hr-survey.com

Factors Leading to the Success of Your Survey

This page answers the question: How do I have a successful survey?
  1. Valid Objectives The objectives of the survey need to be as specific, and unambiguous as possible. If being conducted by an organization, the objectives should be linked to the mission, goals, and culture of the organization.Deceptive surveying practices that misrepresent the true purpose of the survey should be avoided.

  2. Defined Survey Population. The survey population should be clearly defined. It should have uniform or shared characteristic. For example, you may want to survey all Public Relations firms within a single metropolitan area.

  3. Adequate Response Non-response bias is a source of survey error as non-respondents may differ from respondents. Anonymity precludes follow-up efforts to assure responsiveness, so if possible only confidentiality should be promised. Acceptable response rates vary depending on the survey method and target population, but higher rates are generally better.

  4. Confidentiality Survey questions may ask for sensitive information. To help ensure confidentiality, the surveyor should only require a minimal amount of information that would be used to identify a survey participant. This information should not be revealed to any participants or used for any purpose other than to facilitate the administration of the survey.

  5. Appropriate Measures As obvious as it may seem, in a satisfaction survey questions should ask about satisfaction. Such direct questions, however, will often be the most threatening to the agency being evaluated. Where appropriate, scales provide more information than yes/no responses. Avoid measures which allow evaluation of individual employees.

  6. Clarity Instructions and question wording needs to be clear. The purpose should be clearly stated. Response categories should be consistent and match the form of the question.

  7. Voluntary Ensure participation in the survey is voluntary. The response rate will be lower for surveys where participants feel obligated to respond. Plus, voluntary responses may yeild the best data.