Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who was invited to participate in the survey?
A: Eligible study participants had to either (i) hold a physics degree and be working/residing in Canada; or
(ii) be pursuing a physics degree at a Canadian institution.

Q: How was the survey conducted?

A: The survey was conducted using the "snowball" method. An invitation to participate was sent out to members of the Canadian Association of Physicists, sister scientific societies, and every physics department in the country. All survey participants were encouraged to share the link with any other physicists and physics students they know.

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Q: How many responses did you receive?

A: We received over 3000 responses. While not all of them were admissible, the large majority of them (n=2532) were fully completed and will be included in the final analysis.

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Q: Are my responses confidential?

A: The survey is fully confidential, the raw data will be stored at CAP/Dalhousie servers and not shared with any outside groups. Only those directly involved with analysis of the data will have access. 

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Q: Are my responses anonymous?

A: The survey is fully anonymous. All questions are voluntary, and responses will be reported in aggregate when there are fewer than 5 within any category in order to preserve anonymity, in accordance with guidelines in the Privacy Act. Emails provided at the end of the survey for entering a gift card draw and/or joining a mailing list for updates were stored in a separate database, and can not be traced back to survey responses. 

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Q: When will we know the results?

A: The demographics results will be available in our publication in the open-access journal Facets within a few months, but in the meantime, you can view the results in our pre-print - see "Survey Results" page. Analysis of the experiences in physics part of the survey is largely complete and a second manuscript is in the works. 
 

Q: Will this survey continue in future years?

A: We hope to continue running this survey in future years in order to perform a longitudinal analysis and be able to assess the changing landscape and impact of new initiatives, and are continuing to apply for funding in order to support this project. If you have any suggestions, please reach out!

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Q: Did this survey go through formal ethics approval?

A: Yes, the survey design and questions were approved by the Dalhousie Research Ethics Board (File #2020-5261).

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Q: Why aren't I receiving your emails?

A: Sometimes our emails are flagged as spam, most commonly if you submitted a university email, since they are coming from a non-institutional address - canphyscounts@outlook.com. Please add this email address to your "safe sender" list and enter a personal (non-institutional) email to the mailing list below.

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Do you have a question that wasn't answered here? Please email us, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can!