Professional Documents
Culture Documents
with Surveys
Erich Stiefvater, NWREL
NW Network Conference 2009
March 2-4, 2009
1
Guiding Questions
2
Session Roadmap
3
Why should I use surveys?
4
A Variety of Uses
5
Survey Pros
Surveys:
Are ideal for gathering data and feedback
that can be quantified
Collect information in a standard,
systematized way
Yield datasets that can be sorted, filtered,
cross-tabbed, and graphed to provide
deeper analysis
6
Survey Cons
Surveys:
Take time to plan for, design, and collect
and analyze responses
Can yield unreliable or unusable
information if poorly planned or designed
Are often ignored by targeted users
7
Questions to Ask Yourself
8
What survey tool is right for me?
9
Paper or Online?
Paper-survey tools
Desktop-publishing software (e.g., Word)
Optical-scan readers (e.g., Scantron)
Online-survey tools
Survey software (e.g., Zoomerang)
Web-design tools (e.g., Dreamweaver)
Widgets and templates in social-
networking software (e.g., Google Docs)
10
A Myriad of Options
11
How to Pick
Price
Maximum numbers of:
Surveys
Questions
Responses
Features
Storage
Support
12
Basic Tool Features
13
Advanced Tool Features
Survey templates you can adapt
Skip/branch logic
Customizable appearance and messages
Upload and manage email lists
Filter and cross-tabulate results
Summary reports in several formats
Export survey data
Phone and email tech support
14
Questions to Ask Yourself
15
How do I design
an effective survey?
16
Survey-Design Process
17
18
Determine Your Goal
19
Sample Goal Statements-1
Investigate community needs
What gaps exist in the continuum of
homeless services in our town?
Design new programs and services
What new recreation classes would local
seniors be most interested in?
Evaluate impacts and outcomes
How many of our graduates find a job or
go on to college within a year?
20
Sample Goal Statements-2
Assess constituent satisfaction
What do our AmeriCorps members think
of our new staff mentoring program?
Plan events
What topics do our partners want included
on the agenda for the gang summit?
Test communication media and
messages
Does our website meet visitors’ needs?
21
Determine Your Audience
22
Determine Your Methodology
23
24
General Design Tips
25
Introduction Example
26
Question Types
Multiple Choice-Single Answer
27
Question Types (cont’d)
Multiple Choice-Multiple Answer
28
Question Types (cont’d)
Rating Scale-Single Answer
29
Question Types (cont’d)
Rating Scale-Table/Matrix
30
Choose Words Carefully
31
Question Example 1
32
Question Example 1 (cont’d)
biased biased jargon/unclear
assumption/leading
“double-barreled”
question
33
Question Example 1 (cont’d)
Try this
34
Question Example 2
35
Question Example 2 (cont’d)
slightly
unclear
36
Question Example 2 (cont’d)
Try this
37
Skip/Branch Example
38
Skip/Branch Plan
39
40
Deployment Options
41
Pre-Test Your Survey
42
43
Monitor Your Survey
44
45
View Quick Reports . . .
46
. . . Or Download Full Ones
47
Some Can be Customized
48
49
Making Sense of the Data
50
Happy Surveying!
Erich Stiefvater
(503) 275-0761
stiefvae@nwrel.org
51
Resources and References
Dillman, D.A. (2007). Mail and internet surveys: The tailored design
method. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
52