Things You'll Need:
- Computer with word-processing/desktop publishing software
- Spreadsheet software (optional)
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Step 1
Decide what to ask. The purpose of creating a survey is to get information. What do you need to know? Write a list of the information you hope to get from the survey, and then start paring it down. The longer a survey is, the lower your response rate will be; more people will fill out a five-question feedback card than a five-page questionnaire. Rank information as "must know" versus "would like to know" and "nice to know."
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Step 2
Write the questions in clear language. Respondents won't give you a good answer if they don't understand the question. Avoid industry terms that are obvious to you but might be incomprehensible to them. Avoid bias and leading questions; you're looking for objective information. Ask your questions so the respondent can't tell which answer you want to hear. Ask for only one piece of information at a time. (A question about the speed and courtesy of servers should be broken into two questions.) Questions should follow logically from one another. Start with generalities, and then move into specifics. It helps to group similar questions together.
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Step 3
Decide on ratings. How do you want the respondents to answer your questions?
This is often dictated by the nature of the question you're asking. If the possible answers are "Yes/No/Not Applicable," use a simple checkbox. Questions that require ratings can be on a numeric scale or written out (for example: Unacceptable, Fair, Good, Excellent). Open-ended questions are useful, but they take more time for the respondent to answer. When possible, allow the respondent to check a box as opposed to writing anything. -
Step 4
Test the survey. Run your survey past members of the group you want to survey. A friend or a co-worker might think of important questions that you didn't think to ask or notice questions that aren't phrased as clearly as they could be. It's better to learn of these problems when they're easy to correct than after you have printed five thousand questionnaires.
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Step 5
Distribute the survey. How do you plan to get the survey form out to potential respondents? And how do you get the completed ones back? Postage-paid envelopes (or postcards) make it easy for respondents to simply drop the completed form in any mailbox. Internet-distributed surveys can save you money on printing costs, and are much easier to count; you don't have to worry about entering the results. The biggest advantage of Internet surveys is that the respondent just has to click "Submit" to sent it to you.
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Step 6
Collate the results. There's no point in conducting a survey if you don't look at the answers. Spreadsheets can be invaluable for this, but entering the data can be tedious, time-consuming work.
