To complete the survey, please follow the link most relevant to you in the 'Quick Links' box at the top of the page. The survey will open in another tab and should take around five minutes to complete, depending on the level of detail you include.
You will see a question at the beginning, asking you to select your study name, code and research site. If you are unsure of any of these, please contact your study team directly.
We encourage participants to be as open and honest as possible when providing feedback. Once you have completed the survey, click 'submit' and the page will refresh to confirm your submission.
An animation has been created to help explain the survey. Primarily aimed at research delivery staff it helps explain the importance of encouraging study participants to fill in the survey.
There were 1,620 responses to the Participant in Research Experience Survey across Wessex in 2023/24. Results showed that:
- 98% of adults said research staff always treated them with courtesy and respect
- 96% of adults said that the information they received before taking part prepared them for their experience on the study
- 96% of adults said research staff valued their taking part in the research
- 94% of adults said they would consider taking part in research again
- 91% of adults said they knew how to contact someone from the research team if they had any questions or concerns
- 82% of adults said they had been kept updated about the research
- 76% of adults said they knew how they would receive the results of the research
Summary
The Participant in Research Experience Survey provides research participants the opportunity to anonymously feedback about their experience.
This takes about five minutes and can be via a paper survey or an online form. In Wessex, 2023/24 saw nearly three-quarters of surveys delivered via paper. It also saw the highest ever number of responses to the survey but a lower number from participants who were children/young people compared to last year. The number of responses increased each quarter of the financial year.
Satisfaction was overwhelmingly positive and had increased for adults in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23, reversing the trend seen in previous years, and in some cases equalling/improving from pandemic levels in 2020/21. The highest number of responses was from participants in infection, cancer, and cardiovascular disease studies and the majority of respondents were taking part in their first research study
With regards to demographics, there was a roughly equal split of male/female respondents, most were aged 60-69 and 70-79 years, and white. This age distribution reflected the research participants across Wessex.
Six themes were identified from the open-ended responses - staff attitudes, communication, motivation (to take part in research), practicalities, recognition, and learning.
A number of improvement projects were implemented to address the findings from 2022/23 which included letters to Chief Investigators of two commercial studies feeding back about the study design/data collection, cascading how study findings would be shared, and more frequent contact with participants in the case of one particular study.
Looking forward to 2024/25, there will be an increased focus on obtaining feedback from children/young people and taking a ‘digital first’ approach to move away from survey completion by paper.
For the full 2023/24 PRES report for Wessex please see link below:
For more information about the survey or to request an alternative format, please contact the communications team.
For information on the Participant in Research Experience Survey results for 2022/23 please go to the 2022/23 report.
