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"Would you like to take a survey?"
It may sound a little lame, but if you choose your topic well, surveys can be very powerful and even increase awareness. And once you are done, you have something to show for your work. Your survey results give you information about what people think and believe about specific issues/topics, and information is power.
Choose the Issue
Listen to what bothers people at your school or in your community. Or choose a topic that you think people should know about. It doesn't matter what you choose as long as you are specific. For example:
- Emily cares about her School and wants to make it better. (because she spends all day there)
- Yesterday Emily heard people complaining that lunch is too short and the food was ‘off’. (Meatloaf and stale potato chips)
- Emily chooses to ask students about their opinions on the different types of lunch offered during the week and what they would change.
You have to narrow down the issue. If Emily had written a survey focused on opinions of her school, it would have been too general. And don’t forget to choose something that interests you.
Choose the type of Survey
There are two types of surveys: Questionnaires and Interviews
| Type of Survey | Questionnaires | Interviews |
|---|---|---|
| Explanation and Examples. |
Specific questions with a choice of answers. Example: Do you think I am Cute? yes no maybe |
Less specific questions that allow people to respond freely. Example:
|
| Why it is good |
|
|
| Why it is not so good |
|
|
Pick some People
Get friends, classmates, teachers, or even parents to help you create and get results for your survey. Be sure to choose people that you can work and talk to.
Make the thing
Start with information about who is taking the survey. Example:
Describe yourself:
Teacher Student Staff Other
If you answered student, what grade are you in:
5-7 8-10 11-12
Types of questions:
- Specific multiple choice questions with 3 to 5 possible answers given. (No more than 5)
- Ranking scale questions:
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
|
strongly
disagree |
disagree
|
neutral
|
agree
|
strongly
agree |
- Opinion and awareness:
On a scale from 1-10 (10 being the highest) how much do you know about...
On a scale from 1-10 (10 being interested, 1 being really bored) what do you think about...
A good survey should NOT have more than 15 questions or people will get bored. Questions should allow people to choose what they think and not tell them what to think. Example:
Bad question
Why does lunch on Monday stink so much?
Good question
On a scale from 1-10 (10 being tasty, 1 being not so tasty), rate lunch on:
Remember to test your survey out on a few people that haven't helped you write it.
Distribute your survey
Distribute your survey in school or in your community. Get the results and summarize them in one page. This is easy if you tally or compile your results for each question and present it on a spread sheet or table.
What's next?
Bring your survey to a School Board or Town Hall meeting (depends on what your survey was about) and share your results with people there. Tell Do Something about it! Check out some sample surveys (you don't have to take them, just look at the types of questions, but you can take them if you want):
Check out these surveys at: