Survey Solutions An Introduction to Surveying

What Is a Survey? A survey is a series of questions asked of a group of people in order to gain information Information gathered can be facts, attitudes, feelings, beliefs

Examples Satisfaction survey Evaluations Applications EH Club Minutes Voting Invitations

Surveys Are a MEANS to an END The goal is NOT to “do a survey” The goal is to acquire data to make proper decisions A survey is only one channel of information in support of that decision-making process

Why Do a Survey? The goal of any survey is to collect data which can be analyzed, and used to aid decisions

Design the Survey Map out questions to help you gain the information needed to meet the survey objective Question Types: Open : No pre-set selections – type in text, numbers – whatever is appropriate for the question. Open-ended questions – unstructured fill-in-the-blank types of questions. Good for gathering general information and revealing what is on the respondents’ minds Open-ended questions require a lot of time to analyze and are more readily open to misinterpretation. Closed : Choose from pre-set selections only Multiple choice, Yes/No, True/False (etc.) Choices are structured; respondents must choose from a scale or a series of options. Good for nailing down specific, numeric options, and they’re easier to analyze They may not offer enough choices and options for people to truly express their opinions Mixed: Combinations of closed and open (i.e. “Other – Please specify_________”)

The Survey Life Cycle Plan the survey Design the survey Test the survey Deploy the survey Reporting

Example 1: RSVP - Planning

Objectives: What information do you need to define ? – How many will attend the Retirement Recognition and how many of this group will eat lunch. What decisions will this information impact? – How much space is needed for the Retirement Recognition and how many lunches are needed. Who is the audience for the survey? – Everybody in Extension Who is the audience for the report? – Bernadette Hinkle In what format is the report needed? – Excel spreadsheet with names and numbers or head count How will you deliver the survey to your audience? –

Example 1: RSVP - Design Options: Attend Retirement Recognition and eat lunch Attend Retirement Recognition and not eat lunch Eat lunch and not attend Retirement Recognition Eating lunch is a yes or no question and the most important question – We used a radio button so this question must be answered. Attending the Retirement Recognition may be answered or not. If you are taking this survey, more than likely you will attend the event. The decision to use a checkbox rather than a radio button was more for layout purposes than for information. We weren’t certain if the names would be needed or not. It is better to have an extra field than not enough fields. It is easier to take a field out than to add one.

Example 2: Voting with Live Results

Example 3: Meals & Lodging Determine the survey objectives

Example 3: Meals & Lodging What data is required?

Example 3: Meals & Lodging Pop-ups for important information

Example 4: Password – Piped answer Passwords are generated by computer. The combination of your name and password is your “Key” The “Key” will allow you back into the survey after you have saved it. The name is transferred (piped) from page 1 to page 2. Note the save button on page 2. This will save your record to the database and allows you to finish the survey at a later date.

Example 5: Branching Branching is a powerful option. It allows you to control the flow of questions, including skipping questions, depending on answers that have already been provided. In the example below -- if you select “yes” on page 2 and click Next, you will go to page 3 -- if you select “no” on page 2 and click Next, you will skip page 3 and go directly to page 4 -- if you select “What Presentation?” and click Next, you will skip page 3 and 4 and go directly to 5

Survey Deployment Survey deployment is one of the last things done in any survey project. Surveys cannot be deployed until the survey design has been tested, databases and tables have been tested, and the data has been checked to ensure that it is being properly collected. Once surveys have been designed and rigorously tested, they will be ready for deployment.

Survey Deployment Methods Invitation – The invitation is computer generated – addresses can be imported from GroupWise or a.txt file – When a user finishes the survey, this user gets flagged in the database. – When necessary, a second invitation. Users who are flagged will not get a reminder. – Passwords, links, and instructions can be in the Survey – The survey will be in the body of the Print a paper copy of the survey Handheld device, PDA Post a link to your survey on the your county/department website.

Reporting Results Export data to other software applications – Access – Excel – PowerPoint – SPSS Loading responses into a personal database – From – From a file (TSV, Tab Separated Value) – Using entry screen for interviews or paper-based results – From handheld device

Processing Raw Data Frequency Analysis Time Series Analysis Gap Analysis Hi/Lo Report Banner Report Frequency Mean Pair Top Box Summary Top Box Banner 360 Degree Report Open Ended Analysis

Report Example - Word

Report Example – Excel – Text

Report Example – Excel – Numeric

Requesting a Survey Wilma Lewis Attach Word document with objectives and questions Call if you need help

Confidentiality Is an anonymous survey really anonymous?