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Survey
sLusak
a

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Survey methodology
Your most commonly used
method?
What is a survey?

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Why should you use a survey?

Think of your interviews/ field trips
What if:
You could reach a larger number of respondents
More easy could analyse the responses
Quantify the data

Advantages:
Large amount of data in short time
Can be less expensive than conducting a lot of
interviews

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Why not?
Difficult to administer
Sample
Find the right respondents

Responses
Low response rate
Self-selection

Validity
Easy to misinterpret questions if not done
right
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Establish goals
What do you want to
learn?
Goals?

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Sample
Whom?
How many?
Remember
biases

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Different kinds of
surveys
Choosing survey

Avaliability
Survey Audience
Length of survey
Nature of collected information

Different surveys

Structural interviews/ Interviews

Phone survey
Postal survey
Web/online survey

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Designing
questionnaires
When to use a questionnaire?
Using a questionnaire back
home?

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What is he up to???

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General advices about

questionnaires
Order of questions
General before specific

Limit the number of questions

Easy and understandable questions
Test and pilot

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Generals advices,
questions
Substansive questions
Filter questions
Demographic questions
Comparison questions

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What to keep in mind, coming up with

Qs
List every question you can come up with, that is all possible
(and impossible) questions you have
Design your questions
Test your questions
Prioritise your questions
Compare your questions to your audit question/audit objective

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Designing questions, whats

wrong?

Asking two questions in one (double-barrelling)

Underlying assumptions in the question
Using the wrong words
Using double negatives

Asking in hypotheticals
Asking leading questions
Asking too broad questions
Avoid ambiguity

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Double-barrelled questions

Do you want to be rich and famous?

Do you plan to leave your car at home and take the bus to work
during the coming year?

Underlying assumptions

Who did you vote for in the last

election?
What is your present occupation?

Using the wrong

words

How old are

you?

Double negatives

Do you disagree that measures should not be put in place to

reduce illegal fishing?

Hypothetical
s

Will you use public transport more or less in the

future?

Leading questions

Are you satisf ied with the lessons?

Do you agree or disagree that tourism is benef icial to Zambia
and therefore should be promoted?

Too broad
questions

Do your department collaborate with

others?

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Avoid ambiguity
Vehicles (what is?)
family (who is included?)
children (should stepchildren and adult offspring who have left home
be
included?)
neighbourhood (how large an area?)
within walking distance (who is walking?)
you (the respondent or the household?)
have (own or have use of?)
rooms (should toilets, box rooms or utility rooms be included?)
meal (what constitutes a meal?)

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Remember
The respondent need to know the answer to your
question
Know your audit area and the respondents

The respondent need to understand your question

Be precise and state clear and simple questions

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What about good Qs?

One dimension
Do you like coke and chicken for lunch?

Accomodate all the answers

Which brand is your car? Saab or Volvo?

Produce variability of responses

What do you think about this question?
A. It is the worst one ever, B. It is somewhere between the worst and the best, C. The
best ever.

Does not use unfamiliar words or abbrevations

Have you experienced VFM-audits earlier?
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Scales
Right scale
-5 5 vs. 0 10

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Scales
Numerical or verbal scale
For verbal scale
Agree/ disagree

Number of options in the scale

5 or 7
Very satisfied, fairly satisfied, neither satisfied, fairly dissatisfied, very
dissatisfied

Avoid mixed scales

Very good, good, adequate, less than adequate, poor

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Further reading
National Autid Office, UK
Statistics Canada
Survey Methodology by Robert M. Groves, Floyd J. Fowler, Jr., Mick
P.
Couper
The Psychology of Survey Response by Roger Tourangeau, Lance
J Rips and Kenneth Rasinski
An introduction to survey research, polling and data analysis by
Herbert
F. Weisberg, Jon A. Krosnick, Bruce D. Bowen
Asking Questions by Seymour Sudman, Norman M. Bradburn
Internet, Mail and Mixed-mode Surveys: the Tailored Design
Method by Don A. Dillman, Jolene D. Smyth, and Leah Melani
Christian
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Workshop survey
Consider a survey in your Audit
What kind of survey would you like to
use
What kind of survey will you use?
Design a questionnaire
15:30 Presentation of workshop

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