In our previous Blog Post, we shared with you the top 5 most useful Data Collection Methods to use when doing field assessment for your NGO. Now, we will dive deeper into the most popular of those 5 methods which is the Questionnaires and Surveys one.
Designing a survey involves several considerations:
Determining your Research Objective
The most important part when designing your survey is determining your objective – why are you conducting this survey and what do you want to learn?
You should consider what data to collect, which questions to ask and who is your target audience accordingly.
Choosing the Right Questions
Start your survey with an introduction to briefly explain the purpose of your survey which will give the subjects a sense of comfort and motivate them to participate. Then, include a consent question. Use relevant identifiers depending on the information needed and ask Open-Ended questions to collect rich Qualitative information without option restrictions when needed.
Carefully choose the question types depending on the desired outcome. Here are the 6 main types of questions:
- Text – Open-Ended: To collect Qualitative data and uncover rich deep insights. No option limitations, the subjects can type in anything.
- Dichotomous – Close-Ended: Subjects have the choice to answer between 2 options only.
- Numerical: To collect specific numbers (not ranges).
- Multiple Choice: Most frequently used question type. Possible answers presented as a list from which Subjects can select 1 option or multiple ones depending on the information needed.
- Table & Roster: To gather the same sets of information about many entities.
- Scale: Possible answers are represented as a Rating Scale from which Subjects choose the value that most accurately represents their opinion.
To conclude, here are some additional tips to keep in mind when formulating your questions:
- Ask one question at a time and make sure to make it simple and straight to the point in order to avoid subject confusion and waste of time.
- Do not include a possible answer in the question in order to avoid biased answers.
- Use Subjective questions only when there’s a need to measure feelings.
- Be careful when tackling sensitive topics, for example use neutral words instead of negative ones.
- Only ask questions to which answers are needed for your research.
To know more about B.O.T’s Data Collection Services, click here or write to us on sales@v2.letsbot.io
