  Context: Over the past decade Software Engineering research has seen a steady
increase in survey-based studies, and there are several guidelines providing
support for those willing to carry out surveys. The need for auditing survey
research has been raised in the literature. Checklists have been used to assess
different types of empirical studies, such as experiments and case studies.
Objective: This paper proposes a checklist to support the design and assessment
of survey-based research in software engineering grounded in existing
guidelines for survey research. We further evaluated the checklist in the
research practice context. Method: To construct the checklist, we
systematically aggregated knowledge from 14 methodological papers supporting
survey-based research in software engineering. We identified the key stages of
the survey process and its recommended practices through thematic analysis and
vote counting. To improve our initially designed checklist we evaluated it
using a mixed evaluation approach involving experienced researchers. Results:
The evaluation provided insights regarding limitations of the checklist in
relation to its understanding and objectivity. In particular, 19 of the 38
checklist items were improved according to the feedback received from its
evaluation. Finally, a discussion on how to use the checklist and what its
implications are for research practice is also provided. Conclusion: The
proposed checklist is an instrument suitable for auditing survey reports as
well as a support tool to guide ongoing research with regard to the survey
design process.
