Survey research is important for organizations, particularly during difficult economic times or product/service development plan. While some companies may forgo research, others use their ability to analyze their changing market through effective survey research as a competitive advantage. Businesses need to get the most information possible from their surveys in terms of quantity and quality in order to get the most out of their research investment. In this article, I will emphasize the importance of keeping survey’s objectives in mind when writing survey questions and four effective steps to conduct a survey.
There are couple things to remember when writing the survey questions such as avoiding confusing or ambiguous questions, considering how the data will be analyzed, and carefully reviewing response options for appropriateness and overlap. The dos include simplifying questions to reach objectives, considering which type of question is most appropriate for each question and ensuring that response options are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. The don’ts includes creating confusing or ambiguous questions, using the same question to inquire about multiple dimensions, and forgetting to carefully review response options.
Keep in mind that Writing good questions is a learned skill that improves with practice and direction. With proper survey pretesting, many issues with survey questions can be avoided. Therefore, it is important for organizations to allocate sufficient time and resources to survey research to maximize its potential benefits.
Survey sampling is a statistical technique used to gather information from a portion of a population in order to make generalizations about the entire population. In this article, I will be walking you through four steps to build your survey research sample. The first step is to identify the research population of interest, which means that the group of people that achieve the survey sample requirement. For example, if you want to make survey research about people who drink soda at least 5 times a week or more, then the population of your sample will consist of those people who meet this requirement and exclude population who do not meet this condition.
The second step is to be able to specify the sampling frame. Once you identify your research population of interest, you will now specify which people from this population that you can contact. This refers to people that you have their contact information and a way to contact them. The third step is specifying a sampling method, which mean probabilistic or non- probabilistic. An effective way to conducting a survey sampling is to use probabilistic sampling, where each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample.
The fourth step is to be able to determine the sample size, where the ideal range should be from 200-500 completes. Depending on the objectives and data analysis plan, you may select a number within that range. However, you need to consider couple things about the size of the sample that it should be large enough to comfort the stakeholder. Up to a certain point, small increases in sample size can result in increases in sample accuracy; further increases would result in a decline in accuracy.
In conclusion, survey research is an essential tool for organizations looking to gain a competitive advantage in a changing marketplace or to inform product/service development plans. To ensure the highest quality and quantity of information is obtained from surveys, clear objectives must guide survey construction, and careful consideration must be given to each survey question. The dos and don’ts of writing quality questions, as outlined in this article, are crucial for avoiding confusion and ambiguity, and for ensuring response options are appropriate and mutually exclusive. Additionally, the article outlines the four steps necessary to build a survey research sample, including identifying the research population of interest, specify the sampling frame, specify the sampling method, and determine the sample size. population of interest, specifying the sampling frame, determining the sampling method, and selecting an appropriate sample size. Investing adequate time and resources into survey research can maximize its potential benefits, and help organizations stay ahead of the competition in difficult economic times.