Tracing the Steps of Survey Design: A Graduate Medical Education Research Example

Abstract

S urveys are frequently used to collect data in graduate medical education (GME) settings. 1 However, if a GME survey is not rigorously designed, the quality of the results is likely to be lower than desirable. In a recent editorial we introduced a framework for developing survey instruments. 1 This systematic approach is intended to improve the quality of GME surveys and increase the likelihood of collecting survey data with evidence of reliability and validity. In this article we illustrate how researchers in medical education may operationalize this framework with examples from a survey we developed during the recent integration of 2 independent internal medicine (IM) residency programs. Background