How to Construct a Survey
When creating an advertising campaign, writing an opinion paper or undertaking other types of research-based investigations, becoming familiar with public opinion on a subject can be invaluable. Surveys to find out such information can be useful research tools only if they are well-constructed, meaning that they are designed to find out as accurately as possible what the surveyor wants to know. It is important to remember that most lifestyle surveys result in answers that tell what the individuals being surveyed have to say—not necessarily how they actually think or do.
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Instructions
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Design a survey that has a user-friendly appearance. The survey should be printed on one sheet of paper (preferably only the front) in a plain font, large enough for easy reading. Leave good-sized margins, and double space between questions. Allow plenty of room for questions that require extensive answers.
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Begin with a filter question—a question designed to eliminate people from your study whose answers you are not interested in. For example, if your survey is meant to find out if people would, in the future, buy the kind of car they now own, your filter question would be “Do you have a car?” If you want to find out people’s opinions on the local police force, a filter question might be “Are you or any members of your family employed as police officers?”
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Include both open and closed questions in your survey. An open question gives the individual an opportunity to write in an extended comment. For example, an open question might be “What is the best movie you’ve seen this summer?” A closed question gives choices for the answer, such as a multiple-choice or yes/no question.
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Give the full range of choices for any closed question. For example, if you are asking high school seniors “How much did you spend on prom this year?” then your answers would have to include every possibility, covering the full range of dollar amounts: (a) zero to $40, (b) $41 to $80, (c) $81 to $125, (d) over $125. If you ask a yes/no question, you will sometimes have to add choices like “No opinion” or “Maybe.”
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Try stating questions in ways that might make individuals more comfortable about telling the truth. For example, if you want to know if people voted this year, you’ll probably get more truthful responses to a question that asks “Did you get the opportunity to vote this year?” than to a question that simply asks “Did you vote this year?”
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State at the end of the survey exactly why this survey is being conducted, and thank respondents for their participation.
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Tips & Warnings
Sometimes starting with a throw-away question can put the individual taking the survey at ease. For example, if your survey is on the subject of how much homework kids are being given, a question like “Do your kids get more homework than you did?” could be a way to ease into the survey, even though you don’t plan to use that information.
Make sure the individuals being surveyed know ahead of time whether or not the information they give (and their names, if requested) is confidential.
