Survey Methods
So you want to do a Community Survey?
Overview (I)
Recognizing a need Willingness to commit people, time
and money Appointing a planning commission Actions
Community needs survey Gather general information Form planning advisory committee
Overview (II)
Public Participation Form citizen’s advisory committee Statement of goals and objectives
from planning commission Modification of goals by governing
body Planning commission prepares work
schedule
Phases of Participation
Technical Data gathering Forecasting Analysis of facts and predictions
General Generating public interest Eliciting public participation Creating public “ownership”
Preparing the Survey
Survey should elicit the goals and objectives for community Not the other way around
Preparing the Survey
Four simple rules to survey my community Guarantee anonymity Don’t force privacy issues Avoid ambiguous questions Consult with partners
Preparing the survey
Scoping the project Establish goals Determine sample Choose interview methodology Create questionnaire Pretest survey Conduct interviews / data entry Analyze data
Establishing Goals
Clear goals = useful survey results General survey instrument leads to
weak findings Don’t be afraid to be specific
Determining Sample Size
Sampling Creating a representative sub-population We sample due to limitations of time,
money and labor
Considerations: Target population (varies with project) Sample size error
Determining Sample Size
Sample Size Calculator Bias Issues Quotas
Ensuring representation
Sampling
Random Systematic Stratified Random Clustered
Interview Methods
Personal Interviews Advantages
Personal connection Targeted sampling
Disadvantages Costly Environment influences effectiveness, bias
Interview Methods
Telephone Advantages
Fast Randomness Data Entry
Disadvantages Bad reputation Calling window limited (6-9)
Interview Methods
Mail Advantages
Cheap Doesn’t require phone numbers Can include illustrative material Can be done at respondent’s convenience
Disadvantages Time intensive Requires literate sample
Interview Methods
Computer-Direct Advantages
Respondents do the data entry Privacy No interviewer bias Skip patterning possible High response rate
Interview Methods
Computer-Direct Disadvantages
Computer literacy required General literacy required
Designing the Survey
Introductory message KISS
Length and complexity hinders response rate & accuracy
Allow respondents to “opt out” of a question But don’t allow a neutral response
Survey Questions
Multiple Choice Open Ended
Numeric Text
Survey Questions
Multiple Choice Simple Allows you to control the response Requires to be as inclusive as possible Try not to steer respondent into neutral
responses
Survey Questions
Numeric Open Ended Good for responses that require too
many possibilities Income
Text Open Ended Same as numeric Leaves open problems for data entry
Survey Questions
Rating and Agreement Scales Likert Scales Good for ordinal variables Good for preferences
Survey Questions
Order of questions Goal: get respondent to answer survey Goal: try not to bias responses
Start with easy questions, end with more difficult/sensitive questions
Try to vary questions with likely responses (habituation)
Survey Questions
Always keep in mind issues of data entry