If you currently use SurveyMonkey with your UCD email address for an individual account, that account may be based in the US and store your data outside the EU, which is not recommended under GDPR and data protection guidance.
For this reason, we encourage you to:
1. Download any data you want to keep;
2. Close that individual account;
3. (opens in a new window)Set up a new account for yourself as part of the staff UCD licence.
What is SurveyMonkey?
SurveyMonkey is an online survey tool available for UCD staff to create, send and analyse surveys, polls, and quizzes. UCD accounts use an EU SurveyMonkey domain so you can be sure your usage complies with GDPR and data protection best practices.
SurveyMonkey is especially useful if you are creating multiple surveys regularly.
- Collect responses using web links, email, or by embedding surveys and forms on your website and social media to increase the response rate.
- Analyse responses using simple, built-in reports or advanced dashboards that you can customise and share with your team.
- UCD students may use Google Forms as part of their Google Workspace account to create surveys. (opens in a new window)See here for further details.
What does SurveyMonkey offer?
- Designing surveys: SurveyMonkey has more than 20 question formats (multiple choice, true/false, open-ended, etc.). SurveyMonkey also offers templates to help you get started. Easily collaborate with colleagues by (opens in a new window)sharing access to your survey.
- Sending surveys: SurveyMonkey will send out the survey and subsequent reminders for you, if you input a list of email addresses. It will also provide you with a link to the survey which you can send via email. This link can be embedded on your website or social media. Importantly, UCD SurveyMonkey accounts use a .eu domain so you can be sure your survey data is (opens in a new window)stored within the EU.
- Tracking and analysing surveys: SurveyMonkey has the ability to track responses, so you can recontact non-respondents and avoid pestering those who have already participated. SurveyMonkey lets you visualise and understand your data, offering custom reports and dashboards. It also allows you to (opens in a new window)export data into programs like SPSS for more complex analysis.
How to comply with data protection
When collecting personal data in surveys, the UCD GDPR and data protection recommendation is to include a specific data privacy notice for each survey. This tells the respondent why their personal data is being collected and what will be done with it.
UCD GDPR provides UCD Short Guides on collecting personal data (including what ‘personal data’ is) and writing privacy notices (including a template data privacy notice) in theGuidance & Resources section of their website.
(opens in a new window)See here for information on how to insert a privacy notice into your SurveyMonkey survey.
For data protection reasons, sharing SurveyMonkey login details or creating generic shared SurveyMonkey accounts is not recommended. Instead, you can create a survey in your own account and share editing access with other UCD SurveyMonkey users: find out more (opens in a new window)here.
I want to know about....
- (opens in a new window)Research survey tools at UCD
- Setting up your UCD SurveyMonkey account
- What does SurveyMonkey offer?
- (opens in a new window)How to log in to SurveyMonkey
- (opens in a new window)Can I convert my existing SurveyMonkey account into a UCD account?
- (opens in a new window)Sharing surveys: can I use SurveyMonkey from a shared email address?
- (opens in a new window)Getting an error message logging into SurveyMonkey?
- (opens in a new window)When should I use Google Forms and when should I use SurveyMonkey for running surveys?
- (opens in a new window)Analysing survey results using SurveyMonkey
Helpful resources for creating surveys
From creating your first survey to analysing the results, plus making the most of SurveyMonkey templates and question types, you’ll find user guides for all levels in the (opens in a new window)SurveyMonkey Help Center. Here is a selection of helpful articles:
- (opens in a new window)How to create a survey
- (opens in a new window)Types of survey questions
- (opens in a new window)Survey templates by category
- (opens in a new window)Education surveys
- (opens in a new window)Best practices for survey creation
- (opens in a new window)Data Collection & Privacy Best Practices
- (opens in a new window)Using SurveyMonkey or Google Forms
- (opens in a new window)Analysing survey results
- (opens in a new window)Sharing survey results
Further Support
The UCD IT Support Hub is where you can log a call with our UCD IT Helpdesk team, find an answer in our Knowledge Base of articles, or request an additional service or access.
UCD IT Services
Computer Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.Contact us via the UCD IT Support Hub: www.ucd.ie/ithelp