Creating Questionnaires Online

Online surveys/questionnaires | David Anderson | May 10th, 2004

I've just come across a very easy way to create online surveys. This means that you can easily and quickly poll large numbers of people by email to find out what they think about different issues. This is obviously a very powerful research feature. Try the very short sample survey on the future of the MSc to see what I mean.

I set this survey up so you can only take it once. Also, I have allowed you to view the results so far to give you an idea of the kind of statistics you can get. You can also embed the survey in a web page for more open access. In the free version, you can only limit who takes the survey by controlling who gets the link, though you can stop someone taking the survey twice. On the pay versions, you have much more control all the features.

There are a number of sites that offer basic surveys for free.   I am using createsurvey.com. This is not a recommendation - it just happens to be the first and only site I have tried.   [Do a search at google.com for "free online surveys" and you will find links to lots of other sites.]   You have to sign up for the free services.   Creating the surveys is fairly straight forward.   Some sites limit the number of questions or responses you can have.   Others limit the length of time you can use the service free.   I have 6 months with createsurvey.com- hopefully enough time to see me through the dissertation.

I'll post the final results of the survey in a month's time.   [I chose these questions because I thought it would be useful for us participants to get a feel for who is 'out there' and whether we will be switching to the new MSc.   Perhaps Aston may feel it is not my place to ask these questions, but I don't see it as being any different from getting a feel for what is happening by sitting in the student union on a full-time course: Transparency, freedom of info, etc etc.]   

Best regards

David Anderson

Abu Dhabi

Re: online surveys & questionnaires | David Anderson | May 15th, 2004

Hello again.

4 or 5 days ago I posted an Internet survey on the discussion list.   So far only 12 people have responded.   I'm sure more people than that read the discussion list!  

This is a trial to see if it is feasible to do some research for my dissertation.   In the process, I have found out a lot more about doing an online survey - it really is a powerful tool for conducting research, even if you just plan on asking colleagues who could easily be reached with a paper questionnaire.   The online graphs you get when you click the link to view the results is only the start.   If you are registered for a service like you get a lot more features.

1. You can see how many have responded by date.   For example, I know 10 people responded within 24 hours.   The other two responded within 72 hours.

2. You can download the full set of data in an Excel spreadsheet.   This means that you can very quickly sort and arrange the data as you want.   You can, for example, could look only at the responses of those who have been on the course for less than a year.   Alternatively, you could look at the responses of only those from Japan.   No more counting!   If you would like to try this out, I have attached an Excel document of the results so far so you can play around with them.   [If you don't know how to use Excel, you can also open the results in Word and do your counting manually, or insert the data into a table.]

4. The Excel document also contains info about the computer systems people used and where the responses came from.   For example, one respondent said they live in Algeria, but responded from a computer in the UK!   Not sure what to make of that.   So far, 7 people have used Internet Explorer for the survey, 3 have used Netscape, and the other two were not identified.   8 participants use Windows, 3 use Macintosh and 1 a Power PC.    All very Big Brotherish!

5. You might have noticed that I only included drop down menus and radio button questions.   You are also free to include single-line written responses, multiple-line written responses and other question types.

If anybody is thinking of using an online service and wants to know more, send a message to the discussion list or email me directly.   If you know of a free service that offers even more features, then let me know!

Best regards

David Anderson
Abu Dhabi

Re: online surveys & questionnaires | Jerry Talandis Jr. | May 15th, 2004

Hi David,

I've been meaning to tell you that I think that online survey thing looks real cool. I tried it out (I'm one of your 12 respondents), and it was very smooth. I'm thinking I may use it in the future for my dissertation.

But, why have so few answered? This is a good question. I believe it's a combination of things; probably not many people use the list in the first place, and of those that do, even fewer actually get involved. It's kind of like in a lecture or class- the teacher is up there talking away, suddenly asks a question, and then... silence! A few "keeners" sitting in the front rows raise their hands and get involved, but there are lots of folks sitting in the back of the room with their minds on other matters. People get very relaxed in passive/receiving mode, and a sudden request to change to active participation sort of never takes hold. It doesn't matter how easy the task is- it's kind of an "all or nothing" deal- people are "on", or they are "off." Does this make sense? I'm just trying to guess at why you haven't had more luck. Any other theories?

It's also helpful to remember that "quality" beats "quantity." Just because only 12 people responded doesn't mean that this tool is not valid. I hope you don't give up on it. I'm into learning more about it. Let's discuss our explorations publicly here; perhaps more people could get into it if they know more and see fellow CPs gaining from it.

Jerry
Japan

Re: online surveys & questionnaires | David Anderson | May 16th, 2004

Hi Jerry,

Nice to hear from you!    Yes, online surveys are "cool tools".   I spoke to Phil Quirke the other day about how few had responded, and he was actually quite surprised at how many there were.   The survey is a test to see what kind of response I am liable to get if I did a full blown one.   It is also to get people into the habit of filling one out.   (Foot in the door technique etc.)   I am sure if a few people got these going it would become second nature to fill them out for the benefit of everyone.   Please feel free to post something to the discussion list about it.   If we are going to use this for DISS it would be worthwhile indulging in a bit of awareness raising.   (Didn't realise I could be so Machiavellian!)

By the way, have you tried out any of the other sites, or signed up for createsurvey.com?

Finally got the feedback on the Quick Start Guide.   They liked it. Discussions are under way as to the best form of delivery.

Best regards

David
Abu Dhabi

Re: online surveys & questionnaires | Robert Haines | May 16th, 2004

In response to the question about online surveys and reluctance to take them, I'd like to throw in my two cents.

First, I agree with the idea that it's often more comfortable to be passive than active in and educational setting.

Second, I think some of us might worry about privacy issues, with so much of our personal lives already out there in cyberspace.

Third, my partner tells me that she often avoids surveys because after filling them out, she discovers what the aim of the survey was, which triggers her to think: "Oh, if I'd know that's what you were after, I'd have answered much differently. Why didn't you just say so?"

The last item might not apply to the brief online survey I've filled by following the link, but I think the point is valid.

Rob

Re: online surveys | Maria Leedham | May 17th, 2004

Do you think that - though having the survey online is of course much better for the researcher - it might deter a few people from answering?? It's a tiny bit more effort - have to click on link and download. If you don't have broadband you might download mail then read and reply offline and go online to send so you have to remember to go back to the survey link. Plus if you have to click on a link you have to be more proactive and commit yourself, you can't scan the survey and think it's not too long so you'll do it.

I know these are all tiny reasons, and the survey took seconds to fill in (I know, I'm one of the 12!) but people reading mail in a hurry think "I'll do it later" if it's not immediately doable.

Btw: I've just got 45-ish replies from students in an email survey i.e. sent as an attachment to the whole body of 180 students. It would have been so much easier to deal with these in this kind of survey! Wish I'd thought about it.... I've been collating in a Word document and cutting and pasting comments for ages.... ah well, I guess I'm thoroughly familiar with my data now!

Maria

Re: MSc online surveys | David Anderson | May 17th, 2004

Maria's point about completing an online survey being "more effort" sent me scurrying back to createsurvey.com to see if there is anything you can do about this.   It turns out that it is possible to embed HTML into an email so that the respondents complete the questionnaire within the email itself!   They complete the questionnaire as normal and hit a submit button at the bottom.   This sounds much more difficult to do than it actually is.   (I managed it!)   I think this would overcome two of the problems that have been mentioned so far.   With this approach...

1. Respondents won't be put off by having to click on links.

2. Respondents can immediately see all the questions to see how much info you are expected to give.

I've also thought of another possibility.   You could have a quick survey and a detailed survery.   All respondents are asked to complete the quick survey.   At the bottom of this survey there is a link to a more detailed survey.   Those who are motivated to proceed could go on to give more detailed answers.

I won't email an embedded survey here, but if anybody is interested in seeing what one would look like, contact me directly (off-list) and I will send it to you.

David Anderson
Abu Dhabi

 

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