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Survey
TQLO
Archester Houston, Ph.D.Organizational Systems DivisionTotal Quality Leadership OfficeOffice of the Under Secretary of the Navy
Handbook
 
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Survey Handbook
Archester Houston, Ph.D.Organizational Systems DivisionTotal Quality Leadership OfficeOffice of the Under Secretary of the Navy
What is a Survey?
A survey is a systematic method of collecting information from a selected group of people by asking aseries of questions. Surveys can be used to collect various types of information. They can collectinformation on people’s behaviors, job performance, knowledge, preferences, attitudes, beliefs,feelings, etc. For a survey to provide useful information, care must be taken in its development anduse reasons, including the cost in terms of time and money.This handbook provides you with an overview of developing and conducting a survey. It also offerstips for writing or modifying survey items to meet your special needs. However, it will not make youan expert in survey development. It is strongly advised that you obtain professional assistance whenpossible, especially in survey design and statistical analysis.
When Should I Use a Survey?
Although surveys are a popular method of collecting data, they must be used under the appropriateconditions. Consider using a survey:
 
. . . when it is faster, easier, or less expensive to use than other methods.
Sometimes other datacollection methods are preferable. For example, to determine the number of people using a clinic, youcan simply count the number of signatures on the sign-in sheet, or examine the daily records, ratherthan conducting a survey to obtain this information.
. . . when the information does not already exist in some form.
Checking whether relevant and accuratedata exist in archives, records, or databases can save a great deal of time, money, and effort. Forexample, before asking employees the names and dates of each course taken within the past year,consult their training files to obtain this information.
TQLO
 
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Preparing for a Survey
A number of issues should be resolved before drafting the first survey item. Use the followingquestions to help you in preparing for a survey:
What is the purpose of the survey? 
Surveys can be used for many purposes, including:Determining customer needs/assessing customer satisfactionIdentifying organizational strengths and weaknessesTargeting areas needing improvementAssessing the effectiveness of new or existing policies or programsWithout a clear purpose it is likely that the survey effort will flounder. This can result in wastedresources, useless data, and disappointment on the part of those who initiated the survey and thosewho responded to it.Be very careful about conducting a survey “just to see what’s going on.” Conducting a survey candraw attention to an organization from the people who receive the survey and from those wholearn that it is being conducted. This attention can led to expectations that executive actions willsoon follow.Survey information can be valuable in guiding improvement efforts at the process, organizational,and systems level. Information on planning and conducting improvement efforts can be found in avariety of DON Total Quality Leadership publications, including:
 A Handbook for Strategic Planning
(Wells andDoherty, 1994)
Strategic Management for Senior Leaders: A Handbook for Implementation
(Wells, 1996)
 A Total Quality Leadership Process Improvement Model
(Houston andDockstader, 1993)
Process Improvement Notebook 
(Culbertson et. al., 1997)Use these publications to assist you in determining and clarifying the information needs that wouldrequire a survey.
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