Hi,
today I want to explain how you can plan and execute an online survey.
First we'll talk about the research questions that will guide your survey.
Then we'll discuss how to create a good questionnaire.
Finally, I'll tell you about different online survey tools you can use
Okay let's get started. The first task is to define your research problem.
A research problem, sometimes called a research question, is what you want to
find out using your survey.
That sounds simple, right? But the definition of your research is the most
important step in the whole process.
To the define the research problem I usually write down a couple of clearly stated
research questions.
Research question specify what you want to find out.
Don't confuse them with the questions that you put on your questionnaire.
So let's say you want to d oa customer satisfaction survey.
Some possible research questions for your survey could be
How satisfied are the customers overall?
Which factors contribute most to the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of
customers?
and... What differences are there in the satisfaction level of different groups
of customers?
Of course you can have more than three research questions,
but it's best to stay focused and not make your survey too long.
That will increase the likelihood that the people
answering your questions do complete the whole questionnaire
and won't stop somewhere in the middle because they're overwhelmed
by the length of the survey. Next you need to translate your research
questions into
items that will appear on the questionnaire. These
items are the questions you want your survey respondents to answer.
There are two broad categories of items
to use in a survey: open-ended questions and closed-ended questions.
An open question is a question a respondent can answer in his or her own
words.
Here's an example: What suggestions do you have for improving our services?
This question make sense. Nevertheless, in general in a survey
open ended questions should be kepst to a minimum. Here's why:
First, many respondents won't answer open questions in
online surveys. They are just not motivated enough
to type or write in a long written response.
They may even end the survey all together at theat point.
Second, open-ended questions are also more difficult for you to analyze.
Before you can count different responses to an open question
you will need to group similar responses,
Closed questions are easier to handle, both for the people who
are answering your survey and for you to compile and analyze.
That's why most of the questions in your survey should be closed
There are three types of closed questions you can use in your survey:
Dichotomous questions, multiple choice questions and scales.
Dichotomous questions have only
two response options. For example: Have you visited our new store on Main Street?
yes or no? Technically speaking
dichotomous questions have only two answer choices, but in many cases it makes good
sense to add a
“don’t know” category.
Often yes/no, agree/disagree or know/don’t know
is not enough. You want to give the respondents more choices.
Here is where you use multiple choice questions.
Have a look at this multiple choice question
where only one answer choice is possible. For this type of question, in an online
survey
you should use radio buttons. There are also questions whether the respondent
can choose more than one response option.
Here we use checkboxes instead of radio buttons.
Also, make sure to point out to your respondents
respondents that more than one answer is possible.If your online survey software allows you to
do so,
answer choices should not appear in the same order for all respondents.
That's because respondents tend to choose answer choices
that appear at the beginning or the end of a list more often than
other answer alternatives. To prevent this
this pattern it makes good sense to vary the order of the answers for each respondent
Look for this option in your survey software.
The last type of closed question are scales.
There are many types of scales you can use. Here are two examples that could appear
in a customer satisfaction survey
Adapt them to your own surveys.
One type of scale you often see in surveys because it very versatile is
is the Likert scale. It is a scale with 5 scale points that range from strongly agree
to strongly disagree. Likert scales are used to measure the respondents
attitude toward a company, brand or person.
Another type of scale that is frequently used is
the semantic differential.
You present the respondents with opposing adjectives
like friendly - unfriendly, fast – slow,
reliable unreliable and so on. Respondents then indicate how well these
adjectives describe the person
logo, slogan brand or company.
A semantic differential usually has 7 scale points but you can also use
a different number
One more thing to remember: The order of the questions counts too.
One way of ordering questions that's frequently used is
the funnel approach. Start with the broadest questions
and the questions that are easiest to answer. Then ask the more specific questions.
Finally, at the end, ask the questions your respondents might be reluctant to answer.
Often these are socio-demographic questions like the person's age,
educational level, or income.
In many cultures, people hate to reveal their income,
so ask that question last, when maybe they are more likely to answer.
Also you should only ask questions that are applicable to your specific
respondents
or again, they may stop answering. For example,
look at these two questions: Do you play a musical instrument?
And then: Which of the following instruments do you play?
The first question is a branching question. Only if the respondent answers
yes to the first question
should the second question even appear. If there are questions in your survey
that only apply to some of the respondents use branching questions
and make sure that the online survey tool you use supports skip logic. Not all do.
So now you know what to ask,
how to ask it, and in what order. What's still missing is
the software to publishyour questionnaire online.
Fortunately there are many options and many are free or at least
offer a free version. The free versions, however, can be limited in two ways:
1. The number of questions allowed per survey. 2. The number of
responses you can collect.
Here are three tools that can help you. The first two survey tools are my
personal favorites because they have very few restrictions.
• Google Forms is pretty awesome. It’s completely free for both commercial and
non-commercial surveys.
You can create questionnaires that are pretty much any length,
and the number of people who can answer your questions is virtually unlimited.
The cons are: There are relatively few question types,
and the built-in data analysis tools are quite limited.
If you want to use Google Forms you need to sign up for a Google account.
Google Forms is part of the Google docs collection of online apps.
Sosci Survey is an excellent online research tool for online surveys
and experiments, it offers many different options and capabilities.
Sosci Survey helps you collect your survey data, but to
analyze it you'll need to download it and use data analysis software like SPSS.
Check out my video “Data Analysis in SPSS Made Easy”
to learn how to analyze survey data.
Sosci Survey is free if you use it for a non-commercial
academic research projects like a class project, thesis or dissertation.
You can also use it for commercial marketing research, but you’ll have to pay
for that use.
Check out their terms and conditions for more details
Survey Monkey is the most well-known online survey tool.
There is a free version, but it’s very limited. If you want to
do your survey for free, you’re probably better off using the other two
survey tools I describe here.
If you’re willing to pay, however, Survey Monkey has lots of bells and whistles.
So check it out for yourself, and see if it fits your survey needs.
Okay. There you have it. Conducting an online survey
really isn’t that difficult. It can even be fun.
Good luck with your next survey! I’m sure it will be a success!