TOP 10 CHARACTERISTICS OF A SURVEY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Some of the characteristics of a survey are its specific questions, focus on a topic, confidentiality or the logical sequencing of questions. The survey is a public opinion resource in which carefully designed questions are asked to extract specific information from all members of a particular group or from respondents chosen at random from a sector of the population.

Surveys represent one of the most widely used techniques for collecting information on a topic or about people to describe, compare, explain or predict their knowledge, attitudes or behaviors. In short, the survey is a tool used to obtain necessary information.

Surveys are also used to collect useful data to isolate the effects of a program on improvements in business measures; convert data to monetary value; identify planned actions associated with the acquisition of knowledge, skill or information; and forecasting the return on investment in a particular program or project.

Researchers, evaluators, learning and development professionals, HR professionals, meeting planners, and others administer surveys because they want to influence or persuade an audience, create or change an existing program or process, or understand or predict some behaviors or outcomes.

Main characteristics of the surveys

There are characteristics that must be taken into account when conducting a survey to achieve greater effectiveness:

You must have sufficient demographic information

This allows you to later analyze the results by smaller segments. It is important to identify segments of interest up front and then include some pertinent demographic questions.

For example, zip code or region, company size and industry, product or service used, or job titles of respondents.

Focus on a topic

Avoid meaningless or irrelevant questions. If you are asking questions about the service, avoid inserting questions about other topics as this makes the survey look out of date.

Clear questions are asked

Ask easy-to-understand questions avoiding acronyms, technical words, complex sentences, and ambiguous language.

Define terms, such as 'cloud computing' or 'cloud', which can mean different things. Simplify sentences. Be concrete.

If a question has two parts, they are divided

Subdividing two-part questions is important because if participants agree on one part of the question but not on the other, their answers will be meaningless.

It is allowed to answer «other options»

When none of the answers apply to multiple-choice questions, respondents will select any answer.

If options such as 'other', 'neutral' or 'none of the above' are provided, followed by 'please explain', the answers will be more precise. And, the comments will provide unexpected and informative ideas.

Logical sequencing of questions

When the questions have been asked, it is necessary to check whether the sequence of questions is logical.

If the survey asks to go from question 9 to question 12, it is necessary to make sure that you have question 12 and that question 12 logically follows question 9.

In some surveys an incentive is given

Use approaches, such as email, phone calls, or direct mail, to invite the target group to participate in the study.

Make sure that the participants are understanding of the purpose of the survey or interested in the topics covered in the survey. Provide an incentive or share some of the results.

Confidentiality is promoted

Use the results as promised to the participants. If it is agreed that the aggregated data will be reported, do not reveal the names of the participants or the names of the companies.

Deceptive practices give companies bad reputations and cloud future relationships with participants.

Data visualization and presentation

A final characteristic of a good survey is one for which the final results are reported in such a way that stakeholders immediately "get it."

Reporting results requires effective written words, oral presentations, and graphic displays.

Various types of surveys

Surveys come in various forms. Statistical surveys include self-administered questionnaires, panel surveys, telephone surveys, and intercept surveys, all of which are used in a variety of industries to easily and economically capture data.

Qualitative surveys such as focus groups, interviews, observations, and consensus panels allow researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the information they can obtain from a self-administered questionnaire.

In learning and development, human resources, performance improvement, and meeting and event fields, the most common survey instruments are:

• Self-administered questionnaires.
• Surveys
• Focus groups
• Observations.

Survey history

The use of surveys has evolved in the last 75 years. Its evolution began with a high-level interviewer-respondent interaction and great confidence in the survey process.

Today, it is a process with low levels of interviewer-respondent interaction where there are sometimes even lower levels of trust.

For example, in the 1960s people were more receptive to responding to a survey. Travel for work was less frequent and work was by the hour.

An eight-to-five job really meant that the person worked from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, so the target audience was accessible.

If asked to participate in a survey, the individual would voluntarily do so, interpreting participation as an honor. The survey questions would be answered with honesty and confidence that the data would be used appropriately.

When comparing the results of before with those of now, it is observed that working remotely is the new norm and people are less accessible than ever.

Even with the most current technologies, accessibility is a challenge. Most people are not sitting around waiting for an email hoping to receive a survey to complete.

Even if they receive the survey, they are so overwhelmed with email and work projects that the survey response moves to the bottom of the list of their interests and priorities. Thus, access to respondents can be challenging.

Also, there is a much lower level of trust in the survey process and this leads to non-response or biased responses to avoid conflict (Dillman, et al., 2009).

These changes, among others, have advanced research on the use of surveys. Books, courses, and resources are available to professionals and students interested in developing and administering surveys, as well as interpreting the results to make them actionable.

Interest in surveys has grown exponentially in the last two decades in the field of learning and development.

This is due to a greater effort to show results of programs and projects, and a greater interest in research data, with which professionals and managers can compare their activities with those of others.

With the evolution and growing interest in survey research, there is a growing demand for technology that supports surveys.

Many conference exhibitors sell products and services that support the use of surveys as a data collection method.

References

1. Patricia Pulliam Phillips, Jack J. Phillips, Bruce Aaron. (May 14, 2013). Survey Basics. Google Books: American Society for Training and Development.
2. Ray Chambers, Robert Clark. (Jan 12, 2012). An Introduction to Model-Based Survey Sampling with Applications. Google Books: OUP Oxford.
3. Alexander I. Law. (1984). Survey of Basic Skills, Grade 6: Rationale and Content. Google Books: California State Department of Education.
4. Keith F Punch. (Apr 4, 2003). Survey Research: The Basics. Google Books: SAGE.
5. L. Dee Fink. (Jul 31, 2013). Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. Google Books: John Wiley & Sons.
6. Arlene Fink. (2003). How to Sample in Surveys. Google Books: SAGE.
7. Peter V. Marsden, James D. Wright. (2010). Handbook of Survey Research. Google Books: Emerald Group Publishing.