Activity #7: Conducting a Survey

One type of primary research you might decide to use is the survey. Surveys are typically used
to get a general sense of how a group of people perceive, or feel about, a particular issue. The
results can then be used to think about future actions or policy to enact regarding an issue.
The amount of questions and the type of questions you use can depend on what form the
survey takes, for example if it will be delivered online through something like
www.surveymonkey.com or handed out at a specific location.
The first step is to provide context to your respondents about the purpose of your survey. This is
called a leveling statement. Lets say, for example, that you wanted to create a survey to find
out how people feel might feel about the issue of landfilling compostable trash and a green bin
program. A leveling statement might be something like this:
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, separating compostable materials,
like yard trimmings, food scraps, and building supplies from grey-bin trash can reduce
the amount of garbage going into the landfill by up to 30%. Removing compostables from
the landfill reduces the amount of land needed for landfills, it reduces the amount of
garbage juice leaking from landfills into the water table, and it reduces methane, a
green house gas, from escaping into the atmosphere. Please answer the following
questions about landfilling compostable trash.
This leveling statement takes care of a lack of respondent knowledge about landfills. Just
remember not to bias your respondents by slanting this information toward one solution or
another. You might also recognize that you would be unable to write a good leveling statement
without first having done your secondary research. You would then proceed to ask your survey
questions like these:
Q1. Would you be interested in seeing El Paso initiate a program to separate
compostable materials from the grey bin trash? Please check the answer below.
____ yes
____ no
____ unsure
Q2. If El Paso were to have a program to separate compostable materials, how would you
like to see this material collected? Please check one of the answers below.
____ people drop off their compostables at sites around the city.
____ people put their compostables into curbside green bins that are picked up by the
city on a weekly basis.
Q3. If El Paso had a program that asked people to drop off their compostables at sites
around the city, how likely would you be to do it? Select from the scale below.
1 Very likely to do it 5 Would not do it
1
2 3 4 5

Q4. How far would you be willing to drive to a drop-off site? Check your answer below.
____8 or 10 miles
____5 or 7 miles
____2-4 miles
____Unwilling to drive any distance to drop off compostable trash.
Q5. If El Paso had a program that asked people to put their compostables into a curbside
green bin in front of their house, how likely would you be to use it? Select from the scale
below.
1-Very likely to use it 5 Would not use it
1 2 3 4 5
Q6. If El Paso had a curbside green bin program to collect compostables, how much
extra would you be willing to pay for it? Check your answer below.
____ $8-10/month
____ $5-7/month
____ $2-4/month
____ $1/month
____ I would not be willing to pay anything extra for such a program.
With these five questions, asked of 20-50 people, you begin to get an idea of how people in one
neighborhood feel about a green bin program. In addition, the results can be analyzed and
visually represented in a chart or graph. This information would be very useful in designing a
policy for a green bin program.
Use the space below to answer the following question:
Based on your research questions, would a survey be an appropriate form of primary research
to use for your literature review? Why? Explain how it might help you answer one or several of
your research questions. If not, why not? What type of primary research is better suited for your
literature review? Finally, formulate possible survey questions that you can ask in relation to
your topicthe questions are not set in stone, feel free to change them when you create your
actual survey.

Yes a survey will be the appropriate form for my primary research for my literature
review, because I need to have more answers in order to know a percentage of how
many people support Historical Buildings or Modern Buildings instead. It will primarily
help me answers more answer in less time with the use of internet and social media.
Example of questions.
Are you in favor of,
a. Historical Buildings
b. Modern Buildings
How many historical Buildings are there in El Paso?
a.
5
b.
10
c.
More than 10
d.
There are no historical buildings in El Paso

Will you support the demolition of a historical Building in order to build a Modern
Building?
a. Yes
b. No
Will you rather to have a remodeling of a Historical Building to avoid the demolition?
a. Yes
b. No
How strong do you support Historical Buildings? (one being the lowest and five
being the highest)
1