Surveying is a great way to discover what a large amount of people think about a particular issue or how a group of people report their behavior. Surveys can be done on a large range of topics and can be conducted relatively easily.
Things to consider when conducting surveys:
Who are you planning on surveying? Decide what group you are going to focus on
surveying based on who you have access to and what your research is focused on.
How many people are you going to survey? You want to choose a target number of surveys to conduct. You don't want too few surveys because you won't have enough answers to support any generalizations or findings you may make. At the same time, you do not want too many surveys because you will be overwhelmed with analyzing your data.
How are you going to survey people? You can choose to conduct your survey in person (i.e. walk up to people and ask them questions); on paper (i.e. hand out surveys and ask people to return them); or even via the Internet. The survey method should be chosen based on the length of your survey and types of questions.
How long is your survey going to be? The answer to this question depends on what information you are attempting to discover and how much you want to find out. Longer surveys sometimes involve the same question asked in multiple ways to see if people are consistent in their answering strategies. For your first survey, however, it is better to keep things simple. Short questions are usually more effective than longer ones.
What type of questions are you going to ask? Do you want openended questions or closed questions? Openended questions are questions that allow the participant any type of response. An example of an openended question is: How are you feeling today? A closed question is one with a set of possible responses or yes/no responses. An example is: Did you feel that the new campus regulation about parking was fair? While closed questions are much easier to analyze they do not provide the rich responses you may get with openended questions. Ultimately, what type of question you ask depends on what you want to discover.
What questions are you going to ask? Carefully consider the wording of your questions. Please see the "Creating Good Interview and Survey Questions" section for more detailed information about creating good survey questions.
Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analysis.
Things to consider when conducting surveys:
Who are you planning on surveying? Decide what group you are going to focus on
surveying based on who you have access to and what your research is focused on.
How many people are you going to survey? You want to choose a target number of surveys to conduct. You don't want too few surveys because you won't have enough answers to support any generalizations or findings you may make. At the same time, you do not want too many surveys because you will be overwhelmed with analyzing your data.
How are you going to survey people? You can choose to conduct your survey in person (i.e. walk up to people and ask them questions); on paper (i.e. hand out surveys and ask people to return them); or even via the Internet. The survey method should be chosen based on the length of your survey and types of questions.
How long is your survey going to be? The answer to this question depends on what information you are attempting to discover and how much you want to find out. Longer surveys sometimes involve the same question asked in multiple ways to see if people are consistent in their answering strategies. For your first survey, however, it is better to keep things simple. Short questions are usually more effective than longer ones.
What type of questions are you going to ask? Do you want openended questions or closed questions? Openended questions are questions that allow the participant any type of response. An example of an openended question is: How are you feeling today? A closed question is one with a set of possible responses or yes/no responses. An example is: Did you feel that the new campus regulation about parking was fair? While closed questions are much easier to analyze they do not provide the rich responses you may get with openended questions. Ultimately, what type of question you ask depends on what you want to discover.
What questions are you going to ask? Carefully consider the wording of your questions. Please see the "Creating Good Interview and Survey Questions" section for more detailed information about creating good survey questions.
Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analysis.
Creating Good Interview and Survey Questions
If you are conducting primary research using surveys or interviews, one of the most important things to focus on is creating good questions.
When creating questions you want to avoid:
Biased questions
Biased questions are questions that encourage your participants to respond to the question in a certain way. They may contain biased terminology or are worded in a biased way.
Biased question: Don't you agree that campus parking is a problem? Revised question: Is parking on campus a problem?
Questions that assume what they ask
These questions are a type of biased question and lead your participants to agree or respond in a certain way.
Biased question: There are many people who believe that campus parking is a problem. Are you one of them?
Revised question: Do you agree or disagree that campus parking is a problem?
Doublebarreled questions
A doublebarreled question is a one that has more than one question embedded within it. Participants may answer one but not both, or may disagree with part or all of the question.
Doublebarreled question: Do you agree that campus parking is a problem and that the administration should be working diligently on a solution?
Revised question: Is campus parking a problem? (If the participant responds yes): Should the administration be responsible for solving this problem?
Confusing or wordy questions
Make sure your questions are not confusing or wordy. Confusing questions will only lead to confused participants, which leads to unreliable answers.
Confusing questions: What do you think about parking? (This is confusing because the question isn't clear about what it is askingparking in general? The person's ability to park the car? Parking on campus?) Do you believe that the parking situation on campus is problematic or difficult because of the lack of spaces and the walking distances or do you believe that the parking situation on campus is ok? (This question is both very wordy and leads the participant.)
Revised question: What is your opinion of the parking situation on campus?
Questions that do not relate to what you want to learn
Be sure that your questions directly relate to what it is you are studying. A good way to do this is to ask someone else to read your questions or even test your survey out on a few people and see if the responses fit what you are looking for.
Unrelated questions: Have you ever encountered problems in the parking garage on campus? Do you like or dislike the bus system?
Summary:
Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analysis.
When creating questions you want to avoid:
Biased questions
Biased questions are questions that encourage your participants to respond to the question in a certain way. They may contain biased terminology or are worded in a biased way.
Biased question: Don't you agree that campus parking is a problem? Revised question: Is parking on campus a problem?
Questions that assume what they ask
These questions are a type of biased question and lead your participants to agree or respond in a certain way.
Biased question: There are many people who believe that campus parking is a problem. Are you one of them?
Revised question: Do you agree or disagree that campus parking is a problem?
Doublebarreled questions
A doublebarreled question is a one that has more than one question embedded within it. Participants may answer one but not both, or may disagree with part or all of the question.
Doublebarreled question: Do you agree that campus parking is a problem and that the administration should be working diligently on a solution?
Revised question: Is campus parking a problem? (If the participant responds yes): Should the administration be responsible for solving this problem?
Confusing or wordy questions
Make sure your questions are not confusing or wordy. Confusing questions will only lead to confused participants, which leads to unreliable answers.
Confusing questions: What do you think about parking? (This is confusing because the question isn't clear about what it is askingparking in general? The person's ability to park the car? Parking on campus?) Do you believe that the parking situation on campus is problematic or difficult because of the lack of spaces and the walking distances or do you believe that the parking situation on campus is ok? (This question is both very wordy and leads the participant.)
Revised question: What is your opinion of the parking situation on campus?
Questions that do not relate to what you want to learn
Be sure that your questions directly relate to what it is you are studying. A good way to do this is to ask someone else to read your questions or even test your survey out on a few people and see if the responses fit what you are looking for.
Unrelated questions: Have you ever encountered problems in the parking garage on campus? Do you like or dislike the bus system?
Summary:
Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analysis.