Survey research is a tool that helps you gather information about people by asking them questions and analyzing the results. The information you gather from the survey should be able to help you either prove or disprove your hypothesis. To perform a valid survey you need to consider the following points:
Determine who will participate in the survey:
Prior to performing your survey research you need to have a well-defined research question that reflects what you need to discover. Depending on this question you choose the people you want to participate in your survey (target population).
The target population is a group of people that you’d like to perform the research on, this can vary in size from broad to relatively narrow. Example: Egypt’s population or employees in a company.
However, it’s usually difficult to perform your research on the whole population (costly and time consuming) so you’ll survey a sample of the population. As the population size increases, the sample size should increase too. Your results should aim to represent the whole population, with that being said, the larger the sample size the more valid your conclusion will be.
Choose the type of survey
We mainly have two types of surveys, either questionnaires or interviews.
Questionnaire is a type of survey where you write down questions and distribute it by mail, online or in person, to your target population and they fill it out for you to analyze the answers. By using questionnaires the response rate might be relatively low, however you get to easily access a large sample size.
An interview, on the other hand, is a type of survey where you ask questions in person or by a phone call and record the answers. This method can be used with smaller sample size. It’s more effective as you gather more in-depth information while you have personal contact with your sample. You can easily determine their preferences, opinions and ask follow up questions when needed.
Design the survey questions and layout
First, you need to always keep in mind your research question. Every question asked needs to be related to your research question. Always keep your questions simple and easy to understand by your target audience. Also, be specific with your questions to avoid vague answers. One topic per question should be used, avoid using compound questions, instead, break it down into simpler statements. Your questions should not be leading by any means, leading questions can cause the responses to be biased towards a specific answer. Minimize open-ended questions that might cause you difficulties while analyzing the responses.
Distribute the survey and collect responses
Before you start distributing your surveys, you need to have a plan for when, where, and how you will conduct the survey. Decide first how many responses you need for your research and how will you contact the sample. After you make sure you have a strong plan, you can choose which method to conduct your survey (online, in-person or through mail).
Analyze the responses
Many methods can be used to analyze your survey’s responses. Usually, you use computer programs to process the data. You should remove incomplete or incorrect responses.
Write up the results
Finally, after you are done with collecting and analyzing all necessary data, you write up the results of your research.
How to Conduct a Scientific Survey
How to Conduct a Scientific Survey
When conducting research, it is important to know how to create a scientific survey to accurately collect your data. Click here to see how to plan your survey.
Survey research is a tool that helps you gather information about people by asking them questions and analyzing the results. The information you gather from the survey should be able to help you either prove or disprove your hypothesis. To perform a valid survey you need to consider the following points: Determine who will participate in the survey:Prior to performing your survey research you need to have a well-defined research question that reflects what you need to discover. Depending on this question you choose the people you want to participate in your survey (target population). The target population is a group of people that you’d like to perform the research on, this can vary in size from broad to relatively narrow. Example: Egypt’s population or employees in a company. However, it’s usually difficult to perform your research on the whole population (costly and time consuming) so you’ll survey a sample of the population. As the population size increases, the sample size should increase too. Your results should aim to represent the whole population, with that being said, the larger the sample size the more valid your conclusion will be. Choose the type of surveyWe mainly have two types of surveys, either questionnaires or interviews. Questionnaire is a type of survey where you write down questions and distribute it by mail, online or in person, to your target population and they fill it out for you to analyze the answers. By using questionnaires the response rate might be relatively low, however you get to easily access a large sample size. An interview, on the other hand, is a type of survey where you ask questions in person or by a phone call and record the answers. This method can be used with smaller sample size. It’s more effective as you gather more in-depth information while you have personal contact with your sample. You can easily determine their preferences, opinions and ask follow up questions when needed.Design the survey questions and layoutFirst, you need to always keep in mind your research question. Every question asked needs to be related to your research question. Always keep your questions simple and easy to understand by your target audience. Also, be specific with your questions to avoid vague answers. One topic per question should be used, avoid using compound questions, instead, break it down into simpler statements. Your questions should not be leading by any means, leading questions can cause the responses to be biased towards a specific answer. Minimize open-ended questions that might cause you difficulties while analyzing the responses. Distribute the survey and collect responses Before you start distributing your surveys, you need to have a plan for when, where, and how you will conduct the survey. Decide first how many responses you need for your research and how will you contact the sample. After you make sure you have a strong plan, you can choose which method to conduct your survey (online, in-person or through mail). Analyze the responsesMany methods can be used to analyze your survey’s responses. Usually, you use computer programs to process the data. You should remove incomplete or incorrect responses.Write up the resultsFinally, after you are done with collecting and analyzing all necessary data, you write up the results of your research.
