Necessary Permission

 Written in the survey’s description or in the resources linked below is the information on how to get permission to use each survey. You may notice that the surveys with online scoring and special training require fees. However, many surveys have been placed in the public domain or have been licensed for noncommercial/educational use. You are free to use these in your schools. You are not required to contact the author, but you may want to do so to request ideas for implementation and analysis. Authors tend to be interested in the impacts of their work, and your use is a notable impact. Below is a short form letter you can use to start the conversation.

Form Letter

Dear _________

I am a/the (position) at (school). I recently came across your work related to wellbeing and your survey, which I understand is (in public domain/licensed for educational use). I would appreciate any advice you have on implementing this survey and analyzing its results. My team and I plan to administer this test to our (population number and type) over a period of (duration of use) in hopes of measuring (objective). We welcome any thoughts and insights you are willing to share regarding the use of your resource.

Thank you,

(Name)

Whether you use this form letter or write your own, be sure to identify who you are and indicate the material you want to use, as well as indicating how, where, and for how long you plan use it (Copyrightlaws.com, date). Be sure to be clear, concise, and specific. More examples can be found through the links on Copyrightlaws.com (see reference below).

Section Summary

  • More information on how to get proper access to a measure can be found in each survey’s written description and resources. 
  • For surveys in the public domain, permission from the author or copyright holder is not required.  However, corresponding with the author enables you to ask for advice on how to administer or interpret a particular survey.
  • When contacting the author/owner, be sure to identify who you are and what material you want to use, in addition to where, how, and for how long you plan to use it.

Suggestions for Further Research

Copyright Permissions Sample Letter. (2019). Copyrightlaws.com: Copyright Courses and Education in Plain English.  https://edtechbooks.org/-RovG

Research Guides. (2019). Dissertation format and submission: Getting survey permissions.  University of Houston-Clear Lake. https://edtechbooks.org/-xABU

Stim, R. (2019). Welcome to the public domain. Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center. https://edtechbooks.org/-KCQ.

This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books.

Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/wellbeing/getting_permission.