It’s fascinating for us to learn about all the brilliant ways Sogolytics is used for academic and science research. Especially when that research behooves our animal friends because, okay, we admit it, we’re all softies for animals here.

It was… hey, check this out! when we received this email from Yvonne Morrin in the UK: “Thanks Sogolytics! I’m using your survey designer to gather information about primate welfare in zoos for my dissertation in Primate Conservation.” 

Morrin’s nonprofit website www.monkeyfriendlytravel.com

We wrote Morrin to learn more. She is a former zookeeper working toward a MSc in Primatology. She explained the importance of her research:

“Sometimes captive primates exhibit behavioral anomalies such as self-harm, which can interfere with their wellbeing. Often these are the results of past experiences such as having been kept as pets in isolation from a social group. My project goal is to determine the interventions used by primate caretakers in zoos and sanctuaries to alleviate these issues.” 

Morrin used Sogolytics to create three surveys: for zoo visitors, for primate caretakers, and for primate veterinary staff. She used multiple question types including radio buttons, multi-select check boxes and open ended questions. This will allow her to analyze and cross-reference which behaviors have been seen, in which species, which interventions have been tried, barriers to implementation, and intervention success rates.

But the survey research doesn’t end there. Morrin plans to communicate her results with zoos and primate caretakers so recommendations and best practices can be shared between facilities.

By Natasha Peterson, content producer and member of the Sogolytics blog team.

If you would like to learn more about Sogolytics’s university-wide survey solution for research, course evaluation and feedback, go to https://www.sogolytics.com