Collecting Your Own Data

Use one of these free survey tools to create a poll! You can also use Google Docs to create a questionnaire with yes/no, multiple-choice, and written response questions.  

Universities and research institutes are a good source for information on current research in a field.

You can search the Web to identify them.

In Seattle, for just two examples:

• The University of Washington has a Robotics Research program
• The Fred Hutch Research Center publishes information on ongoing research trials and issues.

TIP: You can search within a large Web site to help locate the most relevant info:

To do so:

• Type site: and the root of the research institute or program website.
  • Ex: site:www.cs.washington.edu/research/robotics
• The search screen then lets you to search within that program's web site with a specific search term. In this case, I searched "sensors" and got a list of links to content on sensors with the UW robotics program.

Reviewing a Sample Survey

Use the links below to review two sample surveys. 

• How are the reports organized?

Find Current Research

Research in the sciences, health care, business and engineering is dynamic and ongoing. It may be helpful to see what current research is underway on your topic, even if it is not yet published in peer reviewed sources.

This can help you:

• Formulate your own research study
• Learn about the most current trends, questions, tools, terminology, studies
• Gather key language to use in databases
• Identify names of researchers working in the field. You can then see if they have already published in the field.
• Read "white papers" and ongoing research studies. These may not yet be peer reviewed, but they are scholarly and can provide insight and analysis.