SURVEYS

Three Good Reasons for Conducting Surveys

1. A policy needs to be set or a program must be set. 2. You want to evaluate the effectiveness of programs to change peoples knowledge, attitudes, health, or welfare. 3. To assist you in conducting research.

Before you start

Be clear about what it is that you want to find out

I want to find out which type of books people like. I want to find out how many hours year 8s spend watching TV. I want to find out how students travel to school. I want to find out how often students have school dinners and how much they like them.

Types of Surveys
Administered survey Telephonic survey Mail survey Online (Internet) survey

How To Write A Good Survey

Words are used in different ways by different people; your goal is to write questions that each person will interpret in the same way.

Questionnaire
What is questionnaire?
When to use questionnaire? Is validated questionnaire the solution?

The Framework
Pose the research question. Develop and write the questionnaire, and do validity checks. Summarise and analyse data. Interpret and report findings.

Stage 1- Pose the Research Question

Funnel the research question down into specific key questions or objectives which will then be grouped as themes. Write down the hypotheses and the conclusions you want to arrive at. Establish the relationships, comparisons, trends, patterns or summaries you wish to make.

Stage 2- Develop and Write the Questions

Formulate each key question into a theme and choose which variables you must collect data on. Decide how each variable is to be measured i.e. how to frame the question (open/closed) and its response set. Get help from your literature reviews.

Stage 2- Questions Designs

Factual Information
Simple dichotomy Simple numeric Simple choice

Opinion and Attitude Information

Likert categorical choice Anchor scale Rank order

Mixed Designs
Multiple choice Matrix design

Examples of Closed Questions Design

Dichotomous
Questions??? Response: Yes No Male Female

Simple Choice Questions??? Response:

Exceeded expectations Met expectations Fell short of expectations

Likert Scale
Questions??? Response: Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Undecided Somewhat dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

Anchor Scale
Questions??? 1-directional design: On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is virtually no pain and 10 is excruciating pain. 2-directional design: On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is highly unsatisfied and 5, highly satisfied.

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Examples of Closed Questions Design

Multiple Choice Which of the following products do you own? (select all that applies)
Pen drive Computer Printer Fax machine Scanner Digital camera

Matrices Please rate your purchase decision based on the following characteristics V. Important Will Consider Not Important Reliability Price Features The look Functionality

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Opened Question Design Example

Open ended question??? Do you think smoking and wound-healing are linked, and if so, how? Please write your response in the box below.

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Writing the Questionnaire

Provide an introduction to your survey so that the person reading it understands its purpose.
This survey is to find out about peoples TV viewing habits. Please answer all the questions below. Thank you for your time. This survey is to find out about students hobbies to help us decide whether we need more after school clubs. Please answer all questions below. Thank you for your time.

Stage 2: Designing questions

What is a good question?
Short and straightforward. Not too long, using plain English Easy to answer

Guidelines
Phrase your questions in positive tone Logical Arrangement, Appearance, and Layout Acronyms, Jargons, Technical Language Assumption

Guidelines
Write a short questionnaire Use simple words Relax your grammar Assure a common understanding Start with interesting questions Avoid subjective and vague questions

 Ask short simple questions.

Short and Simple

There are lots of different types of films that people like to watch such as Fantasy, Thriller, Romance, Horror, Comedy. Which of these do you like best or dont you like any of them.

Which type of film do you prefer? Fantasy Thriller Romance Horror

Comedy

None of these

Avoid questions that are too vague.

Do you go to the gym?

Too vague
sometimes

occasionally

often

How many hours do you spend at the gym each month?

<2 2 - 10 11 - 19 20 - 28 > 28

Decide whether the following questions are:

A. Too vague
B. Too personal C. Biased
Can you confirm that you will be voting Conservative?
Yes No

What was the weather like on your summer holiday?

Lousy Not bad OK

Decide whether the following questions are:

A. Too vague
B. Too personal C. Biased
Have you ever cheated in an exam?
Yes No

Do you agree that the recent floods are almost certainly caused by global warming?
Yes No Probably

Guidelines
Don't write leading questions, Wording Answers before the Questions Avoid double barreled Balance rating scales Avoid too personal questions Don't make the list of choices too long Avoid difficult concepts, complex and heavy loaded questions

 Make sure that you do not use leading (biased) questions.

Do you agree that ITV has the best sports coverage?

Which channel do think gives the best sports coverage?

Biased
BBC 2

Yes

No

CH 5

BBC1

ITV

CH 4

 Avoid questions that are too personal.

Do you have a criminal record? Yes No

Too Personal
Yes No

Do you have any penalty points on your driving licence?

Guidelines
Memory and Knowledge: Avoid difficult to recall questions Use closed-ended questions rather than open-ended ones Put your questions in a logical order Pre-test your survey Use a cover memo or introduction

Write a short questionnaire

Your questionnaire should be as short as possible. Make a mental distinction between what is essential to know, what would be useful to know, and what would be unnecessary. Retain the former, keep the useful to a minimum, and discard the rest.

Use simple words

Survey recipients may have a variety of backgrounds so use simple language. "What is the frequency of your automotive travel to your parents' residence in the last 30 days?" is better understood as, "About how many times in the last 30 days have you driven to your parent's home?"

Relax your grammar

Relax your grammatical standards if the questions sound too formal. The word "who" is appropriate in many instances when "whom" is technically correct.

Assure a common understanding

Write questions that everyone will understand in the same way. Don't assume that everyone has the same understanding of the facts or a common basis of knowledge. Identify even commonly used abbreviations to be certain that everyone understands.

Start with interesting questions

Start with questions that are likely to sound interesting and attract the respondents' attention. Save the questions that might be difficult or threatening for later. Voicing questions in the third person can be less threatening than questions voiced in the second person. Ask: "How do your colleagues feel about management?" rather than "How do you feel about management?"

Don't write leading questions

Leading questions demand a specific response. "Which day of the month is best for the newly established companywide monthly meeting?" leads respondents to pick a date without first determining if they even want another meeting.

Avoid double negatives

Respondents can easily be confused deciphering the meaning of a question that uses two negative words.

Balance rating scales

When the question requires respondents to use a rating scale, mediate the scale so that there is room for both extremes.

Don't make the list of choices too long

If the list of answer categories is long and unfamiliar, it is difficult for respondents to evaluate all of them. Keep the list of choices short.

Avoid difficult concepts

Some questions involve concepts that are difficult for many people to understand.

Avoid difficult recall questions

People's memories are increasingly unreliable as you ask them to recall events farther and farther back in time. You will get far more accurate information from people if you ask, "About how many times in the last month have you gone out and seen a movie in a movie theater or drive-in?" rather than, "About how many times last year did you go out and see a movie in a movie theater or drive-in?"

Use Closed-ended questions rather than Open-ended ones

Most questionnaires rely on questions with a fixed number of response categories from which respondents select their answers. An open-ended question is a written response. "If you do not want a company picnic, please explain why". If there is an excessive number of written response questions, it reduces the quality and attention the respondents give to the answers.

Put your questions in a logical order

The issues raised in one question can influence how people think about subsequent questions. It is good to ask a general question and then ask more specific questions. Avoid asking a series of questions about a free banking service and then question about the most important factors in selecting a bank.

Pre-test your survey

It is better to identify a problem during the pretest than after you have published the survey. Before sending a survey to a target audience, send it out as a test to a small number of people. After they have completed the survey, brainstorm with them to see if they had problems answering any questions. It would help if they explained what the question meant to them and whether it was valid to the questioner or not.

Naming your survey

Some people discard a survey based entirely on its subject or sender. Consider other titles that will pique the interest of the recipients. Memo From the Chief Executive Officer Evaluation of Services of the Benefits Office Your Opinion About Financial Services

Cover memo or introduction

Once a recipient opens your survey, you may still need to motivate him or her to complete it. The cover memo or introduction offers an excellent place to provide the motivation. A good cover memo or introduction should be short and includes the following items.

Cover memo or introduction

Why it is important to hear from the correspondent What may be done with the results and what possible impacts may occur with the results. Address identification Person to contact for questions about the survey. Due date for response

Pay attention to the following design issues:

Themes and their logical arrangement

Place a text box under each theme to ask for an overall opinion about the theme Avoid Any comment/suggestion question at the very end. It does not work! Clear instructions to reduce response error Navigation adopt question numbering and go to jumps, etc. Appearance, layout and sequence Logical, inclusive/complete response sets
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Piloting the Questionnaire Proofreading and Editing Pre-test piloting Feedback prompts
Do you believe other people may have difficulty in answering this questionnaire? If so, which question in particular may pose a problem? Given the purpose of my study outlined in the introduction section, would you suggest a question, may perhaps be added or removed to enhance the study? How long did it take you to complete the questionnaire? Did you read the instructions? Were the instructions clear and neatly emphasised? Did you object to answering any of the questions? Was the layout of the questionnaire clear, logical and attractive? 44 Is there any question that the wording could be enhanced or clarify?

This completed questionnaire shows:

Snapshot of TV Viewing last week

We are doing a survey to help us get a snap shot of the viewing habits of the students at our school, over a 7 day period. Please the appropriate box. Thank you.

Introduction to the survey

Yes and No answers.

1. Do you have a TV in your bedroom? Yes

2. How did you mainly view your TV last week? Satellite

Cable
ITV

Layouts

No

Aerial Computer/Internet

3. Which station did you mainly watch last week? BBC 1 BBC2

CH 4
13 - 20

Single option response boxes.

CH 5 None of these

4. For how many hours did you watch TV last week?

<5 5 - 12

21 - 27

> 27

Answers organised by groups.

Questionnaires and Surveys This completed questionnaire shows:

Pets Survey

We are doing a survey to help us find out about the number of pets owned by students of different ages. Please the appropriate box. Thank you for your help. 1. Are you male or Female? 2. Which Year Group are you in?

Introduction to the survey

Gender response boxes
Answers with specific numerical values Answers mostly with specific numerical values

7 8 9 3. How many pets do you have? 10 11

0 1 2 3 4 >5
4. What is your favourite type of pet.

Dog Cat Rabbit Guinea Pig Horse None of these

Single option non-numerical response boxes