Data collection 2: Survey on FHPT researchers’ views on and experiences of

The publication data retrieved by using Juuli, as described in the chapter above, can be used for mapping the patterns of scholarly publishing, but to gain insight into the researchers’ experiences of and views on OA publishing, an additional data collection method is needed. A survey is an efficient method to reach a large number of

respondents within a limited time frame. Another benefit of the survey method is that it collects structured data, as all informants receive exactly the same questions.

Consequently, comparisons can be made across different respondent groups (Creswell

& Creswell 2018).

A survey is a method for systematically gathering information from a population on a certain topic. Surveys are used to measure the frequencies with which the sample population experiences certain aspects of a defined phenomenon (Creswell 2018). In case study research, surveys are used to identify characteristics of a population by asking questions related to the topic of study. To map FHPT researchers’ views on and experiences of OA publishing, conducting an online survey is thus an appropriate method for collecting data.

Surveys are used to examine individuals’ self-reported knowledge, opinions and behaviors. Another limitation which relates to the role of social reality is that

participants not only report what they think themselves, their responses may also reflect what they think that the researcher anticipates (Creswell & Creswell 2018). Although quantitative methods previously have been seen to represent an objective reality, it has been increasingly acknowledged that also the use of quantitative methods and

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interpretation of quantitative results are shaped by social reality. All phases of the research process, starting from the definition of research aims and questions, to the research design and construction of measurement tools and the interpretation of results are shaped by the expectations of the researchers, the features of the data sources, and the informants (Creswell 2018).

4.4.1. Population and sampling

The choice of population and sampling are critical to successfully receive responses which cover the research aim and questions. Researchers affiliated to the Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology constitute the population of the present study. The category of researcher includes all individuals at all career levels who conduct research as part of their work: doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, university teachers, professors. Ideally, all researchers affiliated to the faculty (the population) would constitute the sample, but in practice, there is no guarantee that all individuals can be reached.

The survey was open 7.4–29.4.2020 and distributed online via e-mailing lists only (both general and subject-specific) to FHPT staff, researchers and doctoral students. The invitation to participate was also shared via the staff newsletter, and a link to the survey was posted in FHPT-related groups on Facebook and Yammer which is used for ÅAU internal communication.

One of the challenges in survey studies is to attract informants of different backgrounds and experiences to participate. In the cover letter, also researchers who did not have experience of OA publishing were encouraged to participate in the survey.

4.4.2. The structure of the survey

The survey questions and measurement items are derived and adapted from previously used surveys. The present survey is adapted from Gaines’ (2015) study “From

Concerned to Cautiously Optimistic: Assessing Faculty perceptions and Knowledge of Open Access in a Campus-Wide Study”. The survey was constructed by using the online survey tool SurveyMonkey. The entire survey is attached in Appendix 1.

The survey consists of a total of 20 questions distributed on ten different pages in the survey. The question items are used to measure to what extent respondents disagree or agree with statements on the principles of OA and perceived benefits of OA publishing.

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In the survey, questions 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, and 11 are constructed in a 7-point Likert scale (1= strongly disagree, 7= strongly agree, or 1=extremely irrelevant, 7= extremely relevant) to measure the perceived awareness, knowledge and perceptions of OA publishing. In contrast to Gaines’ (2015) study, where a 4-point scale was used, a 7-point grade scale was used in the present study to make the scale more sensitive to differences in the data. In addition, the order of the questions of the original survey was re-arranged to appear more logical for the respondent. Since the original survey was used in another educational context, items E, F and G in Q1, item L in Q7, and items A, C, E in Q10 were modified and/or added to fit the Finnish conditions and ÅAU as an institution. Moreover, item F in Q11 on the future of OA was added due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis which coincided with the data collection. As the original study did not consider perceptions of parallel publishing, questions and items concerning parallel publishing were added to the survey.

For questions 6, 12, 13, ranking scales were used to measure the respondents’

preferences. The background information of respondents (age, gender, academic position, study programme/subject) was collected at the end of the survey. In addition, the respondents were asked to choose their study programme and subject, but also an

“Do not want to tell” option was available. The respondents’ subject affiliations were mainly used to map the outreach of the survey across different subjects and groups of respondents. Thus, reminders could be sent out more efficiently to the e-mailing lists to reach the less represented participant groups.

The survey consists of 18 closed-ended questions, but two open-ended questions are included in the end of the survey. These responses in the open-ended questions are thematically coded and some examples are included in the presentation of results. As these responses are qualitative in nature, they are used to nuance the responses in the closed-ended part of the survey. The qualitative results are also used for triangulation to validate responses of the closed-ended questions.

In order to test the readability, consistency and transparency of the questions, a pilot study was conducted among five participants with varying academic background and experience, as well as variating knowledge of OA. The survey was adjusted before distribution to the target population.

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The quantitative data retrieved from the survey is analyzed and presented as descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics are used to describe the basic features of the data (of the sample and the measures) (Creswell & Creswell 2018). The measurements used are (frequency) distribution, central tendency (mean, median), and dispersion (standard deviation, SD). To analyze and describe the relationship between two categorical variables, cross-tabulation is used.