LibQUAL+ Survey Choice
September 2009
Annie Bélanger
LibQUAL+ now has multiple survey versions:
 the standard LibQUAL+, which was used in 2001 and 2007
 LibQUAL+ Lite, a new abbreviated version of the standard survey
 50/50 Standard and LibQUAL+ Lite
In December, members of the LibQUAL+ Canada Consortium will need to decide which survey version they will be using. In preparation for this
and our project work, I am submitting an overview of the surveys and my recommendation.
Much of the information below was pulled from the LibQUAL+ Canada Consortium site.
What is LibQUAL+ Lite?
The Lite protocol uses item sampling methods to (a) gather data on all 22 LibQUAL+® core items, while (b) only requiring the user to respond to a
subset of the 22 core questions.
Sampling
LibQUAL+™ Lite uses matrix sampling. Matrix sampling is a survey method that can be used to collect data on all survey items without requiring
every participant to react to every survey question. With this approach, all of the LibQUAL+™ questions will still be asked but not of every
respondent.
For more information:
The mechanics of item sampling strategy and results from pilot testing are described in a recent refereed journal article:
http://www.libqual.org/documents/admin/pmm10-1_LQlite.pdf.
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Questions & Respondents
No LibQUAL+™ Lite respondent will have to answer more than 19 questions (not counting demographic items) as opposed to 34 questions for
the full LibQUAL+™ survey.
1. Basic Questions
 3 questions will be common to all the LibQUAL+™ Lite surveys (one from each of the three service dimensions).
 8 questions will be randomly selected by the LibQUAL+™ system, for each respondent in the following manner:
o 2 questions randomly selected from the remaining 8 Affect of Service questions
o 2 questions randomly selected from the remaining 7 Information Control questions
o 1 question randomly selected from the remaining 4 Library as Place questions
2. Optional Questions
 1 question randomly selected from the library's 5 optional questions (if the library chooses to include 5 optional questions)
3. General Satisfaction questions
 2 questions randomly selected from the General Satisfaction questions
4. Information Literacy Outcomes questions
 2 questions randomly selected from the Information Literacy Outcomes questions
5. Library Use questions
 All 3 Library Use questions
6. Comments
 The comments box
Preliminary Findings With LibQUAL+™ Lite
ARL's findings to date indicate a large increase in the percentage of respondents who complete the survey with LibQUAL+™ Lite. However, ARL's
analysis of the test libraries' results indicate that there is some difference in the mean scores between LibQUAL+™ Lite respondents and full
LibQUAL+™ respondents. Since there are significantly more respondents for LibQUAL+™ Lite, ARL's researchers (Bruce Thompson, Martha
Kyrillidou and Colleen Cook) concluded that the aggregate mean scores for the LibQUAL+™ Lite results may, in fact, be more accurate:
(Thompson, B., Kyrillidou, M., & Cook, C. (2009). Item sampling in service quality assessment surveys to improve response rates and reduce
respondent burden: The "LibQUAL+ Lite" example. Performance Measurement & Metrics, 10(1), 6-16. ).
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LibQUAL+ vs. LibQUAL+ Lite
Pros
Cons
LibQUAL+
 All respondents answer all questions
 May have the best correlation with
our 2007 survey results



Lower response rate
Lower completion rate –
uncompleted surveys are not
included in our results
Longer time commitment for
respondents – estimated at 15
minutes
o this has received significant
negative feedback in 2001
and 2007
LibQUAL+ Lite
 Shorter time commitment for
respondents – estimated at less than
10 minutes
 Higher response rate
 Optional questions are still an option
 Research shows a more accurate mean
due to response rate
 Not all respondents answer all
questions
 Risk of less direct correlation with our
2007 survey results
50/50
 Some respondents have a shorter
time commitment
 Some respondents have to answer
all questions
 May have the better correlation
with our 2007 survey results than
the Lite version only
 Respondents answering the full
survey may be frustrated by the
length of the survey
 Respondents answering the full
survey may not complete the full
survey – uncompleted surveys are
not included in our results
CARL Recommendation
To minimize variations in comparing results among participating libraries, CARL asks that consortial participants choose either 50/50 LibQUAL+™
Lite and full LibQUAL+™ option or a 100% LibQUAL+™ Lite option.
ARL Recommendation
For libraries who have done the survey before, ARL recommend a 50% distribution between Lite and full surveys. This would allow those
libraries to compare their 2010 results with their past results all of the survey questions. Libraries new to LibQUAL+™ might as well select 100%
LibQUAL+™ Lite.
My Recommendation
In light of this information, I would like to recommend that we use the 100% LibQUAL+ Lite option.
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