a survey in microsoft access

8/17/2019 A Survey in Microsoft Access

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IntroductionA survey is a technique of sampling data from a number of respondents. For example, a

business can create a survey, submit it to customers for feedback and get indicative ideas of

what the customers appreciate or dislike about the business. There are no set rules as to how a

survey is used or even why a person or a company would initiate one. It depends on the

intention and the intended result.

You can easily create a survey using Microsoft Access. As always, planning is crucial. In fact,

probably the most difficult aspect of a survey is to know what to ask and what choices to

present to the respondents. For our example, imagine you have a sample of people who use

Microsoft Access and you want to investigate what their involvement with MS Access is.

Survey Planning

You can start by creating a list of questions to ask the respondents. For our example, imagine

you come up with questions like these:

Question 1: Where do you mostly use Microsoft Access?

At home

At the office

At school

I don't use Microsoft Access

Question 2: What version of Microsoft Access are you currently mostly using?

Access 2 or Prior to 97

Access 97

Access 2000

Access 2002

Access 2003

I don't mostly use Microsoft Access

Question 3: How do you currently relate to Microsoft Access?I am taking a class in Microsoft Access

I work for a company where I use Access full-time

I work for a company and I use Access sometimes

I own a business that provides database solutions

I teach Microsoft Access or databases

I am curious or have other reasons

Question 4: What is your level of knowledge of Microsoft Access?

I am just starting with Access

I have been learning or using Access for a while

I know a good deal about Access

I don't know Access and/or am not interested

Question 5: If you combine Access with another product, please select it

I use only Access

I combine Access with Visual Basic 6

I combine Access with Visual Basic .NET

I combine Access with Visual C#

I combine Access with Visual C++ MFC

I combine Access with Visual C++ .NET

I combine Access with a Borland environment

I use one of the .NET Framework free compilers

I combine Access with SharpDevelop

I combine Access with another product

Question 6: What are your plans with regards to Microsoft Access?

I plan to continue using Access only

I plan to combine Access with SQL Server

I plan to combine Access with another product

I plan to switch to another database environmentI don't have any plans right now or I don't know

Survey Creation

After planning the survey, you can create it. You can start from a normal table in Design View.

rosoft Access Tutorials - A Survey in Microsoft Access http://functionx.com/access2003/applications/survey.htm

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Although you can use a long name for any question, you should use short ones. The first

question can be named Question1, the second question can be named Question2, and so on. To

give an indication of what a question is, you can change its Caption in the Design View

accordingly. If you are equipped with the paper you used to plan the survey, which you should

be, you can omit the captions as they may appear too long.

To provide the various answers for each question, once again you have many options. For an

advanced survey, you can first create a table for each question, then link all question-tables to

a central table. The easiest alternative is to use the Lookup Wizard and its second radio button

to create the answers.

An alternative to creating the answers is still to use the Lookup Wizard but, because the Lookup

Wizard has some limitation on the length of its strings, you can provide non-explicit answerssuch as Answer 1, Answer 2, etc, depending on the number of answers.

Practical Learning: Creating the Survey

If you want to follow this example, create a Blank Database named Survey1.

To create a new table, on the main menu, click Insert -> Table and in the New Table

dialog box, double-click Design View

2.

Set the first field name to QuestionID and its Data Type to AutoNumber3.

Right-click it and click Primary Key4.

Set the second Field Name to Question15.

Press Tab, type L and press F66.

In the first page of the Lookup Wizard, click the bottom radio button and click Next

7.

Click the box under Col1, type At home and press the down arrow key8.

Complete the list as follows:

9.

Click Next and click Finish10.

In the lower section of the table, click Caption and type:

Where do you mostly use Microsoft Access?

11.

Under Question1 in the top section of the table, set the next Field Name to Question2 and

set its Data Type to Lookup Wizard

12.

Click the bottom radio button and complete the list under Col1 as follows:

13.


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What version of Microsoft Access are you currently mostly using?

15.



16.


17.



How do you currently relate to Microsoft Access?

19.



20.


21.



What is your level of knowledge of Microsoft Access?

23.


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24.


25.



If you combine Access with another product, please select it

27.



28.


29.



What are your plans with regards to Microsoft Access?

31.

Save the table as Questions and switch it to Datasheet View32.

To test it, perform a few surveys (examples below)33.

Close the table34.


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Form Creation

After initiating the table, you would then create a form or a Data Access Page. This is where

you would have to be creative. Because the form or the DAP is the object you would present to

the users, it must be as explicit, indicative, and clear as possible.

Practical Learning: Creating the Form

In the Tables section of the Database Window, click the Survey table1.

On the Database window, click the arrow of the New Object button and click AutoForm2.

Save the form as Questions3.

Design the form as follows:

4.

Switch it to Form View to see the result

5.


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Close the form

Now you can send the survey as a database to your target audience

6.

Chart Creation

One of the ways, or the main reason, people use a survey is to study data in it. One way to do

this is to generate charts. In this exercise, we will not go through all the details of chart

creation as covered in our Lesson 19. Just keep in mind that, once a survey has been

completed or once you have some data already, you can isolate which ones to study, using

charts.

In this exercise, we will generate a pie chart that allows us to know what version is mostly

used by our respondents.

Practical Learning: Creating a Chart

On the main menu, click Insert -> Form1.

In the New Form dialog box, click Chart Wizard2.

In the combo box, select Questions

3.

Click OK4.

In the first page of the wizard, double-click Question2 and click Next

5.


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In the second page, click Pie Chart and click Next6.

Click Next again and click Finish7.

Save the form as Microsoft Access Version Repartition8.

Using the techniques we reviewed in Lesson 20, resize the form and the chart as you see fit. Then

format the chart to your liking:

9.

Close the form10.

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