and what we can do to make your participation as easy as possible for you (such as making an appointment for a more convenient time). We hope that your visit to our website is helpful in this regard, but feel free to contact us directly at nicrp@unlv.edu or call at 702-895-1040 if you would like more information.
Are you trying to sell me something?
Most definitely NOT! We are researchers and our goal is to provide the highest quality data to the agencies, analysts, and policy makers who hire us to collect data. We will never ask for any kind of payment information, and in fact, many surveys that we conduct will offer respondents a small monetary incentive as an appreciation of their time and willingness to complete our survey!
Will anyone else see my answers to your questions?
We respect your privacy and work to ensure that your responses remain confidential. Your answers to our questions are processed separately from any information that might identify you as an individual. In addition, only research staff has access to the data until it has been combined with that of other participants into anonymous statistical tables. All survey responses are reported in aggregate and will not include any information that may identify you. Your individual responses are not shared with any outside agency. If there are questions that you do not feel comfortable answering during a survey, you may choose to skip that question without penalty.
How can I contact you?
We look forward to hearing from you! Feel free to contact us directly at nicrp@unlv.edu or call at 702-895-1040 if you would like more information.