How to Create a Survey

By: Christian Rios
Submitted: 2007-11-30 15:22:46
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Determine Your Data

The first thing you must determine is what kind of data you are trying to collect and to what purpose the data will serve. Typically, surveys are conducted to address a specific problem: lack of school attendance, drunk drivers, fixing the town clock, constructing a nearby highway, safety concerns at the local park, etc. After you have determined the general theme of your survey, you must speculate as to what type of results you may acquire, and what exactly you will do with the information. Without knowing these two parameters, it would be impossible to move forward with survey creation.

Determine What Type of Survey System You Will Use

Now that you know exactly what type of information you are attempting to acquire, you must decide on a survey method:

Face-to-Face interviews are no longer the primary choice of survey companies and for good reason: they are expensive. If you choose this method of survey delivery, you must solve these potential problems: finding good interviewers, educating your interviewers in all aspects of the survey and the community being surveyed, hiring a supervisor, establishing the geographic area to be surveyed, creating a game plan or 'survey route', be prepared for follow-up interviews in case the subject is unavailable, and troubleshooting potential questions that interviewees might have during the face-to-face interview. The above list of potential problems is by no means complete. You must carefully design and construct a face-to-face interview because it is such a costly mechanism for collecting data; you must do your best to perform the survey right the first time.

Telephone surveys are a much cheaper method of survey. You can choose to purchase a list of phone numbers for a general area or you can work within a specific area code and use RDD (random digit dialing). RDD solves the problem of unlisted numbers because it targets all phone numbers within a specific area code and prefix range. To properly conduct telephone surveys, interviewers will need to be well-versed with the survey material and the community being surveyed. Potential problems with telephone surveys: interviewers rephrasing or failing to properly convey the survey question, unlisted phone numbers, call backs or having to reschedule.

Performing a Mail Survey is perhaps the least costly of the survey methods. Generally, a list of residents is first established for the area to be surveyed - this can be purchased or built. A good Mail Survey will then use a series of mailings to contact, survey, and return the necessary data to the survey company. Potential problems for conducting a Mail Survey: lost-in-the-mail surveys, undeliverable mail, and potential for incorrect subject providing data (a teenager jokingly fills out and returns a survey intended to collect data from a senior citizen).

Online surveys are the latest form of survey methods. Internet surveys can accomplish in a matter of days what would normally require weeks or even months for a traditional survey method to accomplish. There are many online survey companies who can readily provide an audience for practically any type of survey you wish to conduct. Potential problems with online surveys: potential error for incorrect subject providing data, survey fraud, and lack of interest in the survey itself – subjects may be completing surveys strictly for monetary gain and have no real interest in the survey's general theme.

Formulate the Questions

Now that you know what type of data you are seeking and what method of surveying you are going to use, its time to write the survey questions.

Questions should be asked in a clear, unbiased manner. They should not formulate an opinion within the question itself, and they should have a distinct choice for an answer that clearly allows the subject to choose between beliefs, ideas, or opinions; the interviewee must know exactly which choice they are making when they answer a question.

Put the Survey In Motion

At this stage, you will have a complete survey in hand. Now it’s time to create a game plan. You will need to develop a realistic schedule for:

Interviewing Subjects (or delivering the survey)

Performing Callbacks (or rescheduling an interview)

Collecting the Data

Organizing the Data

Preparing an in-depth report on the data collected

Each stage represents its own problems, and must be thoroughly thought-out before you actually begin the survey process.

By following the above guideline, you should be able to formulate and deliver your own survey. If the survey to be conducted is extensive, it is recommended that you hire a company to assist you in developing and implementing your survey.

Article source: Expert Articles