Surveys

What is a survey?

A survey is poll to collect data. All the questions must be based on a

certain objective.

A series of questions is developed to ask a number of people. The

interviewer asks questions and the other person answers them. This is
an interview.

Another form of survey is the questionnaire. The person who

answers does not speak the answers that person writes the answers.

Examples:

Creating a Survey: Structured Question

(Fixed Response)
Structured questions are questions that offer the respondent only a certain number of
responses.
This choice makes data collection and analysis much simpler and they take less time to
answer.
Structured questions are best suited when you have a thorough understanding of the
responses
you can
appropriately
the answer choices when you
Do you haveso
a that Which
subject
do
How manydevelop
times a
driver's license? to capture
you enjoy new
the most
dayor
do thoughts
you check
arenottrying
ideas
from the respondent.
()Yes
()No

at school?
()Math
()Science
() Language
()History
()Government
()Art / Music
()Other

your personal email?

()0 to 1 time
()2 to 3 times
()4 to 5 times
()more than 5
times

Note: Make sure your answer choices do not overlap. For

example, the answer choices in the email question are "0 to
1 times" and "2 to 3 times" NOT "0 to 1 time" and "1 to 2
times".

Advice for Creating a Structured

Question Survey
Make

certain that the list coversall possible alternativesthat the respondent might select

Example: In the question about email, we have included every option on the number of
occurrences
You

may include choices like other, dont know, all of the above, none of the above
Example: In the question about school, schools have different subjects, so Other
gives space for people to acknowledge that difference.

Note:
If at all possible, try not to use Dont know. Make sure your questions are easy to understand and
that people CAN answer the questions.

Advice for Creating a Structured

Question Survey
Relevance:
You should make sure that all of the answers arerelateto the question
and that your questions stick to the theme!
Consistency
When writing the list of responses, all of the responses should be
How many times a day do you check your
Each answer talks about the topic and stays with
the theme, but
similar personal email?
before going to sleep connects it with activity
()0 to 1 time
() before going to sleep
()4 to 5 times
()every chance I get!

0-1 times and 4-5 times are frequency

every chance I get! is too informal

Advice for Creating a Structured

Question Survey

Layout

A clean layout like the example on the right will

make it much simpler for people to respond to the
questions and for you to collect the data.
Make sure that your method for marking answers is
well explained and that your answer boxes are
consistent throughout the questionnaire.

Analyze a Survey
Look at the Survey on your right and answer the
following question with a partner:

What is the theme?

How is consistency shown?

If you were to give options for #3, what 5

choices would you give?

Option 1

Look at the survey questions below. Which is the better option? Why?
Option 2