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