how to write a good survey

7/31/2019 How to Write a Good Survey

1/46

SURVEYS


2/46

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 ofprograms to change peoples knowledge,

attitudes, health, or welfare.

3. To assist you in conducting research.


3/46

Before you start

Be clear about what it is that you want tofind out

I want to find out which type of books peoplelike.

I want to find out how many hours year 8sspend watching TV.

I want to find out how students travel toschool.

I want to find out how often students haveschool dinners and how much they like them.


4/46

Types of Surveys

Administered survey

Telephonic survey

Mail survey

Online (Internet) survey


5/46

How To Write A Good Survey

Words are used in different ways by different

people; your goal is to write questions that eachperson will interpret in the same way.


6/46

Questionnaire

6

What is questionnaire?

When to use questionnaire?

Is validated questionnaire the solution?


7/46

The Framework

Pose the research question.

Develop and write the questionnaire, and do

validity checks.

Summarise and analyse data.

Interpret and report findings.


8/46

Stage 1- Pose the Research Question

8

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.


9/46

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.


10/46

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


11/46

Examples of Closed Questions Design

11

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 nopain and 10 is excruciating pain.

2-directional design:

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is highlyunsatisfied and 5, highly satisfied.


12/46

Examples of Closed Questions Design

12

Multiple Choice

Which of the following products do youown? (select all that applies)

Pen drive Computer

Printer

Fax machine

Scanner

Digital camera

Matrices

Please rate your purchase decision based on thefollowing characteristics

V. Important Will Consider Not ImportantReliability

Price

Features

The look

Functionality


13/46

Opened Question Design Example

13

Open ended question???

Do you think smoking and wound-healing are linked, and if

so, how? Please write your response in the box below.


14/46

Writing the Questionnaire

Provide an introduction to your survey sothat the person reading it understands its

purpose. This survey is to find out about peoples TVviewing habits. Please answer all the questionsbelow. Thank you for your time.

This survey is to find out about studentshobbies to help us decide whether we needmore after school clubs. Please answer allquestions below. Thank you for your time.


15/46

Stage 2: Designing questions

What is a good question?

Short and straightforward.

Not too long, using plain English Easy to answer


16/46

Guidelines

Phrase your questions in positive tone

Logical Arrangement, Appearance, and Layout

Acronyms, Jargons, Technical LanguageAssumption


17/46

Guidelines

Write a short questionnaire

Use simple wordsRelax your grammar

Assure a common understanding

Start with interesting questionsAvoid subjective and vague

questions

k h l


18/46

Short and Simple

Ask short simple questions.

Which type of film do you prefer?

Fantasy Horror

Comedy

RomanceThriller

None ofthese

There are lots of different types offilms that people like to watch suchas Fantasy, Thriller, Romance,Horror, Comedy. Which of these do

you like best or dont you like any ofthem.


19/46

Too vague

Avoid questions that are too vague.

Do you go to the gym?

sometimes occasionally often

How many hours do you spendat the gym each month?

< 2 2 - 10 11 - 19 > 2820 - 28

D id h th th f ll i ti


20/46

Decide whether the following questions are:

A. Too vague

B. Too personal

C. BiasedCan you confirm that youwill be voting Conservative?

Yes No

What was the weather like onyour summer holiday?

Lousy Not bad OK

D id h th th f ll i ti


21/46

Decide whether the following questions are:

A. Too vague

B. Too personal

C. BiasedHave you ever cheated inan exam?

Yes No

Do you agree that the recentfloods are almost certainlycaused by global warming?

Yes No Probably


22/46

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

M k h d l di (bi d) i


23/46

Biased

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

Do you agree that ITV has thebest sports coverage?

Yes No

Which channel do think gives thebest sports coverage?

BBC1 BBC 2 ITV CH 5CH 4

A id i h l


24/46

Too Personal

Avoid questions that are too personal.

Do you have a criminal record?

Yes No

Do you have any penalty pointson your driving licence?

Yes No


25/46

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


26/46

Write a short questionnaire

Your questionnaire should be as short aspossible.

Make a mental distinction between what isessential to know, what would be useful toknow, and what would be unnecessary.

Retain the former, keep the useful to aminimum, and discard the rest.


27/46

Use simple words

Survey recipients may have a variety of

backgrounds so use simple language.

"What is the frequency of your automotivetravel to your parents' residence in the

last 30 days?" is better understood as,

"About how many times in the last 30days have you driven to your parent's

home?"


28/46

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.


29/46

Assure a common understanding

Write questions that everyone willunderstand in the same way.

Don't assume that everyone has thesame understanding of the facts or acommon basis of knowledge.

Identify even commonlyused abbreviations to be certain thateveryone understands.


30/46

Start with interesting questions

Start with questions that are likely tosound interesting and attract therespondents' attention.

Save the questions that might bedifficult or threatening for later.

Voicing questions in the third personcan be less threatening than questions

voiced in the second person.Ask: "How do your colleagues feelabout management?" rather than "Howdo you feel about management?"


31/46

Don't write leading questions

Leading questions demand a

specific response.

"Which day of the month is best forthe newly established company-

wide monthly meeting?" leads

respondents to pick a date withoutfirst determining if they even want

another meeting.


32/46

Avoid double negatives

Respondents can easily be

confused deciphering the meaning

of a question that uses twonegative words.


33/46

Balance rating scales

When the question requires

respondents to use a rating scale,

mediate the scale so that there isroom for both extremes.


34/46

Don't make the list of choices too longIf 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.


35/46

Avoid difficult concepts

Some questions involve concepts that

are difficult for many people to

understand.


36/46

Avoid difficult recall questions

People's memories are increasingly unreliableas you ask them to recall events farther andfarther back in time.

You will get far more accurate information frompeople if you ask, "About how many times inthe last month have you gone out and seen amovie in a movie theater or drive-in?" rather

than, "About how many times last year did yougo out and see a movie in a movie theater ordrive-in?"


37/46

Use Closed-ended questions rather

than Open-ended onesMost 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 numberof written response questions, it reduces the

quality and attention the respondents give to

the answers.


38/46

Put your questions in a logical order

The issues raised in one question caninfluence how people think about subsequentquestions.

It is good to ask a general question and thenask more specific questions.

Avoid asking a series of questions about a freebanking service and then question about themost important factors in selecting a bank.


39/46

Pre-test your survey

It is better to identify a problem during the pretestthan 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, brainstormwith them to see if they had problems answeringany questions.

It would help if they explained what the questionmeant to them and whether it was valid to thequestioner or not.


40/46

Naming your survey

Some people discard a survey basedentirely on its subject or sender.

Consider other titles that will pique theinterest of the recipients.

Memo From the Chief Executive Officer

Evaluation of Services of the BenefitsOffice

Your Opinion About Financial Services


41/46

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.


42/46

Cover memo or introduction

Why it is important to hear from thecorrespondent

What may be done with the results and whatpossible impacts may occur with the results.

Address identification

Person to contact for questions about the

survey.Due date for response


43/46

Pay attention to the following design issues:

43

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

Navigationadopt question numbering and go to jumps,

etc.

Appearance, layout and sequence Logical, inclusive/complete response sets


44/46

Piloting the Questionnaire

44

Proofreading and Editing

Pre-test piloting

Feedback promptsDo 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?

Is there any question that the wording could be enhanced or clarify?

This completed questionnaire shows:


45/46

Layouts

Snapshot of TV Viewing last week

1. Do you have a TV in your bedroom?

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

Satellite Cable Aerial Computer/Internet

3. Which station did you mainly watch last week?

BBC 1 BBC2 ITV CH 4 CH 5 None of these

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

< 5 5 - 12 13 - 20 > 2721 - 27

Yes No

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


Yes and Noanswers.

Single optionresponseboxes.

Answersorganised by

groups.

Introductionto the survey

Questionnaires and Surveys


46/46

Questionnaires and Surveys

Pets Survey

1. Are you male or Female?

3. How many pets do you have?

4. What is your favourite type of pet.

Dog Cat Rabbit Guinea Pig Horse None of these

M F

We are doing a survey to help us find out about the number ofpets owned by students of different ages. Please the

appropriate box. Thank you for your help.


Genderresponse

boxes

Answers mostlywith specific

numerical values

Single optionnon-numericalresponse boxes

Introduction tothe survey

0 1 2 3 4 >5

2. Which Year Group are you in?

7 8 9 1110

Answers withspecific numerical

values

how to write a good survey

Documents