Making the Most of CERA Studies: How to Develop Excellent Survey Research in Academic Family Medicine

CERA, the Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance, aims to provide a collaborative and cohesive research network for family medicine scholars that engages residency directors, clerkship directors, department chairs, and the general Council of Academic Family Medicine membership. The main arm of CERA is the infrastructure surrounding the development and dissemination of survey research. Each CERA survey consists of preset demographic questions and 5 modules with 10 questions each for a total of 50 study-specific questions; the distribution and length of the survey are designed to provide quality opportunities for research and improve response rate from these groups. Researchers can submit survey questions to be considered for inclusion in the omnibus survey. Common pitfalls of applications include repeating prior modules, poor survey question alignment with the research question, and an underdeveloped analytic plan. This manuscript provides a theoretical model to connect the research question, hypothesis, survey questions, and analytic plan for CERA survey research studies.