3.9 Involving people: Surveys

What are surveys?^[1]

A survey is a way of eliciting the views of a large number of people. The characteristics of the sample are determined at the outset, as is the number of people in each sub-group; for example, you may wish to ensure there is a representative sample of people from different areas of residence, ethnic groups, or age group. The survey instrument will be completed either by the respondent his/herself or by an interviewer who asks the interviewee the survey questions and records his/her answer. Surveys, therefore, can be conducted either face-to-face, over the telephone or remotely (via email, the web or post)

Why use this method?

Surveys can:

• enable researchers to contact a large and/or representative sample of a population
• be useful where issues are particularly sensitive, as they provide a mechanism, if self-administered and returned by post, for example, by which people can give feedback confidentially.

When?

Surveys might be particularly useful for evaluating your IP process. For instance, a 'longitudinal' survey, repeated at regular intervals or at the main project milestones, may help you to:

• track changes in a population.
• gather data on the use of IPs
• understand the difference the IP programme is making to your local population.

Things to consider

• Response rates can be unpredictable. You may need to 'chase' people with reminder letters or emails in order to improve your response rate.
• If you choose to hire researchers or specialist research organisations, this can be expensive but it is often a good idea. Well trained researchers have the expertise and tools to ensure the approach is inclusive, the questions well formulated and the responses complied and analysed proficiently.
• It is important to pilot surveys with a sub-set of the sample in order, for example, to ensure that: the survey instrument is reliable and valid; the questions are not ambiguous; and, that the language used is easily understood.
• Should you produce your survey in languages other than English? If so, have you thought through how people will receive the survey in the language they want? And have you thought about the costs involved in multiple translations?
• Have you considered the various ways that bias can creep into a survey (leading questions, not a broad enough range of choices, and so on). How will you work to minimise it?
• Data protection: Have you outlined your data protection policy? Will survey respondents know how their answers will be used and by whom, and the level of confidentiality of which they can be assured?

Find here a list of questions you might ask yourself when designing a survey.

Find here a sample survey questionnaire

on the next page: Making sure IP is accessible to everyone