HANDOUT FOR PEER RESEARCH ACTIVITY
TIPS
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What information do you want to collect?
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What questions will you ask?
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A good questionnaire is not long (no more than 10
minutes to answer)
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Good to design questions in groups to ensure the
questions are relevant
HOW WILL YOU USE THE QUESTIONNAIRE?
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Face to face?
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Write the answers down on paper survey/graffiti wall?
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Create an online version to send via email or facebook?
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Organise focus groups?
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Record short video interviews?
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Use the online SRCv resource to ask questions?
Further guidance on using your questionnaire
The challenge is to interview as many volunteers as possible! There may only be a few
volunteers in your library, how will you reach the rest?
We’ve included some tips and things to think about below.

Face to face – one to one interviews
o Arrange a specific time to talk to other volunteers in your library and find a quiet
place to sit
o Are there other libraries nearby that you could visit and talk to other volunteers?
How practical is this?

Focus group
o Can you arrange a specific time to get all the volunteers together in your
library for a group discussion? If people are on different rotas – think about times
that are most convenient to people. Choose a quiet place to sit where you won’t
be disturbed. Email them out an invite, and a reminder.
o Could you invite other volunteers from nearby libraries to your focus group
too? Maybe do this at the same time as a social event so people are more likely
to come along
o Talk to your volunteer co-ordinator about getting their email addresses.

Paper survey
o This could be left in libraries and then volunteers could fill them in during their
own time. Can you visit nearby libraries and leave the survey there? Or get help
from your volunteer co-ordinator to post the survey to nearby libraries?
o Remember to include clear instructions with the survey – explaining what it is
about, and that they need to return it to their volunteer co-ordinator, or leave it in
a ‘feedback’ box in the library.

Online survey/feedback
o Can you use a free online tool such as Survey monkey to get your questions
online?
o The link could then be emailed out to volunteers in your library and other nearby
libraries – talk to your volunteer co-ordinator about getting their email addresses.
o This might be a good approach if you’ve worked as a team and designed one set
of questions, and can then email it out to everyone in your district
o Would facebook be another way to get the questions out there? Or the Reading
Hack pages on the Reading Agency’s website?

Graffiti wall
o Is there a staffroom in the library where volunteers often go?
o Consider having a few big questions on a piece of flipchart paper eg: What
difference do volunteers make? And then ask volunteers to write ideas on post it
notes and stick them to the ‘wall’ over the summer. People can then read
comments and might be inspired to add their own.
o This might work well alongside the survey as something more visual and
creative.

Video interviews
o Using the video on your phone – how about recording a quick interview with
another SRC volunteer? This can be a good way of getting a soundbite –
something snappy that sums up what volunteers are doing
REMEMBER TO: BE RESPECTFUL, LISTEN TO EVERYONE YOU TALK TO,
MAKE THE PERSON FEEL COMFORTABLE, AND CHOOSE A QUIET SPACE.
NOTE: Resource originally developed by OPM