How to Cite a Survey in APA

Last Updated: February 8, 2022

If you're writing a research paper, you may want to use information collected in a survey. Providing a citation to that information allows your readers to independently verify your work and protects you from accusations of plagiarism. When using the citation style of the American Psychological Association (APA), your citation format will differ depending on whether you're using a published set of survey data collected by someone else or referencing a survey you conducted yourself.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using Published Survey Data Sets

1
Start your Reference List entry with the author or publisher. The typical APA Reference List entry starts with the last name of the author followed by their first initial (and middle initial, if available). However, most survey data sets don't have an author. Rather, the institution responsible for the survey is considered the author. Place a period after the name.^{[1]
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Research source}
- Example: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
2
Add the date of publication in parentheses. Generally, use the year the data set was published. A more specific date is not required. However, if the month or year is included in the data set's publication information, place a comma after the year, followed by the month and day. Do not abbreviate the names of months. Place a period at the end outside the closing parenthesis.^{[2]
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Research source}
- Example: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (2019).
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3
Include the title and type of source. List the title of the data set in italics. Use sentence-case, capitalizing only the first word and any proper nouns in the title. Then switch back to regular font and type the words "Data set" in square brackets. Place a period outside the closing bracket.^{[3]
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Research source}
- Example: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (2019). Muggle pop culture in the wizarding world [Data set].
4
List the publisher or distributor if different from the author. If you listed the name of the publisher as the author and there is no other publisher or distributor, you can skip this element. However, if they are different, include the name along with a bracketed description of the institution's role (either "Publisher" or "Distributor). Place a period outside the closing bracket.^{[4]
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Research source}
- Example: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (2019). Muggle pop culture in the wizarding world [Data set]. Ministry of Magic [Distributor].
5
Provide a URL for online sources. Typically, you'll access a survey response data set online. Type the words "Retrieved from" followed by a full, direct URL for the data set to close out your Reference List entry. Do not place a period at the end of the URL.^{[5]
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Research source}
- Example: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (2019). Muggle pop culture in the wizarding world [Data set]. Ministry of Magic [Distributor]. Retrieved from https://www.hogwarts.edu/research/muggles.html
APA Reference List Format:

Author/Publisher. (Year). Title of data set [Data set]. Publisher/Distributor. Retrieved from URL
6
Use the author or publisher and year of publication for in-text citations. In the body of your paper, a parenthetical citation directs your readers to the full Reference List entry for the source. Include the name of the author or publisher and the year of publication at the end of the sentence, inside the sentence's closing punctuation.^{[6]
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Trustworthy Source
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Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines
Go to source}
- For example, you might write "Surveys indicate that most witches and wizards are unfamiliar with even the most ubiquitous Muggle pop culture references (Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, 2019).
- If you use the name of the author or publisher in the body of your paper, place the year of publication in parentheses after the name. There's no need for any additional parenthetical citation. For example, you might write "According to a survey conducted by the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (2019), witches and wizards don't pay much attention to Muggle pop culture."

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Referencing Your Own Survey

1
Describe your survey directly in the text of your paper. If you conducted your own survey in connection with your research paper, include information about the survey towards the beginning of your paper. Let your readers know why you conducted the survey and what you hoped to learn from it.^{[7]
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- Carefully relate your survey to the topic of your paper and explain why it was necessary. For example, you might have wanted to replicate a survey conducted in the 1980s with the same demographic to see if or how the results had changed.
2
Include a brief overview of your survey methods. When you describe your survey, explain how the survey was conducted and how many people participated. If it's relevant to your paper, you might also include information about the demographics of your survey participants.^{[8]
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- How the questions were delivered can also affect the responses, so make sure you include that information. For example, participants may be more honest on anonymous online surveys than if they are talking to someone face to face – especially if you've asked relatively sensitive or personal questions.
3
Make it clear when you reference data that came from your survey. APA doesn't call for specific in-text parenthetical citations if you reference data from your own survey. Instead, simply note in the text that the data you're mentioning came from your own survey.^{[9]
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- For example, you might write "I interviewed 50 Hogwarts students and none could name more than one current Muggle pop band."
Tip: Since your survey isn't published anywhere and can't be independently accessed by your readers, you don't need to include an entry in your Reference List at the end of your paper.
4
Include a copy of your survey questions as an appendix to your paper. Since your survey isn't published anywhere, including a copy of the questions asked allows your readers to independently review your survey. Technically, they could repeat your survey using the same questions, if they wanted, and see how the responses differed.^{[10]
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- Label your questions "Appendix A" and place them at the end of your paper. If you have multiple appendices, label them each with a capital letter, going in alphabetical order.
Tip: Ask your instructor or supervisor if you should also include the response data sets as an appendix in addition to the survey questions. If you do include both, label them as separate appendices.
5
Use parenthetical citations to refer to your appendix in-text. If you quote one of your questions or reference the response data set, use a parenthetical at the end of the sentence to let your readers know where to find that information. Since you're referencing a different part of your paper and not a citation, use the word "See" followed by the appendix label.^{[11]
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Research source}
- For example, you might write "I found that while 72 of the Hogwarts students surveyed were able to correctly identify a song by The Beatles, none recognized a song by Lady Gaga (See Appendix B).