Here are some basic steps in doing Survey Research.

1. Determine what you want to examine. Why are you performing a survey in the first place? What would people think regarding some product you are going to launch? Are your customers satisfied with the services you are offering? Have, first, a specific issue you would want to solve.
2. Define the population to be studied. Okay, so you’ve got your problem identified. Now you need to establish who you want to address. Are you sure you are asking the right crowd? If they could not relate to any of the topics you are throwing, you’re shooting the wrong board. To illustrate: you do not inquire first time visitors of your site if they enjoy discounts offered only to members.
3. Time to write the survey. Write and revise and revise until you perfect it.
4. Select a sample. In step 2, you have just identified who you want to study. You’d exhaust time and a lot of effort before you finish if, say, you have a hundred thousand subjects to survey. You cannot simply decide “Oh I only want to survey a hundred of them.” You need to compute for the sufficient sample size so reliability will not be a problem in your outcomes.
5. Oversee the survey. There is nothing wrong in checking the results once in a while. At least you will have a sight on how your survey is doing, if your response rate is low, etc.
6. Last is the fun and messy part – analyzing and interpreting the results. Nothing could be more rewarding than completing the puzzle – having explanations and conclusions to your thesis.

An interesting find in doing surveys – there is always additional information which you can derive from your data. For instance, you can find correlations among variables when doing cross tabs, or you would be surprised to see a totally different point of view in open-ended questions, etc.

The Invitation

• One way to start the survey could be by stating “you have been randomly selected…” Be careful in using words like this. Saying “I choose/pick, etc. …” for a start already gives the impression of your would-be-results to be biased.
• ALWAYS state the purpose of your survey. Would you, yourself, dare answer some paper without knowing what it is for? A short introduction at the top of the page would do. It serves like the direction before answering your final exam.
• If your survey requires answerers to indicate their name then you should follow the ethics for survey research which specifies that respondent profiles must be kept confidential. Publishing of names of respondents is ground for breach of contract.
• Be respectful. If some do not wish to participate in answering or completing the questionnaire then you should regard their decision. Resending surveys to those who’ve unsubscribed to your list, and/or insisting them to finish the survey, is plainly annoying.

The Questions

• Make the survey visually appealing. Use readable font.
• Never ask leading questions. Subtly prompting respondents to answer in a particular way results in false or slanted information. Avoid assumptions in the inquiry itself – answers should be on the choices not the questions.
• Use simple language. Highfaluting words are for novels and narratives. Surveys use words which are easy to understand.
• Write short questions – clear and direct to the point. Make sure your thoughts are pieced together. Consider one concept per question to prevent confusing your respondents.
• Group similar questions so that the survey is easy to follow.
• In using words like “will,” “may,” “might” or “could” which may be time-related, remember to specify your time frame.

The Choices

• Wordings of choices should be consistent. Scalar options are more likely paired. A five-scaled choices example would be (a)Very Satisfactory, (b)Satisfactory (c)Neutral, (d)Unsatisfactory and (e)Very Unsatisfactory.
• For non-scalar choices, provide a “Other (Please Specify)” because more likely, not all your respondents would pick what is laid in front of them. If choices to “What is your favorite fruit” are only apple, grape, and banana but your buyer’s real favorite is mango, and then which option box should he check?

Don’t forget to thank the respondent after finishing the questionnaire. Take note that a few small mistakes in these could affect the attitudes and decisions of people being studied. Research more on how to write surveys. Double check or consult someone about your paper before actually sending it out. There are lots of resources you can find in doing so. Don’t limit yourself!

Here are some features of the new Omniture Survey:

• Understand how your customers recognize your brand.
• Improved survey design using real-time survey results.
• Increase interaction and engagement by providing audiences with an opportunity to express their opinions.
• Able to integrate survey responses with web analytics data for a better understanding of customer persona.