1. Copyright 2009 National Student Loan Program Creating Surveys that Work!

2. 2 Why should I survey? To find out what your clients want and expect To measure attitudes of employees, other offices Examples – customer service, usefulness of forms

3. 3 Six key areas What do you want to learn? Who should you survey? What method should I use? How do I design the survey? How do I administer the survey? I have the resultsnow what?

4. 4 What do I want to learn from the survey? Purpose Plan Brainstorm Be efficient

5. 5 Selecting the audience Target audience How to choose a sample to survey How many respondents Everyone invited might not respond

6. 6 What method should I use? Web-based surveys E-mail surveys Telephone surveys Mail surveys Personal interviews

7. 7 Web-based surveys Highest response rates Fast, easy, effective and inexpensive –free web-based servicesSurveyMonkey, Polldaddy, eSurveyPro –useful if primarily Internet users –respondents may be more honest

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9. 9 E-mail surveys Economical and fast Current/correct e-mail addresses Less control of survey

10. 10 From: Me To: You Subject: A sample email survey. Please click the REPLY BUTTON of your email program to participate in this survey. 1. What is your gender? [ ] Male [ ] Female (Place an X between the brackets to indicate your response) 2. How old are you? [ ] (Please type your answer between the brackets) 3. What is your favorite brand? (Place an X between the brackets to indicate your response) [ ] Brand X [ ] Brand Y [ ] Brand Z [ ] Undecided 4. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate our product? (Please type your answer between the brackets)Rating: [ ] (1=Poor & 10=Excellent) 5. What is the one thing we could do to improve our product? (Please type your answer between the brackets) [ ] THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION!

11. 11 Telephone surveys At one time, the most popular method Immediate feedback Longer/more complete answers Telemarketers have given research by phone a bad name Small window of time to call

12. 12 Sample telephone survey script Hello, I'm ______ calling on behalf of [organization name]. We are doing a survey and are asking questions about [topic of survey questions]. The information provided will be used to [describe purpose of study]. We are not trying to sell you anything. Your phone number has been chosen [describe random or purposive sampling] to be included in the study. I [will/won't] ask for your name, address, [or other personal information that can identify you]. [if collecting identifying data, briefly explain how it will be kept confidential] I [will/won't] include your phone number with your responses to make sure that we accurately collect your information. You don't have to answer any question you don't want to, and you can end the interview at any time. The interview takes only about [estimate number of minutes] and any information you give me will be confidential. If you have questions about this survey, I will provide you with a telephone number for you to call to get more information. [If the respondent has questions about the survey, the researcher must provide a telephone number to call for more information and offer to provide the IRB Chair contact information on rights as a research subject].

13. 13 Mail surveys Traditional method Takes longer for results Increase response with follow-up Offer incentives

14. 14 Public Library Districts: An Introduction; Creating Public Library Districts in New York State: A How- to Guide Mail survey example Please choose one adult member of your household to complete this questionnaire on behalf of all family or household members. Your answers to these questions will be held in confidence and reported only in statistical summaries. Please do not give us your name and address. If you have any questions about this survey please telephone the Library at (518) 555-0000. Thank you for your cooperation in our efforts to plan for the future and continue to serve you to the limits of our ability. 1. How many individuals of all ages are presently living in your household? DO NOT INCLUDE ANY HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS AWAY AT SCHOOL, IN ARMED FORCES, ETC. A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. 5 or more, please specify: ___

15. 15 Personal interviews Can be more expensive and time consuming Can provide more in-depth data Intimidating

16. 16 Designing the survey Organize your questions –free textfor questions that need longer, more detailed answers –multiple choicequick and simple, answers restricted –multiple tick boxessimilar to multiple choice but respondent can choose multiple options

17. 17 How to design Start with simple questions Limit the number of questions Have an introduction and ending Keep questions brief and clear Dont ask complex questions If you ask yes/no questions, follow-up with why Dont ask leading questions Deal with open-ended questions Review and test the survey before it is implemented

18. 18 Administer the survey Dont send your survey to all respondents at the same time Administration involves collecting the information and ensuring quality of process Reminders and incentives

19. 19 Interpret the results How do you want to tabulate your results Trends in responses Overall average/relative scores Survey comments

20. 20 Sample results

21. 21 Implementing what we learned Its not over! Focus groups Discuss the results How to use the results

22. 22 Surveys can make a difference!

23. 23 To find out more Customer Service for Dummies, by Karen Leland and Keith Bailey Knowledge Base Tutorials. Online Survey Glossary. http://www.knowledge- base.supersurvey.com/glossary.htmhttp://www.knowledge- base.supersurvey.com/glossary.htm Dillman, Don A. 2000. Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. New York: John Wiley & Sons Salant, Priscilla, and Don Dillman. 1994. How to Conduct Your Own Survey. New York: John Wiley & Sons

24. 24 More information National Student Loan Program 1300 O St., PO Box 82507 Lincoln, NE 68501-2507 www.nslp.orgwww.nslp.org 800-735-8778 Shelley Sutton 785-224-8069 ssutton8@cox.net