Survey Endorsement and Distribution

Premise

IFSO can assist its members who would like help with the distribution of surveys to the broader membership of IFSO. This is in keeping with the mission of IFSO:

TO UNIFY THE GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC, SURGICAL AND INTEGRATED HEALTH COMMUNITIES, FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISSEMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE, COLLABORATION AND ESTABLISHING UNIVERSAL STANDARDS OF CARE FOR THE TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH ADIPOSITY-BASED CHRONIC DISEASE.

IFSO can assist by distributing materials (e.g. background to the survey, letters of invitation, questionnaires) to its members. However, IFSO will not be responsible for the follow up of responses, response rate, nor for the collection/analysis of responses/data.

The surveys and their analyses will be the sole responsibility of the issuing member. However, IFSO has a responsibility to ensure that the purpose of the survey is relevant and that the internal validity of the methodology is sound and of a high standard. Accordingly, absolute criteria have been developed to ensure that these requirements are met.

Application documents

Documentary evidence of the following must accompany the Application:

• All survey material and the questionnaire
• A Letter of Invitation addressed to potential research subjects or email recipients shall accompany the copy of the questionnaire / survey, either attached at the top of the questionnaire or as a separate document.

This letter will include the following elements:

• An invitation to participate
• A brief description of the purpose of the survey
• The voluntary nature of the survey
• The statement: “Participating in the survey constitutes consent to use the participant’s answers for research purposes.”
• If the invitation may or may not be forwarded to others
• The extent of the participant’s involvement, including the time required
• Details of privacy and confidentiality
• The link to the actual survey
• Means by which the findings of the survey will be reported/disseminated
• The IFSO logo with the sentence: “Endorsed by” should be included in the survey material (letter of invitation, etc.).

Absolute Criteria for approval (for IFSO Scientific Committee)

• The Survey is created/directed by an IFSO member

The Survey is well-designed:

• The questions are clearly defined
• The importance of the research is well described
• The survey has demonstrable internal validity (methodology) and external validity (applicability)
• The survey aims are consistent with IFSO priorities:
• The project is multi-national and focuses on the development of an aspect of BMS as well as improving outcomes when BMS is provided
• The project is novel and does not replicate previous/ongoing studies

IFSO’s Acknowledgment

In some cases, in order to approve the endorsement, the IFSO Scientific Committee might request the applicant to edit parts of the survey. In this case, and if the results of the survey are published, IFSO’s contribution should be acknowledged by the authors.

Survey Endorsement & Distribution Fees

Survey Distribution will require a fee of US $200 (one email) or US $250 (two emails) to cover administrative expenses.

Note

• IFSO will distribute the survey material to its individual members, but cannot guarantee secondary distribution beyond that.
• IFSO will not be responsible for follow up of recipients. If a second distribution or reminder is required, this will require a higher Survey Distribution Fee. (see above Fees)

Application Form

Please access the IFSO Survey Distribution Application Form here and send it back to info@ifso.com together with all the other information/documents required in the Application section (above).

You will be contacted by IFSO Secretariat in case of missing information/documents.

If the application is complete, you will receive a reply within 2 weeks (endorsement approval, denial, request of changes).

If your survey is approved, you will receve the invoice to pay. After receipt of payment, the survey can be considered endorsed and it will be circulated to IFSO membership.