Creating Survey Questions A Few Basic Ideas

What’s a Survey Surveys: Surveys are a form of questioning that is more rigid than interviews and that involve larger groups of people. Surveys will provide a limited amount of information from a large group of people and are useful when you want to learn what a larger population thinks. (From: Surveys: Surveys are a form of questioning that is more rigid than interviews and that involve larger groups of people. Surveys will provide a limited amount of information from a large group of people and are useful when you want to learn what a larger population thinks. (From:

Why Survey? To test a hypothesis with actual data from real opinions. To test a hypothesis with actual data from real opinions. To see what people think. To see what people think. To get real live people into your research. To get real live people into your research. To provide a data set to work with. To provide a data set to work with.

Ethical Considerations in Primary Research You should have the permission of the people who you will be studying You should have the permission of the people who you will be studying You don’t want to do anything that would cause physical or emotional harm to your subjects. This could be something as simple as being careful how you word sensitive or difficult questions during your interviews. You don’t want to do anything that would cause physical or emotional harm to your subjects. This could be something as simple as being careful how you word sensitive or difficult questions during your interviews. Be sure your own personal biases and opinions do not get in the way of your research Be sure your own personal biases and opinions do not get in the way of your research Many types of research, such as surveys or observations, should be conducted under the assumption that you will keep your findings anonymous. Many types of research, such as surveys or observations, should be conducted under the assumption that you will keep your findings anonymous. You should choose your subjects based on what would most benefit your research. You should choose your subjects based on what would most benefit your research. When reporting your results be sure that you accurately represent what you observed or what you were told. When reporting your results be sure that you accurately represent what you observed or what you were told. DON’T ASK LEADING OR BIASED QUESTIONS. DON’T ASK LEADING OR BIASED QUESTIONS. (From:

Things to Consider when Conducting Surveys Who are you planning on surveying? Who are you planning on surveying? How many people are you going to survey? How many people are you going to survey? How are you going to survey people? How are you going to survey people? How long is your survey going to be? How long is your survey going to be? What questions are you going to ask? What questions are you going to ask? (From:

When Creating Questions You Want to Avoid Biased questions Biased questions Questions that assume what they ask Questions that assume what they ask Double-barreled questions Double-barreled questions Confusing or wordy questions Confusing or wordy questions Unrelated questions Unrelated questions (From:

A Sample Survey Question: What’s Wrong Here? iPods should be outlawed because: iPods should be outlawed because: A: They are evil. A: They are evil. B: They create rudeness. B: They create rudeness. C: They can kill you dead. C: They can kill you dead. D: They are ways to cheat on tests. D: They are ways to cheat on tests.

What’s right here? I listen to my iPod: I listen to my iPod: Less than one hour a day. Less than one hour a day. 1-2 hours a day. 1-2 hours a day. 3-4 hours a day. 3-4 hours a day. 4 or more hours a day. 4 or more hours a day.

The Survey Challenge Write as bad a survey question as you can—one that is biased, leading, and otherwise awful. Write as bad a survey question as you can—one that is biased, leading, and otherwise awful. Write as good a version of the same question. Write as good a version of the same question.